How Adults Learn -- with Games That Matter to Them!

Pedagogy is often connected with learning. The definition of pedagogy is the art, science, or profession of teaching.

Adult learning is a different science - the term used for adult learning instead of pedagogy is andragogy, initially defined as the art and science of helping adults learn. Malcolm Knowles (1973) borrowed the term andragogy and asserted that adults require specific conditions to learn. According to the andragogic model, five issues should be considered and addressed in formal learning.

1. Let the learners know why something is important to learn.
2. Show learners how to direct themselves through information.
3. Relate the topic to the learners’ experience.
4. People will not learn until they are ready and motivated to learn.
5. The former often requires helping them overcome inhibitions and beliefs about learning.

Knowles concedes that four of andragogy’s five principles apply equally for adults and children. The only difference is that children have fewer experiences than adults do and thus less to relate.

Hartley supports Knowles in his discussion of adult learning and proposes that adults need to be motivated and they need a social context for their learning.

Knowles emphasises that adults will learn best when the topic is of immediate value. He concludes that there is a need to explain why things are being taught and instruction should be task-oriented instead of memorization. Different backgrounds of the learners should be taken into account and learners should be able to discover things for themselves, with guidance and help only when mistakes are made.

Schank (1997) criticises adult learning for punishing failure and says that people need to fail in order to learn. He adds the word “expectations” to his explanation. "For learning to take place there has to be expectation failure” -- real learning does not start until the learner fails.

Some of his rules for learning might be worth mentioning:

1. Let the learners know why something is important to learn.
2. Show learners how to direct themselves through information.
3. Relate the topic to the learners’ experience.
4. People will not learn until they are ready and motivated to learn.
5. The former often requires helping them overcome inhibitions and beliefs about learning.

Adults will learn best when the topic is of immediate value. There is a need to explain why things are being taught and instruction should be task-oriented instead of memorisation. Further, different backgrounds of the learners should be taken into account and learners should be able to discover things for themselves, with guidance and help only when mistakes are made.

Forget punishment!

Schank adds the word “expectations” to his explanation. "For learning to take place there has to be expectation failure” Real learning does not start until the learner fails.

Some of his rules for learning might be worth mentioning:

1. People remember best what they feel the most: an intense emotional experience.
2. Deliver training just in time, or when the learner has just failed and really needs help.
3. Memorization without corresponding experience is worthless.
4. Training should open with a bang!

Marc Prensky (2001) supports the latter. He stresses that learning should be fun and engaging and in most cases that could be learning through games.

Schank thinks that simulations have some advantages in terms of learning by failure, because the user can fail in private, failure can be explained by an expert right away and failure can be controlled and designed into the script.

However, Schank (1997) also raises a critical question about failure in simulations when he asks: “What motivates employees when the learners know their failure has no impact in the real world of their organisations?” He says that learning has to be linked with the real world so learners feel that they practice a skill that is needed in their everyday work.

If the simulations can create suspension of disbelief, people act naturally and behave and feel exactly like they would in real life. However, this is challenging for the designer of the program.

It is important to provide different paths through the simulation and alternative ways of navigating through the situations.

Schank disagrees with what he claims is the unofficial motto of training: “Keep it simple.” Simple is not real, says Schank, and reality is necessary to engage the user.

The consensus seems to be that adult learning has to be

Relevant to real life work and related to the learners’ experiences.
• Adults need to be motivated to learn.
• Learners should also be able to explore content on their own, and the latter raises the question of whether the teacher or the learner should control the learning.

SOURCE: Master of Science Thesis
March 9th 2001
Games and simulations in workplace eLearning
"How to align eLearning content with learner needs"
Authors: Rolf Ahdell, Guttorm Andresen
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management