Adult Learning Style Assessment
How Adults Really Learn
Take this 5-minute assessment to understand which of the three pillars of adult learning you use most effectively. Based on Malcolm Knowles' andragogy principles.
The three pillars: Why (relevance), How (doing), and Control (autonomy).
Why? (Relevance)
Do you need to understand the purpose before engaging?
How? (Doing)
Do you prefer hands-on practice over passive learning?
Control? (Autonomy)
Do you need freedom in your learning pace and path?
Your Learning Style Report
Why (Relevance)
How (Doing)
Control (Autonomy)
Your Primary Strength
Recommendations
Why this matters
Adults learn best when all three pillars are addressed. Your results show where you're strongest and where to focus improvement.
Most training programs fail not because they’re poorly designed, but because they treat adults like children. You don’t learn a new software system the same way a teenager learns TikTok dances. Adults bring experience, goals, and resistance to waste. So what actually works? The answer lies in three proven pillars of adult learning that have stood the test of time, research, and real-world application.
Adults Need to Know Why
Children follow instructions because they’re told to. Adults need to understand the why before they invest time or energy. This isn’t stubbornness-it’s survival. When you’re 35, working full-time, raising kids, and trying to upskill, you don’t have hours to spare on vague promises like "this will help your career." You need to see the direct link between what you’re learning and what matters to you right now.
Research from Malcolm Knowles, the father of andragogy, shows that adult learners are problem-centered, not content-centered. If you’re taking a course on budgeting, don’t start with interest rates and balance sheets. Start with: "Here’s how to save €500 a month so you can take your kid to college without going into debt." That’s motivation. That’s relevance. That’s how you get someone to open their laptop after a 12-hour shift.
Real-world example: A nurse in Cork returns to school to earn her bachelor’s degree. She doesn’t care about theories of nursing ethics until she’s told, "This module will help you advocate for patients when hospital administrators cut staffing." Suddenly, the content isn’t abstract-it’s armor.
Adults Learn by Doing
Reading a manual on how to fix a boiler won’t make you competent. You need to turn the wrench. Watching a video on Excel pivot tables won’t help you analyze sales data next Monday. You need to open the spreadsheet and try it yourself.
Adults learn through experience, reflection, and trial. That’s why hands-on training, simulations, case studies, and real projects outperform lectures every time. A study by the National Institute for Adult Continuing Education found that adult learners who applied new skills within two weeks retained 75% more than those who only listened or read.
Think about it: How many times have you sat through a workshop on communication skills, nodded along, and then forgotten everything by lunch? Now think about the time you had a tough conversation with a colleague and used a technique you’d practiced. That’s the moment learning stuck.
Effective adult education doesn’t just teach-it creates situations where learners can fail safely, reflect, and try again. That’s why apprenticeships, peer coaching, and project-based learning work so well. You don’t learn to ride a bike by memorizing physics. You learn by falling off.
Adults Need Autonomy and Control
Adults don’t respond well to being told what to do, when to do it, or how to do it. They’ve spent years making decisions about jobs, families, finances, and health. They expect the same respect in learning.
Autonomy doesn’t mean no structure. It means choice within structure. Can they pick the project topic? Can they choose between a video lesson or a written guide? Can they set their own deadlines? Can they skip sections they already know?
A 2023 survey of over 2,000 adult learners in Ireland showed that 82% dropped out of courses where they felt micromanaged or forced into rigid pacing. Meanwhile, courses that offered flexible timelines, modular content, and learner-led pathways had completion rates 40% higher.
Think of it like driving a car. You don’t want someone yelling at you from the passenger seat every time you shift gears. You want a map, a GPS, and the freedom to choose your route. Adult learning should feel the same.
How These Pillars Work Together
These three pillars aren’t separate steps-they’re a system. You can’t have autonomy without relevance. You can’t learn by doing if you don’t understand why it matters. And you won’t engage if you’re forced into a one-size-fits-all format.
Take a digital marketing course for small business owners:
- Why? "Learn how to get 5 new customers a month using Facebook Ads so you can hire your first employee."
- How? "Build your own ad campaign using a real business template. Test it with a €10 budget."
- Control? "Choose your industry niche. Pick your learning pace. Skip modules you’ve already mastered."
That’s not a course. That’s a launchpad.
What Doesn’t Work
Traditional classroom models-lectures, passive note-taking, fixed schedules-still dominate adult education. They persist because they’re easy to run, not because they’re effective.
Here’s what happens when you ignore the pillars:
- You give adults a 3-hour lecture on conflict resolution. They zone out. They leave. They don’t change their behavior.
- You force everyone to complete a 12-week online course at the same pace. People fall behind. They feel guilty. They quit.
- You teach accounting rules without connecting them to real business decisions. Learners see no point. They call it "boring theory."
These aren’t failures of the learner. They’re failures of design.
Real-World Applications
Companies that get this right see results:
- IBM redesigned its internal training to be project-based. Employees built real tools for their teams. Completion rates jumped from 48% to 89%.
- A Dublin-based logistics firm started letting drivers choose their own safety training modules. Accidents dropped by 31% in six months.
- Community colleges in Galway now offer "learning pathways"-custom combinations of courses based on career goals. Graduation rates tripled.
It’s not magic. It’s respect.
How to Apply This in Your Own Learning
Whether you’re choosing a course, designing training, or just trying to learn something new, use these three questions:
- Why am I doing this? If you can’t answer clearly, pause. Find a better reason or a better resource.
- How can I try this now? Don’t wait for the perfect moment. Use a free tool. Practice on your own data. Teach someone else.
- Can I control the pace and path? If not, look for alternatives. There’s always a better option.
Learning as an adult isn’t about memorizing facts. It’s about building competence that changes your life. And that only happens when you’re engaged, active, and in charge.
Final Thought
Adult learning isn’t about filling heads with information. It’s about unlocking potential. The three pillars-Why, How, and Control-are the keys. Ignore them, and you waste time. Use them, and you transform.
What are the three pillars of adult learning?
The three pillars of adult learning are: 1) Adults need to know why they’re learning something, 2) Adults learn best by doing through hands-on experience, and 3) Adults require autonomy and control over their learning process. These principles, rooted in andragogy, make learning stick and lead to real behavioral change.
Is adult learning different from child learning?
Yes. Children learn through instruction, rewards, and external motivation. Adults learn through relevance, experience, and self-direction. A child memorizes multiplication tables because the teacher says so. An adult learns budgeting because they need to pay off debt. The methods that work for kids often fail with adults because they ignore life experience and personal goals.
What is andragogy?
Andragogy is the theory and practice of adult education, developed by Malcolm Knowles in the 1970s. It contrasts with pedagogy (child-focused teaching) by emphasizing self-directed learning, problem-solving, and the use of life experience. Andragogy is the foundation behind the three pillars of adult learning.
Why do adult learners drop out of courses?
The top reasons are: lack of relevance (they don’t see the "why"), passive learning (too much lecturing, not enough doing), and rigid structure (no control over pace or content). Adults don’t quit because they’re lazy-they quit because the learning design doesn’t respect their time, experience, or goals.
Can these pillars be applied to online learning?
Absolutely-and they’re even more critical online. Without face-to-face pressure, adult learners need even clearer purpose, more opportunities to practice, and greater control over pacing. Platforms that offer project-based modules, flexible deadlines, and personalized feedback see the highest completion rates.
What’s the best way to design training for adults?
Start with a real problem adults face. Then design learning around solving it. Include hands-on tasks, let learners choose their path, and build in reflection time. Avoid lectures. Avoid one-size-fits-all. Focus on application, not coverage. The goal isn’t to finish the course-it’s to change behavior.