This article uses "close-up" ethnographic research to provide an account of students' engagement with learning in a South African university. Broadly based on Halliday's [Halliday, M. A. K. (1973). "Explorations in the functions of language". London: Edward Arnold; Halliday, M. A. K. (1978). "Language as social…

Literature on academic environments, especially the department, is reviewed. Differences between teaching and learning environments are examined for the social and natural sciences, and the interaction of discipline, personal styles of faculty and students, and faculty-student relationships are examined as primary variables. (MSE)

Three broad categories are cited that describe the nature of a college or university as an organization and that potentially influence an institutions academic outcomes. These categories are: the college's formal organizational characteristics, structures, processes, and practices; its culture; and its climate. This literature review aims to…

The literature on adult learners is reviewed, and two models of adult learning are developed. Demographic, social, and technological trends that stimulate the increasing demand for learning opportunities are examined, and the views of those who see dangers in new pressures on adults to participate in organized learning activities are considered.…