This book explores connections between the fields of foreign/second language teaching and adult learning. This interdisciplinary approach serves as a framework in order to: (a) understand the teaching methods that promote the deeper, more critical sort of language learning advocated by scholars and professional organizations, (b) understand how…

As traditional classroom settings are transitioning to online environments, teachers now face the challenge of using this medium to promote effective learning strategies, especially when teaching older age groups. Because adult learners bring a different set of understandings and skills to education than younger students, such as more job and life…

In order to enable the widespread adoption of online education, faculty must be trained in the pedagogy of teaching in this medium. This book offers an understanding of how cognition and learning theory applies to an online learning environment. Through behaviorist, constructivist, and cognitive approaches it provides strategies for incorporating…

The purpose of this study was to explore the professional learning process that teachers reported enhanced their use of technology in their classrooms. The framework for this qualitative, theory-building study was guided by research from the field of adult learning. Data were obtained from interviews of six teachers who worked in an urban science…

A generational shift is occurring in training environments worldwide, a shift that promises to bring with it a dramatic and long-lasting impact. Just as years ago, those of the Baby Boomer generation passed the torch to Generation X, today the process is starting anew with Generation X and those who have come to be known as the Millennials.…

This collection of 58 articles from the recently-published third edition of the International Encyclopedia of Education focuses on learning, memory, attention, problem solving, concept formation, and language. Learning and cognition is the foundation of cognitive psychology and encompasses many topics including attention, memory, categorization,…

The volume addresses the ways that the field of adult basic education has already been impacted by changes in technology and what needs to happen for learners and teachers to take full advantage of newly developing resources. The analysis is organized around three main themes: Learning, Teaching, and Organizing. Each section reviews relevant…

Increments in educational budgets have been devoted to professional development for teachers to help them accommodate their practices to the realities of their classrooms. Previous research has suggested that despite this significant investment, there has been little, if any, positive change. This begs the question of what else might be done to…

This article focuses on how the teachers' pedagogical awareness is displayed and shaped while they learn to use information and communication technology (ICT) in their teaching and the aim here is to increase our understanding of university teachers as learners and as developers of their pedagogical awareness. The pedagogical awareness of teachers…

Three relatively simple conceptual frameworks are suggested to help trainers diagnose optimum learning situations. At their present stage of development, the models are theories that have not been empirically tested. The models are titled the Integral Learner, Understanding versus Application, and the Diagnostic Cube. (CT)

Successful adult students employ strategies to learn, and effective adult education programs attend to the development of learning by enabling students to study learning processes in addition to content. Good learners have the ability to identify goals and the steps required to achieve them, identify the strengths of their own learning, actively…

The Self-Knowledge Inventory of Lifelong Learning Strategies (SKILLS) was developed to measure adult learning strategies in real-life learning situations. SKILLS consists of a series of 12 scenarios from real-world situations that reflect Shirk's (1990) nine general categories of learning for real-life situations and that necessitate various types…

The issue of assessing adult learning prior to formal college level study is examined and presented in this handbook. The handbook offers guidelines for setting standards, provides a review of some of the proven techniques and practices that have been used to evaluate previous learning, addresses a series of issues relevant to particular subject…

An interview study examined the assumptions about adult learning held by 28 educational policy-makers, researchers, and staff developers. Fifteen assumptions were inferred from the interview data, each forming a dimension that describes learning as experienced by the participants: (1) Adult learning experiences are envisioned as similar for all…

This book, which is designed for use by adult educators, details a comprehensive, systematic approach to designing instruction for adult learners that is based on a process of identifying learning goals and objectives, developing learning activities to meet those goals and objectives, and designing evaluation procedures to ensure that the goals…