This research highlights how 20 Costa Rican women sustain their learning and overcome adversity in Colegios Nocturnos (Night High Schools), with the unrelenting support of family, friends, and their own "sense of self." Zuga (1999) stated that women's experiences are shaped by their societal position, which directly impacts their…

By leveraging research-backed strategies from the learning sciences, adult educators can help learners develop effective study habits that lead to deeper learning. This paper will discuss the harm in perpetuating neuromyths and how doing so can lead to negative outcomes for learners. Then, six strategies will be shared to help adult educators…

This paper explores futures learning strategies enacted by ecosystem building futurists working with organizations and communities for social transformation and adaptation to uncertain futures. The research is based on interviews with futurists who work as ecosystem builders to understand the "what," "how," and "why"…

For adult learners in online courses, writing is the predominant means by which all interaction takes place. As those participating in online education rely heavily on engagement with content, peers, and instructors, special attention should be given to include various activities that promote written communication to foster a positive and engaging…

In this article, learning how to learn for non traditional adult students is discussed with a focus on police officers and firefighters. Learning how to learn is particularly relevant for all returning non-traditional adults; however in the era of terrorism it is critical for the public safety officers returning to college after years of absence…

Adult learners require teaching strategies that reflect their sociological and psychological characteristics. Adults can be defined, according to Babcock, as either traditional or nontraditional learners, with nontraditional students being those attending college after age 22. The needs of these learners vary depending upon their age, with older…

A survey of study behaviors was mailed to 300 adult students enrolled in two distance learning programs of The American College. The sample included three groups: high passers, low passers, and failers. The survey instrument was a 50-item rating scale measuring study practices in six areas: elaborative processing, information processing, attitude…

Building awareness of the self as learner is central to learning. Reflecting on past experiences helps individuals elucidate undetected characteristics of themselves as learners. Active learners are more likely to experiment with new learning strategies and take risks. Because of their inquiring dispositions, they self-monitor and self-evaluate…

This research, begun in Fall 1991, explored the learning-to-learn strategies of adult students taking computer conferencing courses for college credit. It investigated how these students define effective learning and how they direct their own learning and lifestyles to meet the unique demands of this medium. This research gathered data through…

Relative effects on adult learners who received experimenter-provided elaborations or who generated personal elaborations, using strategies taught by means of detached versus embedded training, were examined in 80 employees in a professional-development course at a large corporation. Subjects were assigned to a control group, a group receiving…

This study analyzed the growing body of research on self regulation and the distinctive self regulation differences between higher and lower achieving adult learners to identify instructional principles to infuse compensatory support for weak self regulation. The following four principles are proposed: (1) prepare--the instruction should encourage…

Three experiments were conducted in order to clarify the encoding/retrieval dilemma in older adult students; and the recognition/recall test issue was also explored. First, a mnemonic technique based on the "key word" method of Funk and Tarshis was used; secondly, a semantic processing task was tried; and lastly, a repetition task, based…

The skills and approaches to study were investigated for 549 students from Hong Kong/Macau enrolled in undergraduate distance learning courses with the East Asian Open Institute. The sample included students at all stages in their studies, from those in their first year to graduates with an ordinary degree and honors graduates. Correlations…

A case study investigated the linguistic and social contexts of an adult Indonesian learner of English as a second language (ESL) in Australia, and how these factors affected his language learning progress. The learner, raised in Indonesia, was a young adult of Chinese descent. The discrepancy between the learner's perceptions of his own language…

At Florida's Miami-Dade Community College, a service learning component was implemented in a reading course designed to prepare students to pass the statewide test required to obtain an associate degree. In the service learning option, students were required to perform 15 hours of tutoring in reading to at-risk elementary students or adults,…