Scholars and practitioners have always had the question of just how do adults learn since the early 1920's, which was the founding year of when adult education and professional field of practice began (Merriam, 2001). There are numerous ways that future research of adult learning and adult educational practices can contribute to theory in adult learning.Andragogy and self-directed learning were both presented to North America about the same time, and were used to differentiate adult learning from that of a child's learning (Merriam, 2001). With more and more adults entering into the workforce in the last thirty years, the demographic of higher education in the United States, and around the world has changed. The learning environment has shifted from teacher-centered to student-centered and leads students to take responsibility for their learning. "The concepts of learning over time and experiential learning complement each other well, and can be synthesized in activities that allow students to test learning schemas that integrate classroom knowledge and work-force skills in practical situations" (Harrelson & Keaver-Dunn, 2002, p.27). Experiential Learning has been around for as long a man has been on this earth. Therefore, Experiential Learning occurs naturally in all situations of life. These learning experiences can either be structured, unstructured, planned or impromptu experiences. The three theories of learning; andragogy, self-directed and experiential, will show how adults are able to learn. It is important to understand the learning preferences and techniques in adult learning.Malcolm Knowles, Stephen Brookfield and Patricia Cross are leading researchers on adult learning theories and how adults do learn. During the nineteenth century adult education was defined as being all forms of schooling and learning programs. David Kolb was also one of the key contributors to the theory of experiential learning (Kelly, 2003).
