Brief Guide for Teaching Adult Learners

An increasing population of adults feels a need for additional opportunities to learn and grow; seeking ways to engage with a learning environment or program that connects to their unique needs. They make the commitments necessary to engage in learning opportunities for their own varied reasons, but though their reasons are varied, in many ways they share a common bond as adult learners, and they expect learning experiences that are responsive to their needs and preferences.

Approaching the diverse needs of adult learners requires that we consider the best available theories and practices. To address the various approaches and strategies available, authors Cheryl Torok Fleming and J. Bradley Garner have adapted the work of Knowles, Holton and Swanson (1998) in order to provide a variety of strategies for consideration by adult educators.

One of the major goals of this work is to provide an accessible and easy-to-implement guide for teaching adults--a book that you could easily take into the classroom, implementing one or more new teaching strategies. Think of these strategies as a starting point for your own exploration, growth, and experimentation in meeting the needs of adult learners, and your students will appreciate the efforts that you are making to meet their needs as adult learners.

Cheryl Torok Fleming serves as assistant dean for teaching and learning in the College of Adult and Professional Studies at Indiana Wesleyan University. Dr. Fleming received her BA and MS from Indiana University, and her Ph.D. from Andrews University. She holds elementary and secondary principal's licenses, and frequently presents at regional, state, and national conferences. Dr. Fleming's experiences in education include inner city school settings, as well as small town and rural sites; she is currently teaching for Indiana Wesleyan University's Masters of Education, Transition to Teaching, and Business and Management programs, online and onsite.

J. Bradley Garner serves as the assistant dean for teaching and learning in the College of Arts and Sciences at Indiana Wesleyan University. Dr. Garner holds a BS Ed. and an MS Ed. from the University of Akron, and a Ph.D. from Kent State University. He has authored several journal articles and book chapters on topics related to teaching and learning. Additionally, he is the author of Brief Guide for Teaching Millennial Learners (Triangle) and a coauthor of Straight Talk: Clear Answers about Today's Christianity (Triangle). Garner's greatest passion is assisting college faculty to find new and better ways to meet the learning needs of all learners.