What makes an adult learning course enjoyable and well run?

[Noodge]

I have just started working freelance tutoring adults a couple of nights a week. I've done it before, but this is different as It's my own company.

If you've been an adult learner, or are a tutor, what has made a difference for you, what for you makes a course good, enjoyable to attend?

I ask becuase I want to eventually expand and drop my PAYE work if possible, so this new, first course I am tutoring needs go to well! I need good student feedback, happy students, the course to run smoothly.

Of course the basics are a good enthusiastic tutor who's helpful and knowledgeable on their subject. But are there other things that I may not have thought of?

Do you mean an online course? One of the biggest problems with in person courses is trying to stop people who are just there for a chat I think. But that’s not a problem with Online courses.

For me the attendees being at broadly similar ability levels is important. It can be a bit soul destroying to sit in a class listening to a tutor explaining something for the umpteenth time if you got it first time round.

Face to face or online?

Skip the group 'contract'. It's been done a thousand times. Most adults know how to behave and if they don't they're the type of person to ignore the group agreement anyway.

Don't assume prior knowledge - it's a long time since school. However, equally don't assume a zero knowledge base. Find out.

No cringe introduce yourself activity. Let it happen naturally.

Give a decent break in the middle for social interaction.
Let the quiet people be quiet, no forced contributions.
Set out the course content clearly so everyone knows where they're going.

I think the tutor needs to have the confidence and people skills to manage the attendees who think they're running the course. There's always one - they seem to be there sorely to show off to other people how much they know about the subject rather than to learn!

Recognise different learning styles, be aware of and steer away from potential ambiguity.

I think it’s finding the balance between the learner feeling they’ve gotten everything they needed and wanted out of it but alongside them actively looking forward to it/ enjoying it. I’ve done courses that were enjoyable but afterwards I wished I hadn’t paid for them as they didn’t give me what I needed!

If there are a group don’t let one person take too much of your time. Also shut down anyone who has done a similar course before and wants to “shine” by knowing all the answers.

If you say at the start that there are required textbooks, use them in the lessons and/or homework. I still resent the (expensive!) textbooks I have that I've never used due to this.

If you set homework, look at it! One of the reasons I did an adult learning course a few years ago was to get feedback, it's so depressing to work on a thing and have no idea if it's good and/or if you're improving.

Based on my recent experience of an in-person evening class, don’t have too many people, have them all in the same room and what @Ilmiocompleanno said about skill level - mine was a mixed “for all” class and despite the beginners needing the most input, the tutor spent most time in the second room with the improvers (who all knew each other and the tutor).

So the beginners got frustrated at being left for long periods not making any progress and I as an experienced person in the subject ended up showing them how to do something, which then annoyed the tutor. Oh and get beginners doing projects that develop their skills gradually and which they can do without needing lots of supervision, unless you have very small class sizes.

Am now hoping that I wasn’t the know-it-all that @ArwenUndomniel describes 😬 but I really felt for the poor beginners just sat there while the tutor disappeared. Lots of them didn’t bother going back for the last few weeks of the course which was a shame.

I finished one in July, and it was awful because:
The space wasn’t appropriate. We were basically in a hallway, the light was shit, it was noisy.
The course was advertised as ‘introduction to’. The vast majority weren’t beginners, they followed the tutor from another course and he just changed the course to suit them.
Changed the order frequently: we weren’t sure which week was next.
Provided little to no materials. I’m not talking about pen and paper, but if you teach let’s say, fish eye lens, bring one and show us, we’re not going to all go out and buy a fish lens.
Really boring shit PowerPoint presentations. They are awful at the best of time.

I am doing one at the moment which is excellent. She set out from the beginning what we need and brought tonnes of materials: she asked us to bring the basics, once we mastered that, she brought out some ink and we added it to our own mediums for example. She watches you, and is able to spot limitations and teaches you little tricks.

But the simple fact you’re on here asking how to make it better, makes me think you’ll be a wonderful teacher.

Start on time. No”let’s wait five more minutes for the latecomers”.

Why wait for those who can’t be bothered to get there on time?!
lots of great advice here 😊

Don’t let one attendee dominate the room. I do a lot of CPD ( mental health field) and oh my goodness, the amount of oversharing and ‘I know best’ types there are, out there. Courses seem to bring them out. I’ve experienced attendees being disrespectful to each other, people being completely triggered, I dread to think whether they are like with their clients. People that think their way of experiencing something, is THE way everyone else does.

Contract robustly at the beginning. Good luck!

Don't bother with the ‘introduce yourselves’ bit, unless it’s a long term course. I realise now it’s just a 15 min filler exercise for the trainer. Who gives a toss about their names and one interesting fact -about them.

If this is a language or similar where a good chunk is you asking questions for the group to answer (translating lines of a text, turning a series direct statements into indirect statements, whatever), please don’t just put each one out to the group. One or two people will inevitably jump in to answer everything and it’s really annoying. Or everyone chants through it. Give attendees a pass if they don’t want to answer a question or participate in a sesssion, but otherwise assign questions. I got so tired of groups where I never got a chance to answer anything for myself.

Contracting does nothing in adult courses to stop poor behaviour. Most adults have done dozens of contracting activities and it's an absolute waste of time.

Hold the group securely, by which I mean set clear expectations eg what do you expect people to learn, how much teaching, how much self study. What attendance do you expect, if someone misses a session how do they catch up (nothing worse than keeping covering ground for people who missed a week). Also be prepared to intervene if people keep talking, be prepared to challenge if someone’s behaviour is unacceptable - have different ways of doing that. There’s nothing worse than someone getting away with inappropriate comments and the tutor not dealing with it.

While most adults have done some form of contracting before, they may not know what’s acceptable in the kind of course you’re running, so tell them. I teach different types of courses which have different expectations around, for example, confidentiality, don’t assume people know the unwritten rules for your area of specialism.
Don’t do PowerPoint karaoke, I’m assuming everyone can read so your narrative needs to add to whatever you might have on a slide deck.

Confidence in the tutor, their knowledge of subject, clear preparation and plan for each session, good mix of interested students, relevant accessible materials, opportunity for questions and feedback, clean and friendly location, value for money, clear expectations and joining instructions.

is it face to face or online? Are students joining for pleasure or as a requirement for work/dwp? Is it accredited or are you devising the courses. Do you have relevant materials, reading lists, lesson plans to organise?

@Gottodosomething2026 I agree but you can refer back to it, if you need to pull someone up on their behaviour or boot them off the course. It provides an element of protection.

That can be done using a form when signing up for the course. Don't waste 20 minutes of my time doing a cringe contracting session. I'm not a child.

I do a course where people are at different levels and it works really well. Go over homework at the start, exercises pitched at each learner's ability to work on in class, go over those. Those of us who are a bit more advanced treat it as revision.

@Gottodosomething2026yes send it out beforehand and get them to sign it but at the start of the course, reiterate main points especially around respect for others, everyone gets turn to speak etc. There’s a lot of children walking around in adult bodies out there. If there is disrespectful behaviour, you then refer back to contract.

Oh definitely this! I had to give up one language course because other people were chatting amongst themselves and I couldn’t hear what the tutor was saying. If this happens please shut it down- it is really annoying!

Some of this has been said, but to reiterate

• Start and finish on time.
• If someone arrives late, don't go back over what's been said.
• Do a very quick recap of what you covered last time at the beginning of a session, and tell them what you plan to cover today.
• If online, mute everyone during breaks or writing time - there's always someone who flushes the loo and sings to the cat when others are trying to concentrate.
• No need for a break if the session is two hours or under. Obviously people can come and go if they need a break, but unless they are a group of toddlers or have physical conditions most people can go a couple of hours without one.
• Introductions only if the group is going to be together for a long time. I don't care if Susan from Walthamstow has three cats and loves line dancing if I am never going to meet her again.
• Make it clear if you want people to ask questions throughout, or if you'd prefer them at the end, but always give a chance for people to ask for clarification of anything they don't understand.
• Use group discussions sparingly - people want to hear your input, not that of other participants, and 'breakout rooms' online are dire.
• At the end, point them in the direction of coffee - maybe in the building or if not the nearest cafe. Online, consider leaving the session open for half an hour at the end so people can chat if they want to (stay or leave as you see fit).
• Always tell people at the start whether you have brought handouts or if they need to take notes. If you promise to send an emailed handout, don't forget to do so.

A lot is about respecting people's time and money. Too often people pay for 2 hours, spend the first 5 minutes waiting for latecomers, the next 20 mins on pointless introductions, have a break in the middle, then a group chat dominated by a smartarse and finish early so someone can catch an earlier train or whatever.