CHARACTERISTICS OF ADULTS

AS LEARNERS AS COMPARED
WITH YOUTH
1. Adults are older.
They have lived longer and have a
different perspective on life.
They no longer see life
through rose-colored
glasses, but as a set of
realities.
2. Adults have had more
experience.
They have insights and see
relationship not discerned by
children.
They have a sense of
what is likely to work and
what is not -
sort of accumulated wisdom.
 3. Adults have needs which
are more concrete and
immediate than those of
children.
They are impatient with long
discourses on theory and like
to see theory applied to
practical problems.
4. Adults are used to being
treated as mature persons and
resent having teachers talk
down to them.
5. A corollary of four is that
adults enjoy having their
talents and information made
use of in a teaching situation.
6. Adult groups are likely to be
more heterogeneous than
youth groups.
Differences increase with age and
mobility.
Adults come from a wider variety of
backgrounds and intelligence levels
than youth.
7. Adults can learn as well as
youth; although they may not
perform some tasks as rapidly
as youth.
Adults learn as well as young
people.
People over the age of 40 have an advantage,
when it comes to learning material which calls
for good judgement or related to experience.
Adults can do fast memorizing more
efficiently than young children; however,
youngsters retain the fact longer.
The reasons adults may appear to learn not as
well is based on reaction time, not intelligence.
If time is not a factor, there is no difference in
ability to learn.
Does aging have an effect on
adult learning?

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Adult Education and show
Aging Game
 IQ in Adults

A. Decreases about 1% a B. Increases about 1% a

year after the age of 30. year until the age of 65.

D. Starts dropping off

C. Doesnt materially
significantly after the
change during adulthood
age of 65.
The Correct Answer is C.
Contrary to popular opinion, IQ
doesnt decline remarkably with age.
A group of 50 year olds were given IQ
tests that had taken 31 years earlier.
They made higher scores on every part
except math reasoning.
Wechsler found test scores increased
until 35 then declined very slowly after
that.
Next Question
 Physical Strength in Adults

A. Peaks around the age of 20. B. Peaks around the age of 30.

C. Peaks around the age of 40. D. Peaks around the age of 50

The Correct Answer is B.
Physical strength reaches a
peak around the age of 30.
In England, Galton set up a booth at a
National Fair and tested over 7,000 people for
physical strength, his research and later
research reveals 30 is the peak.
However, physical strength declines slowly.
Research at Harvard found physical strength
dropped dramatically between 70 and 75.
Next Question
 There is a relationship
between intelligence
and speed of learning

A. In youth. B. In adults.

D. In neither youth
C. In both youth and adults.
or adults
The correct answer is A.
In youth there is a correlation
between intelligence and
speed in learning. In
adulthood, this is not true.
Next Question
The ability to hear peaks before

A. Age 15 B. Age 30

C. Age 45 D. Age 60
The Correct Answer is A
Peak Performance in Hearing
Occurs
Gradual Before Age
decline until 65, 15
then more
rapid.
Older people
Hear less and
Hear slower
 Hearing
As people age:
Men lose ability to hear high sounds.
Women lose ability to hear low sounds.
This is one of the reasons why women talk
more with women and men talk more with men
in the older years
 COMMON SENSE PRACTICE FOR
MINIMIZING HEARING LOSS
Sit people where they can see
everyones face.
Use small groups.
Teacher should stand still.
Teacher should speak, clearly,
distinctly, and loudly.
 COMMON SENSE PRACTICE FOR
MINIMIZING HEARING LOSS
Use more than one sense while teaching.
Observe faces of students.
Eliminate outside noises.
Ask people to speak out if they cant hear.
Repeat questions and
answers.
 The most acute decline
in vision occurs

A. Between 13 and 18 B. Between 18 and 40

C. Between 40 and 55 D. After 55

 The Correct answer is C.
Vision
13-18 Continuous gain
18-40 Gradual decline
40-55 Sharp decline
55 On Gradual decline
Vision
Older Eyes Suffer
Vision loss in dim light
Narrowing field of vision
Slow adaptation to dark
Cataracts
Defective color vision
SO..
Common Sense Practices For
Minimizing Losses Associated With Age
- Vision
Illumination Media
More Direct Light Use Sharp Color
Dont Face Direct Light Contrast
Eliminate glare Enlarged Type or Print
Avoid Abbreviations
White or Chalk Boards
Seating
Keep Clean
Seat People Close to
Use Large Writing
Board

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Adult Learning Characteristics
8. Adults attend classes often
with a mixed set of motives -
educational, social,
recreational - and sometimes
out of an overdeveloped
9. Adults are sometimes
fatigued when they attend
classes.
They, therefore, appreciate any teaching
devices which add interest and a sense of
liveliness
variety of methods, audio-visual aids,
change of pace, and sense of
humor, etc.