Recognition of prior learning (RPL) is based on the principle that valuable learning, worthy of recognition, takes place outside formal education. In the context of higher education, legislation provides an enabling framework for the implementation of RPL. However, RPL will only gain its rightful position if it can ensure the RPL candidates'…

Learning Forward's new Learning Designs standard is an important reminder that shaping professional learning as opportunities for adults to learn and grow is essential and that one's understanding of how adults learn is an essential component of this pressing goal. This article discusses the three strands of the Learning Designs standard: (1)…

This study explores professional learning of teachers in a web-based Open-Ended Learning Environment (OELE). Adult learning theorists suggest that adults are self-directed, experience-based, personally- and socially-related, problem-oriented, and application-focused learners. Constructivists suggest that the OELE affords learners opportunities to…

Objective: Professional siloing within medical institutions has been identified as a problem in medical education, including resident training. The authors discuss how trainees from different disciplines can collaborate to address this problem. Method: A group of trainees from psychiatry, developmental medicine, neurology, and education came…

Adult learners that enter today's higher education community bring learning styles and life experiences that may either be critical foundations for future success or deeply entrenched beliefs that hinder learning in the academic environment. As adult learners enroll in their entry level courses, college instructors will need to realize that these…

We live in an era of unique challenges requiring us to face a new reality mired in information overload for the 21st Century. This new reality emphasizes the critical need for educational leaders who can think and act systemically rather than bureaucratically. The bureaucratic model inherited from the Industrial Era still prevails in many…

In reading the last section of their primary text, "Learning in Adulthood: A Comprehensive Guide" by Merriam, Caffarella, and Baumgartner (2007) in his Adult Learning and Development class, the author continued to feel as though he was being self-assured of his previous learning experiences once again. The final section of the text focused on…

Educators and Trainers both focus on adult learning theory when teaching. In the workforce, as well as in higher education, current literature pertaining to adult learners tends to lump all adults into the same category. Scant research exists that reviews the adult learner through a generational lens. This paper examines the elements that engage…

We don't have a lot of evidence of what people see and think about communities after the fact. What are their worldviews when they look at experiences in blended learning communities in retrospect? Which elements do they find most meaningful? This study explores the character, meaning, and impact of community using the lived experiences of…

This integrative literature review synthesizes the concepts and process of organizational knowledge creation with theories of individual learning. The knowledge conversion concept (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995; Nonaka, Toyama, & Byosiere, 2001) is used as the basis of the organizational knowledge creation process, while major learning theories relevant…

This article aims to develop a paradigm of lifelong learning situations. The starting point is the EU-Commission policy document where three kinds of learning situations are identified: formal, non-formal and informal. The article tries to deepen this categorisation by searching for the underlying ontological and epistemological dimensions. The…

The Communities of Practice (CofP) framework and theories of engaged participation have profoundly shaped how we theorize, investigate, and represent a variety of learning and teaching processes, both in and out of classroom contexts. Within this framework, useful distinctions have been made between a teaching curriculum and a learning curriculum,…

The online educational environment is increasingly being used by adults and should be designed based on the needs of adult learners. This article discusses andragogy, an important adult learning theory, and reviews three other adult learning theories: self-directed learning, experiential learning, and transformational learning. During this…

The expanding field of adult learning encompasses the study and practice of utilizing sound instructional design principals, technology, and learning theory as a means to solve educational challenges and human performance issues relating to adults, often occurring online. This book disseminates current issues and trends emerging in the field of…

A complete theory of adult learning must take into consideration the learner, learning process, and context. Andragogy, self-directed learning, consciousness, critical theory, feminism, transformational learning, and situated cognition contribute to understanding of this complex phenomenon. (SK)