Filling a gap in the current literature, Adult Learning: Linking Theory and Practice offers an overview of the major theories and research in adult learning. Written in accessible language and designed to be practical for use in formal and informal settings, this important resource reviews the forces that influence today’s adult learner including globalization, the knowledge society, technology and demographic changes.
Co-authors Laura Bierema, a professor and associate dean for academics at the College of Education, and Sharan Merriam, professor emerita of adult education and qualitative research, present an understanding of how life experiences and learning are integrally related and review the role of motivation and learning.
They also include some of the new work in neuroscience and learning and explore the brain’s cognitive functioning. In addition, the authors address the pervasiveness of technology and reveal how the influence of the digital age both engages and distracts the ability to learn.