هدف البحث إلى تطوير فهم أعمق للعوامل الرئيسة التي تسهم في تطوير الجامعات لمستوى عالمي. وقد اعتمد البحث منهجية مختلطة مبنية على استبانة ودراسات حالة ومقابلات منظمة لكبار موظفي الإدارة في في الجامعات العراقية

In my opinion, adult students have activated certain metacognitive strategies of deep processing, which are not activated by children, since the abstraction levels of the subjects are more conceptually demanding since the adult student pursues goals within a specialized education and the children a general formation that consists of the construction of basic concepts.

In my opinion one of the differences could be that the interests in the schooling of the two students are different, the student child seeks answers to their concerns according to their cognitive development, shares in school with their peers age-specific interests which are different from those of the adult student who seeks to specialize in a particular science and prepare for the field.

The most commonly cited differences are that child learners think of themselves as learning for future application of their knowledge, such as getting a job after graduating. Adult learners think of themselves as learning in order to use the knowledge immediately, such as in their current jobs or hobbies.

This is why Pedagogy, the teaching of child learners, and Andragogy, the teaching of adult learners, are different in practice and theory.

Scientifically-proven fact from neurolinguistics shows that acquisition process in children under 12 years old is much faster than that in adults. Internal factors like shyness, anxiety and lack of motivation speak a lot in adult language learning process.

They have greater mental capabilities

I see that if adults choose to learn it's mainly a choice not an obligation that's why they can be more motivated, especially if they are learning something in order to use and take adventage in their real life.

What i argue that the division between adult learners and child learners is insufficient. A child could also be an adult learner. Aduldt learning is different from formal learning (e. g. School education). It is a learning process that happens in our everyday lives, in an informal way. Adult learner neans the person who can have their self-directed learning ability as well as learning styles in different informal ways. For example, if a child involves a self-directed learning process, e.g. learning from an ipad by himself/herself. He/she could also be seen as an “adult learner”.

My response to this question is that the framing is ultimately self defeating. It exhibits a semantic illusion of thinking of separation. All people continue learning non-stop for all of life.

There is some use in designing a curriculum and syllabus to define a target audience. But only if you have a particular audience in mind. Are we discussing a stroke victim, a PTSD veteran, an abused teenage female or a professional?

A dancer learns through movement including proprioception. This does not change markedly over whole of life, excepting perhaps early infancy and extreme age.

What is it you are teaching and who are you teaching it to would need to be informed before discussing how to teach. Formal/informal, visual/audio/kinesthetic, classroom/experiential, psychodrama/book learning, all of these would need to be known to respond appropriately to your question.

I also agree with all of the previous comments adding that even toddlers use self directed/motivated learning.

• child learners adult learners
• learning style by doing, by touching, visuals etc rote learning, abstract
• value of education derived from learning new things prospects of better life
• info processing known to unknown, abstract and experiential
• concrete to abstract

In my opinion, the learning style of children is different from adults. The children learn through play, activities , experiences and interactions etc., whereas the adults learn with autonomy, readiness and applications etc.

Perception and understanding

Children learn because they are told to learn things that will have some relevance in the distant future and will do so without questioning why. Whereas adults need to be explicitly told what they are doing and why so they can connect the desired learning outcomes to their own goals and progress.Jan 13, 2016

The key difference is in maturity in terms of cognition, psychological and physical. The adult is more mature compared to the child. Adults are able to make well thought discussions and especially those which are relevant to their daily life. an adult chooses when to learn and do assignments. Hence they are able to programme themselves depending on their daily activities.

Adult learner can engage in independent study as compared to a child learner

La plasticidad del cerebro de los niños es increíblemente mayor que la de los adultos. Es por ello que es importante tener en cuenta que a pesar de que los adultos tengan más raciocinio cognitivo, los niños gozan de una increíble adaptación.

Por otro lado es importante destacar que los adultos, a medida de los años, pierden la capacidad de adquirir conocimiento; en cambio, los niños pueden adquirir el conocimiento por lo que no se le puede enseñar de la misma a un niño, que a un adulto. Igualmente los niños son altamente receptivos (estímulos visuales, auditivos, sensitivos, emocionales) y uno como docente puede sacar provecho de esto al identificar el tipo de inteligencias que los niños poseen.

Jean Piaget explica mássobre el niño y su estilo de aprendizaje.

Children have less attention span and limited schema as compared to adults. The activities should be short and relate to the 'here and now' experience of children. They do not have extrinsic motivation to learn like adults do (for example, to earn a certificate). Therefore the activities designed for children should be engaging, interesting and fun and learning should happen incidentally. Children have rich imagination and are usually eager to learn. This characteristic feature can be gainfully used to teach children through play and drama.

Some helpful readings/ references:

1. Cameron, L. 2001. Children learning a foreign language. Chapter 1. In Teaching Languages to Young Learners. Cambridge: CUP.

2. Pinter, A. 2006. Learning and development. Chapter 1. Teaching Young Language Learners. Oxford: OUP.

3. Scott, W. A. & Ytreberg, L. H. 1990. The young language learner. Chapter 1. In Teaching English to Children. New York: Longman.

4. Moon, J. 2000. Children learning English: Children as language learners. Chapter 1. In Children Learning English. Oxford: Macmillan Heinemann.

Adults bring "baggage" into the learning environment i.e. home, work, community, life experience into the classroom. Whereas a child does not necessarily have the baggage.

Adults like to share their experiences in the learning experiences as it can contribute to and solidify their learning! As children age and gain wisdom and life experiences they too can and will share their learning but it may be in context!

For example, years ago I worked a summer program with 7th graders in fear of not being promoted to the next grade. A young man had been put out of a math class because his teacher could not be so bothered with this young man's questions for clarity of the assignment. I asked why he was out of class and he explained. I then asked what the assignment was and he said percentages and he gave me the denominations. I asked what he liked to do and he revealed that his family likes to go out to eat. We discussed the menu including appetizers, main course, desserts, beverages, etc. and discussed how he would rate the service. What the family of four typically ordered when they were out to eat was discussed and the possible prices for each of the items. We did the math and then the percentages based on the service and the denominations he was to work on. After we did the assigned denominations, his comment was "no wonder my dad gets upset when we go out to eat"! This was in relation to the meal total and the tip! Thus context!

Traditionally, there has been some difference in andragogy and pedagogy.

Knowles laid out those adult learning characteristics that were, generally speaking, the differences between adult and traditional or younger learners.

One of the key differences I still firmly hold is the level at which children and young adults and traditional adult learners process information. Adults are more capable to synthesize and form a deeper cognitive understanding of the material than younger students due to experience.

Experience is a key factor in Knowles' theory, and it's true that adults come to learning with more experience under their belts than younger students. But experience can also form biases against new learning, thus slowing or halting the learning process altogether.

What I have been seeing is how much more alike traditional students are now to adults when referring to adult learning principles. For example, of the six principles Knowles mentioned, today's students also desire in or from their learning and teaching:

- Internally motivated and self-directed (We are ALL motivated somehow to learn, and if we can reach the student and make what is being taught internal to them, then learning is far easier. Today's students are also more self-directed at a certain level than previously; we need to address that in the classrooms).

- Life experiences (While adults have acquired a wealth of life experience to bring to the classroom, traditional students, too, are now more experienced in things that we, at their age, never had to deal with. This is something to tap into when trying to form intrinsic motivation in learning.)

- Goal-oriented (Today's students have goals that either motivate them to learn or motivate them to drop out. While they may not be as concrete and reachable as the goals of an adult, we must still realize that and use that in teaching.)

- Relevancy-oriented (This, above most others, is important. WHY is it that they have to learn what is being taught? Why is Macbeth relevant to the modern 12th grade senior? What is the relevancy of learning art or music or algebra? Form those relationships and relevancy connects and they will learn!)

- Practical (Students want what they learn to actually be usable in the real world. Thus the age-old question, "When will I ever use algebra in my life outside of the classroom?" To which one can reply, every day...but give them practical examples of HOW they will use it.)

- Respect (We ALL want to be respected. Unfortunately, today's young students make it hard. They come from broken homes, homeless, fatherless, poverty, racial inequality, etc. We need to realize that respect can be given freely, even if it is not earned. Maybe by showing them respect, they can LEARN respect and how to respect others.)

( https://www.slideshare.net/Paulinemw/adult-learning-environment-april-15 )

The short answer; neurobiologically speaking, brain function. This is a short easy to read the article to get you started if you want to learn more about this perspective. https://source.wustl.edu/2005/05/adult-and-child-brains-perform-tasks-differently/#:~:text=Relative%20to%20adults%2C%20children%20tended,adult%20studies%20of%20word%20processing.

I hope this helps.

A key factor often overlooked in considering adults as students is the level of literacy they present. Many immigrants arrive from countries where there has been little access to formal education, or they have been in refugee camps for years and their education has been interrupted. Literacy learners at any age require intentional instruction in phonemic and phonological awareness that are not addressed by most teacher education programs and or commercial publishers producing adult education textbooks.

The work of Malcolm Knowles revealed six assumptions, principles, or practices about working with the adult learner (andragogy), which differ from the methods and techniques of working with children (pedagogy). The need to distinguish between the learning differences and preferences of these two groups of learners centers on the psychology of adults known as “self-concept.” Self-concept refers to an adult’s ability to exercise control over and take responsibility for their life, and to their ability to self-direct their behaviors and learning – traits that may not apply to children. Understand that no specific age references the onset of adulthood.

Based on the adragogical model of adult education, the six assumptions of andragogy are 1) self-concept, 2) experience (what one respondent called “baggage”), 3) readiness to learn depends on need, 4) problem-centered focus, 5) internal motivation, and 6) the adult need to know why a learning task is essential. Arguably, some of these principles may apply to children, but as a collective unifying theory of educating them, they do not. So, let’s explore the six tenets of adult learning and education.

1) Self-concept. Self-concept refers to an adult becoming more self-directed and independent as he/she matures. Adults generally want to choose what they want or need to learn, when they want to learn it, and how they want to know it. This principle of andragogy means that educators can provide more choices for learners to learn in different and varying ways – including collaboration.

2) Experience. Adult learners have a wealth and depth of life experiences that they bring into a new learning arena. Because of this, adult learners can contribute richness to class discussions and the learning process. Such life knowledge can make the adult learner a valuable resource for others to learn.

3) Readiness to learn depends on need. Whether an adult is ready to learn depends on what they need to know to deal with life situations. In other words, the learning must be relevant and applicable.

4) Problem centered focus. Adults need to see the immediate application of their learning. Therefore, they seek learning opportunities that will enable them to solve problems. Many adults engage in learning opportunities merely to solve a problem.

5) Internal motivation. Adults may seek learning opportunities due to some external motivator (e.g., work requirement or a financial need), and the more potent motivators (self-esteem, a better quality of life, self-actualization, etc.) are internal.

6) Adults need to know why they need to learn something. Adults need to know, “…what’s in it for me?” The adult learner needs to see how this new knowledge will help them to solve a problem or how this knowledge can be immediately applied.

References:

Knowles, M. S. & Associates. (1984). Andragogy in Action. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

Merriam, S. B., Caffarella, R. S., & Baumgartner, L. M. (2007). Learning in adulthood: A comprehensive guide (3rd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

Because adult students show an interest in specialized academic training, child students are more interested in establishing relationships with their peers and doing their homework. In my opinion, there are also cognitive differences that make adult students construct concepts that represent great conceptual complexity, for child students. They are definitely students with cognitive developments.

Adult learn with more concentration while a child can be easily distracted in the process of learning. Adult learn through lecture method while a child learn more with demonstration, play method and praise method.

I think they are distinguished by the level of mental operations for a conceptual formation of a higher level of abstraction in adult students.

I agree with Crystal, brain function is the key difference and that's why educators need to have a working knowledge of child development in order to appropriate plan their methodology to suit the needs of the learners; adult or child.

Adults, depending on their maturity and cognitive complexity, may have more of what I call Space-Time Agility. These individuals may be better able to use their cognitive abilities to take others' perspectives with dexterity and to recognize broad and long-term views. More on this:

https://www.arielphillips.org/post/anytime-and-anywhere-human-brains-and-space-time-agility