How Adults Actually Learn at Work (Seven Learning Principles That Change Program Design)

Adults learn differently from students. That is not a nuance — it is the whole reason classroom corporate training underperforms. Students memorize so they can pass. Adults memorize nothing; they change behavior so they can do their jobs better. When a program is designed for the student-learning pattern (listen, take notes, pass a quiz) it lands flat on the adult brain. Seven learning principles explain why — and how program design changes when you take the adult brain seriously.

The seven: (1) the learning environment empowers learners as active participants — not passive recipients. (2) Participants create the learning. (3) The whole learner is engaged and involved — mind, body, emotion. (4) Learning happens in context — ideally against a real team challenge. (5) The learning matches how the adult brain stores, recalls, and applies information. (6) Learning is collaborative — peer accountability is the retention mechanism. (7) Learning happens on many levels simultaneously. Each principle is backed by decades of adult-learning research; all seven together explain why participant-driven programs out-perform content-based programs by large margins.

Below is how each principle changes program design, why the Learn2 participant-driven frame makes all seven operational defaults (not optional add-ons), and what this means when you evaluate an L&D vendor against your organization’s real learning outcomes.

Have you ever wondered how learning happens in the brain? Here’s a fact that might surprise you: your brain would rather than learn a bunch of things at once than to learn one thing at a time. That’s how the brain learns best. Learning happens on many levels simultaneously. For example, the brain can recall more information when multiple items are stored and linked. The brain operates in parallel, not sequentially. The brain thrives (builds new neural pathways) when challenged to do several things at once.

UNDERSTANDING HOW LEARNING HAPPENS

Our brain is actually far more complex than we are conscious of. A single neuron is connected to many other neurons and the total number of neurons and connections in this neural network may be extensive. Connections, called synapses, are usually formed from axons to dendrites. As such, neural networks are extremely complex.

LEARNING NEW THINGS CREATES NEW CONNECTIONS IN THE BRAIN

Think of a spider’s web. As we create learning experiences, we need to remember the importance of building each and every strand of the web – with connections through different media, different contexts, and different practices. This supports the brain in its work to index all the information received during a learning experience. The connections ensure the brain can retain and recall the information. So, the best learning looks like a spider’s web – all of the principles (content) are reinforced with emotion, visuals, participant meaning, and many other connections. Each connection within the brain increases retention, recall and application.

LEARN MORE ABOUT ACCELERATED LEARNING:

By understanding how the brain works and learns, the team at Learn2 has developed training programs and resources to help managers and decision-makers create an environment for accelerated learning. Explore our resources to develop your teams and enhance learning with: