What is essential for adult learners to ensure they are getting a return on their learning efforts?

Feedback is essential for adult learners as it provides them with the necessary information about their performance and progress, helping them to understand what they are doing well and where they can improve. In the context of adult learning, timely and constructive feedback fosters a deeper understanding of the material, reinforces learning objectives, and motivates learners to engage with the content more effectively.

For adult learners who often have prior knowledge and real-world experiences, feedback shapes their learning by validating their experiences and guiding them toward achieving their educational goals. This continuous loop of feedback helps learners adjust their strategies, thereby ensuring they maximize the return on their learning efforts and feel more confident in their abilities.

Additional training sessions and structured lesson plans are valuable components of the learning process but do not directly address the ongoing evaluation and enhancement of learning that feedback provides. Peer assessments can also contribute positively, but they may not offer the same level of guided insight that specific feedback from instructors or mentors does, making feedback a cornerstone of effective adult education.