Meaningful materials

Adults are motivated to learn for a number of reasons, including personal development, improving their vocational skills, getting a qualification, meeting people, or simply for the love of learning. Another simple but effective way of motivating adult learners is to use meaningful materials during tasks and activities.

Adults prefer learning materials that relate directly to:

• their existing knowledge and experience

• their goals and needs.

Of course, providing meaningful materials is not simply about using materials that are interesting or relevant to the needs of learners. It also involves using materials that are pitched at a level appropriate to the needs of learners.

How to apply this principle

• Provide opportunities to practise new skills in different contexts. This makes it easier for learners to retain the new skills and knowledge (refer to Reinforcement) and understand how they can apply them outside the learning environment. For example, note taking from written texts, gives them the opportunity to apply the skill to an oral presentation or a video.

• Draw on the existing knowledge and experience of learners. By engaging learners in this way, you will help them to see the relevance of learning activities and increase their motivation. For example once you know learners' backgrounds you can help them to draw parallels with the outside environment by asking them questions such as "Did you do something similar when you worked at...?" or "Do you think this would be useful at work?". Refer also to Respect.

• Point out the purpose of learning activities and ensure they are achievable. In the introduction, state the outcomes by explaining "This helps when..." or "This will be useful when...".

• Use authentic materials, such as:

  • brochures

  • flyers

  • correspondence from government and commercial organisations (e.g. passport and loan application forms)

  For example, ask learners to bring in items, such as cereal boxes, to use in a maths activity.

• Use resources that learners are familiar with and enjoy using, such as:

  • newspapers

  • popular culture

  • the Internet

• Use topics, projects and examples that are realistic and relevant to learners, such as:

  • food

  • sports

  • music

  • entertainment

  • travel

  Refer also to Open to negotiation.

• Use practical assessments where possible. For example:

  Instead of ...	Let learners ...
  writing an essay doing a test on the metric system and measurements	write a letter of complaint design a reticulation system for your garden

Dos and don'ts

Do ...
	get to know the learners' prior knowledge, cultural background and interests
	provide opportunities for learners to practise skills and knowledge in real-life situations
	encourage learners to bring in their own relevant materials.
Don't ...
	focus only on Australian materials. Use items from a range of cultures that are represented in your group
	use only paper-based materials.

Multi-sensory learning

Multi-sensory learning is about catering for the different needs and learning styles of learners. People have different ways of processing and retaining information. Some tend to be more visual; others more auditory, while others still are predominantly kinaesthetic, i.e. they learn by doing. Most people, however, learn a new skill or knowledge best by using a combination of the visual, auditory and kinaesthetic senses - as the quote from Confucius suggests!

To illustrate this, let's take the example of you learning to change a car tyre. Auditory You are not sure how to do this and get a friend to explain the procedure. After listening to a friend's quite complex instructions, do you think you will be able to successfully change the tyre on her car? Probably not. You have probably experienced yourself that it's very difficult to retain information after simply hearing it once. However, some people do find this a useful way to learn. Visual and auditory If you were to read a description of the procedure with illustrations, do you think you could successfully change the tyre? Possibly. But the chances are you would have to keep referring back to the instructions throughout the task in order to complete it successfully. The same might be true if you watched a friend doing the task and then tried to do it on your own, as it is difficult to retain information just by seeing or reading without having the chance to practise it, possibly a number of times. However, some people do find this an option. Kinaesthetic, visual and auditory If, after going through both of the above stages, you tried to change the tyre, the chances are that you would be successful. However, if a friend guided you through the various steps of the procedure, and you had the opportunity to practise it a few times, the chances are that you would get really good at changing tyres. Having learnt the new skill in this way, using all three senses in the process, you would be much more confident about transferring the skill to other contexts (i.e. other makes of car). Being able to transfer a skill to another context is true evidence of learning.

Multi-sensory learning means catering for the needs of learners by using a range of activities, strategies and media to Reinforce the skills and knowledge being learned. The better you know learners, the easier it will be to cater for their individual needs.

How to apply this principle

• Incorporate practical tasks wherever possible. Refer to Active learning.

• Use collaborative learning strategies such as group activities and pair work.

• Integrate learning activities using a range of different media, such as audio tapes, images, photographs, video, television (e.g. documentaries, sit-coms, etc), the whiteboard, print-based resources (e.g. text books), the Internet and multimedia (computer-based media).

Dos and don'ts

Do ...
	support your explanations with a range of resources such as posters, sound recordings, videos etc.
	use practical tasks when appropriate
	use group collaborative interactions in a range of learning situations.
Don't ...
	assume that learners will understand a skill/knowledge simply because you have explained it verbally and with diagrams. Where possible, give them the opportunity to physically practise it (e.g. changing a tyre).