Context: Sense-making, understood as meaning making or giving meaning to experience, is an integral part of everyday life, work and learning, and is a process critical in enabling people to recognise how and when to respond to situations appropriately so that they can resolve problems effectively. Earlier studies on sense-making in educational or…

This paper reviews Participatory Action Research as an approach to teacher professional development. It maps the origins of Participatory Action Research (PAR) and discusses the benefits and challenges that have been identified by other researchers in utilizing PAR approaches in conducting research. It draws ideas of combining the features of…

This chapter looks into the changing contexts and definitions of clienteles of lifelong learners over the last quarter of a century. The author has been involved in three closely related studies on who lifelong learners are, how they access and participate in higher education (HE), and how and what are they learning in HE and summarises some of…

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…

All learners learn best when they are motivated; so do adults. Hence, the way to ensure success of students in higher education is first to know what motivates and sustains them in the learning process. Based on a study of 203 university students, this paper presents eight top most motivating factors for adult learners in higher education. These…

This report evaluates college programmes which deliver education and training in computer and digital media technology, rather than in computer usage. The report evaluates current practice and identifies important areas for further development amongst practitioners. It provides case studies of effective practice and sets out recommendations for…

This article provides a citation analysis of Lave and Wenger's work on "communities of practice" and "situated learning" over the period 1991-2001. The data relate to educational research in the UK, although comparisons are made with the USA. The findings indicate that although the text was incorporated and heavily used within…

The background of the study is the theory of "basis models of teaching and learning", a comprehensive set of models of learning processes which includes, for example, learning through experience and problem-solving. The combined use of different models of learning processes has not been fully investigated and it is frequently not clear…

Open learning provides a unique opportunity to professionals for their continuing education and capacity building. Arab Open University, Kuwait (AOU) has been a successful enterprise with an objective to address the educational needs of masses in the Arab universities. Continuing education in the Arab region was the most neglected part of the…

The main finding from research conducted in 2005 into the critical issues in teaching, learning and assessment in vocational education and training (VET) was that "quality is the major issue." While the research identified many issues--such as the need for providers to be increasingly flexible and responsive in meeting the multiple…

Despite improvements in educational indicators, such as enrolment, significant challenges remain with regard to the delivery of quality education in developing countries, particularly in rural and remote regions. In the attempt to find viable solutions to these challenges, much hope has been placed in new information and communication technologies…

It's that time of year again and "Adults Learning" has once more asked some of the outstanding authors who have contributed to the journal over the past 12 months to nominate their best and most valuable reads of 2004. The authors are: (1) Judith Summers; (2) Thomas Sticht; (3) Alison Wolf; (4) Tom Schuller; (5) Linden West; (6) Brian…