The Brain of an Adult Learner - Blog 1

As I reviewed the readings for this blog, the key implication that kept coming to my mind was reflection, reflection, reflection. With respect to brain function, reflection seems to play a vital role when making connections between experiences and adult learning. Adults experience a variety of events that have the potential to be life changing. It is when the adult actually reflects on those events that true learning occurs in the brain. Taylor goes on to give teaching tools that will assist the adult learner with their own self-examination of past expereinces. These include narratives, autobiographies, journals and writing-to-learn. Through these types of activities, adults can become keenly aware of how different events in their lives have changed and molded them into the person they are today.

Another topic in the readings that caught my attention was memorization. With mere memorization, typically adult learners' recollection is short-lived unless a connection can be made with an experience or activity. In other words, the memorization must have some meaningful application for the learner. I can attest to this concept. I have been in many classes where I have simply memorized enough to pass a test. If you asked me the same information the following week, I would be unable to recall it. True learning did not take place.