Presented by Doreen D’Amico

Needs

Learn

Change

Learning Style

Preference

Motivation

Auditory Ability

Memory

Visual Ability

3 Months

Babies have recognition memory, i.e. toys

6 Years

Memory strategies begin, i.e. telling a story

Early Teens

Working memory evolves into storing and building

18-25 Years

Critical Thinking Develops Rapidly

22-35 Years

Full Brain Development

Occurs

25- 30 Years

Critical

Thinking

Peaks

Practical

(Sensible)

Personal

(Significant)

“Stickiness”

of

Information

Stabilizes

Thinking

Critical

1960

69.8 Years

2008

78.4 Years

2050

82.6 Years

Children

Kinesthetic Tactile Visual Auditory

Adolescents

College-age Freshmen

Abstract Approaches

College-age Seniors

Concrete Approaches

Traditional-age College Students

Kinesthetic

Hands-on experience

Listening

Reading

Non-traditional age College Students

Acquisition

• Birth through adolescence

• Acquiring basic learning abilities

Specialization• Early adulthood, formal education , career

training

• Primary time for forming style

Integration

• Mid-career to older adulthood

• Non-dominant styles develop

Approach a Problem

Learn a New Skill

Training & Retraining

Intellectual Stimulation

Social Connections

Hearing Loss

Higher Sound

Frequencies

Consonant Sounds

Distinguish Speech from

Background Noise

Loss of Visual Acuity

Inhibits Night

Driving

Inhibits Reading

Observed (MMPALT II)

Visual

Interactive

Print

Interactive

Aural

Preferred (PMPS)

• Accommodator

• Feeling & Doing55-65

Years Old

• Diverger

• Feeling & Watching

66-74

Years Old

• Assimilator

• Thinking & Watching75 Years and Up

“People can change, and those changes –not just the accumulation of

information - represent true learning.”

(Bain, 2004).

Bain, K. (2004). What the best college teachers do. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Brown, B. F. (1984). A descriptive analysis of perceptual modality learning styles in older adults.(Unpublished doctoral dissertation.) Oklahoma State University, OK. OCLC Number: 19099190.

Manheimer, R.J. (2007). Allocating Resources for Lifelong Learning for Older Adults. In R.A.Pruchno & M.A. Smyer (Eds.), Challenges of an aging society: ethical dilemmas, political issues. (pp. 217-237). Baltimore, MD: The John Hopkins University Press.

Sprenger, M. B. (2007). Becoming a “Wiz” at brain-based teaching: How to make every yearyour best year. (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Truluck, J.E. & Courtenay, B.C. (1999). Adults. Educational Gerontology, 25. 221-236. doi: 0360-1277/99.

World Development Indicators, The World Bank. (2011) Retrieved from http://data.worldbank.org/data-catalog/world-development-indicators?cid=GPD_WDI.