Adult Learners

Adult learners at UW PCE are generally part-time students with diverse skills and backgrounds. Adult learners appreciate when they can draw on their experiences and they learn best with real-world problem-based curricula.

Top reasons UW PCE students pursue a certificate program:

1. Advance their career
2. Broaden their skill base
3. Make a career change

UW PCE Students (Video Length 2:28) 

Adult Learning Principles

• Adults are intrinsically motivated and self-directed
• Prior knowledge, experiences, and beliefs can help (or hinder) how adult students organize and connect information.
• Adult learners are goal oriented and learn best when learning objectives are clearly communicated
• Adults learn better with relevant and practical applications, and they engage in activities when related to their learning goals
• Adult students develop proficiency when they can acquire and practice integrating different skills
• Adult students need a respectful and flexible learning environment, and appreciate targeted and frequent feedback
• Students learn more when they are actively engaged with the content rather than passively absorbing information (Utilize Active Learning)
• Adult learning tapers off after about 30 minutes of sustained attention, they require breaks to assimilate information
• Students produce more meaningful work when they collaborate with others in a productive manner on well-designed tasks

Motivating Adult Learners (Video Length 0:56)

Resources

UWPCE Adult Learning Tools and Templates

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Updated 06/13/22