Children vs. Adults

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Understanding Success in Children, Adults, & Individuals with Cognitive Impairments

Engagement in Children vs. Adults

Most people believe that there is a difference between adult and child engagement, but there are many areas that overlap. You will notice that both age groups pay attention, listen, ask questions, respond to your questions, follow requests (such as participating in activities), and react (usually with emotion such as laughter, crying, shouting etc.). Many times, engagement is seen in how well the audience interacts with each other should the activity require interacting with other audience members while performing, exploring, explaining, and experimenting. However, there are some key differences despite the similarities.

Adult learners typically feel more emotionally connected to the subject matter.
Children are typically more curious about the material being taught. They are more likely to be outwardly curious such as asking questions, responding to your questions, and partaking in activities.

Understanding Success in Children, Adults, & Individuals with Cognitive Impairments

Educational success varies, looks different across individuals, and is measured very broadly. There are several tools in the educational field to measure success, however, because you will not have time for these tools, below are a few ways that will inform you as to whether your audience member(s) is/are learning from your activities.

Children

Be engaged and make progress with the activity such as activity completion or near completion.
Follow instructions well.
Ask questions throughout, to their groups (if applicable), or at the end of the activity.
Be able to review what they learned at the end of the presentation.

Adults

Have no difficulty with understanding the information.
Follow instructions well.
Make progress with the activity such as activity completion or near completion.
Shows interest in communicating if there is an aspect of the presentation they don’t understand.

Individuals with Cognitive Impairments

Engage in some form of attention such as eye contact, physical touch, or react to sensory stimuli provided in your presentation.
Begin the activity and show signs of enjoyment such as smiling, laughing, verbal communication.

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Gilma M. Somarriba

B.A. in Psychology Florida International University

M.S. in Educational Psychology/Learning & Cognition with a specialization in Autism Spectrum Disorder Florida State University

Registered Behavior Therapist licensed by Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB)