WLD Guide to Facilitating_UMass Amherst 1 | Page 5

5

Adult Learning
Remembering what we’ve learned
If you want someone to know something, you may think that the best option is
simply to tell them. However, it can be hard to concentrate on listening and
remember things that are said to us.

As the diagram below demonstrates, learning is enhanced more…
 If you reinforce what you said with visuals,
 If participants play an active role like talking about the topic,
 And best of all, if participants actively take part in a lifelike experience, such as
a practical session or roleplay.

Making the most of experiences
We also need to reflect on our
experiences and make
‘generalizations’ about them:
formulating our knowledge in a way
that we can apply it to other
situations.

For example, if we make a loaf of
bread which doesn’t rise, we might
remember the experience of making
it, but decide it is easier to go to the
bakery next time. However, if we
think through how we made it
(reflection), and work out what we
need to do differently next time
(generalization), we will have learned
something much more useful.