1. Adult Education – How do we learn?
Sue Aro, R.Ph, M.Ed
Provincial Oncology Pharmacists Meeting
BCCA Annual Clinical Cancer Conference
November 29, 2003
Difficult

2. Objectives:
At the end of the session, the participants should be able to:
Describe the characteristics of adult learners
Determine their learning style
Discuss brain based learning theory and implications for adult learners

3. What is learning? Implies change
Change may occur in a person’s skills, knowledge or attitude
Bloom’s Taxonomy: psychomotor, cognitive or affective

4. Characteristics… Self directed Immediate use for the information
Practical
Voluntary learning
Physiological changes
Intelligence increases with age

5. Learning Cycle Kolb’s Learning Style Inventory Learn in different ways
Learning is a cycle
4 processes to the cycle

6. Concrete Experience, CE
Feeling
Learn from specific experiences
Relate well to people
Sensitive to feelings and people
Opposite of AC (Thinking)

7. Abstract Conceptualization, AC
Thinking
Plan logically and systematically
Act on an intellectual understanding of a situation
Opposite of CE (Feeling)

8. Active Experimentation, AE
Doing
Show ability to get things done
Take risks
Influence people and events through action
Opposite of RO (Watching)

9. Reflective Observation, RO
Watching
Carefully observe before making judgments
View issues from different perspectives
Look for the meaning of things
Opposite of AE (Doing)

10. Combined scores AC - CE = AC-CE AE - RO = AE-RO
Identifies your learning style:
Converger? Diverger? Accomodator?
or Assimilator?
AC - CE = AC-CE
AE - RO = AE-RO

11. Diverging Learning Style
Imaginative
Understand people
Recognize problems
Open minded
Prefer to work collaboratively, brainstorm
Arts, Entertainment, Service Careers (Nursing, Social Work, Psychology)

12. Assimilating Learning Style
Plan/Analyze
Create models
Define problems
Develop theories
Patient and methodical
Prefer lectures/readings & like time to think
Physical Sciences, Biology, Law, Theology
Mathematics, Research

13. Converging Learning Style
Solve problems
Make decisions and set goals
Logical
Create new ways of thinking/doing things
Prefer simulations, case studies, lab assignments, practical applications
Engineering, Computer Sciences, Economics

14. Accommodating Learning Style
Get things done
Influence and lead others
Take risks
Act on “gut” feelings
Adaptable and practical
Rely on people for info
Management, Sales, HR, Marketing

15. So what? Solving problems Working in teams Communication
Career choices

16. Brain Based Learning
(Brain Compatible Learning)

17. Things you always wanted to know about the brain….
At birth, the human brain weighs 1 lb
100 billion neurons
1 trillion glial cells
Each neuron makes 5000 to 50,000 connections
By the age of 1, the brain doubles in size
Adult brain weighs 3 lb
1 quadrillion connections (1 million billion)

18. More facts about the brain…
Visual
Hungry
- Vital organs
- Growth and repair
- Thinking
Windows of opportunity

19. Memory Makes us unique Allows us to acquire and store new info
Able to form new concepts ideas, feelings and behaviours
Enables us to learn from experience
Essential for survival
Memory = Learning

20. “M-Space” “M Space” = Memory Space Capacity of the Working Memory
“The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus 2: Some Hints on Our Capacity for Processing Information” by George Miller

21. The “Cocktail Party Effect”
“The mind can pay conscious attention to only one train of thought at a time.” (E. Cherry)

22. Procedural Memory (Undeclarative)
Does NOT require conscious thought except when first learning.
Practice does NOT make perfect.
Practice makes permanent.
Examples: Keyboarding
Playing an instrument
Playing a sport
Driving

23. Declarative Memory Episodic - Autobiographical - Not very accurate
Semantic
- Facts, people, places, concepts

24. According to Patricia Wolfe…
In order for learning to occur, there are two things that are critical.
MEANING
- Information that fits into or adds to an existing
network has a much better chance of storage.

25. EMOTION
“Emotion drives attention and attention drives learning.” Robert Sylwestre, Celebration of Neurons
Optimal level of emotion is required for learning. Too much or too little keep the cortex from working as well as it might.
Avoid “fight or flight response”

26. Average Retention Rate (After 24 hours)
Lecture 5%
Reading 10%
AV Presentation 20%
Demonstration 30%
Discussion Group 50%
Practice by Doing 75%
Teaching Others 90%
David Sousa, How the Brain Learns

27. In conclusion… Tell me - I forget. Show me - I remember.
Involve me - I understand.
Chinese Proverb