Understanding Adult Learning

1067 Words3 Pages

There are many ways that people learn. The reasons for learning can come in a variety of ways. Physiological breakthroughs have brought new meaning to the way that the human brain receives and uses information. The information is used in a variety of ways throughout life for individual success and overall success. All information received in any form is part of the learning process.

The adult learner is someone who wants to know specific information for a purpose. How a person learns to get to where they want to be comes in a variety of ways. When one knows that something must be learned, he or she has to step back and evaluate the situation and ask themselves, “Why do I want to learn, and what steps should be taken to learn what it is that I desire”? Is the reason for the learning just curiosity, self-knowledge, or to complete a task at hand? Most of the characteristics can be described by observing one’s own psychological behavior (McLagan, 2011).

Curiosity is one of the main reasons that a person may want to learn. Not knowing the answer to a question can sometimes be frustrating, opposed to knowing all of the answers. When someone does not know the answer to a question, one may consider this as an attack to one’s own ego. Because the world is so technologically advanced, the way that people receive information is different. No longer do people have to go to the library to look up a book on a particular subject. With the new technology of today, people can simply type what it is that they are looking for in a search bar or have a book downloaded to their Kindle. Also, with the help of the computer, search topics can be narrowed down much quicker allowing a person to have access to informa...

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...of how the vehicle operates. The knowledge would be part of understanding one’s own psychological thoughts (Bethel, 2008).

In conclusion, adult learners learn with a purpose. The way that the human brain learns is broken down in many alternative categories. The way that one may learn may differentiate from another; however, it is all to reach one common goal and that is for success. Whether one is willing to learn for curiosity, self-knowledge, or to complete a task at hand, it is all processed through the psychological thought processes that goes through most human beings.

Works Cited

Bethel University. (2008). Orientation to adult learning. Boston, MA: McGraw Hill.

McLagan, P. A. (2011). The Amazing Era of Self-Service Learning. T+D, 65(12), 36-41.

Plakhotnik, M. S., & Rocco, T. S. (2011). A Succession Plan for First-Time Managers. T+D, 65(12), 42-45.

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