Presenter's Manual

Delivering Education to the Adult Learner

The CAMEX sessions are an integral part of the industry's educational process. As you prepare for your session, it is important that you recognize your audience will be comprised of adult learners. As learners, adults expect to assume some role in their education, desire to be active participants, and want to interact with others who may share in similar interests. They have made a choice to attend your session because the topic is of personal interest or importance, they desire to gain more expertise, and/or they wish to gain meaningful information that gives them new insight on how to address current issues and challenge. Therefore, to ensure that the overall education experience is positive, you should design your session with the intent of engaging the audience in discussion, and encouraging attendees to share some of their own professional experiences.

There are some widely accepted assumptions about the adult learner, which may be useful to you as you design your session. These include:

• Adults are motivated to learn as they develop needs and interests that learning will satisfy.
• Adult orientation to learning is centered on life or work.
• Experience is the richest resource for adult learning.
• Adults need to be self-directed.
• Individual differences among adult learners increase with age and experience.

The underlying conclusion is that the adult learner is in charge of his/her own learning. You can assist the learner in acquiring new knowledge and developing new skills, but you cannot do the learning for them.

Therefore, when planning your presentation, keep the adult learner in mind and plan accordingly. Given the assumptions listed, adults expect more from their learning environment than high school or college students.

Adult learners become actively involved in the learning process and expect to take solutions back to the job. Provide them with other resource materials, ideas, and solutions during the process of presenting the materials.

As a moderator, panelist, presenter, or someone making an introduction, you are an integral part of the NACS educational process. Your participation allows NACS to reach out to others in the industry by offering them the educational support necessary to improve their professional lives. This experience also affords you the opportunity to learn from others in the industry and from experts outside the collegiate retail industry. You and your panel are responsible for providing a resource for learning. You are also responsible for determining and meeting objectives for your session, maintaining a learning climate, making the presentation clear and concise, and providing support with audiovisual materials and handouts.

It is important to maintain open communication with all those involved in your CAMEX session. Those who serve as moderators must communicate with all panelists; just as those who serve as panelists, must communicate with the moderator and NACS headquarters to ensure quality programming. Communication with the NACS Education Department is also important so that all material and equipment needs are arranged.

Indeed, your role is crucial to the continued success of CAMEX. This manual is one tool to help you on your way.

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