This book offers critical discussion of developing inclusive theory, practice, and policy that supports the needs and experiences of adult learners within higher education settings in the UK. The first part of the book shares the research of authors, all who have lived experience of their area of expertise, and the experiences and needs of adult…

As the Australian labour market restructures and the pace of technological advances quickens, reskilling and up-skilling are now required for sustained employability. Thus, many adults embark on further study after spending a period of time in the workforce. To examine the reasons for re-engaging, and for not re-engaging with education during…

MOOCs for learning the basics of programming have become popular among people with a diverse range of backgrounds, interests and learning contexts. Studies show that learners who enrol in MOOCs tend to have different motivation from learners in traditional courses, but it is not known how motivation differs for people with different backgrounds.…

The humanist and critical principles of educational gerontology attribute different goals to education in later life. Self-Actualization is the goal of humanist educational gerontology, while empowerment, emancipation, and social change are the goals of critical educational gerontology. Liberal arts education is dominant in later-life learning.…

The main purpose of this research paper is to identify all those parameters that are factors of motivation and obstruction in the participation of the inhabitants of the island of Rhodes in lifelong learning programs. Issues pertaining to adult education are addressed through the statements of the respondents to enhance this objective, while there…

This research undertook to determine what motivates adults to continue learning while other less cognitively strenuous, and admittedly more hedonistic, choices exist. Many older adults desire to seek out and integrate knowledge about their environment, thus improving or stimulating intellectual functioning. Comparative analysis was used to…

This paper studies the motivations of 130 women who returned to education after the genocide against Tutsi. After 1994, Rwandan mature women embraced university education in greater numbers due to marginalisation at work, inhabiting a subaltern position as a consequence of their gender and secondary level of education. One way of overcoming work…

The goal of this research is to determine the effectiveness of Grammar-Translation Method on EFL adult learners. The sample of this investigation was based on 30 graduated students as a universe and a sample of 15 which represent the 50% in which 9 of them were female who represent the 60% and 6 male who represent the 40% from Impact Languages…

Through presenting empirical research exploring the connections between popular culture and informal learning, we argue that, as predicted by concepts such as self-directed learning and transformational learning, the experience of transition has a meaningful impact on adult learning. Specifically, transitions encourage adults to engage in learning…

Lifelong learning programs for older adults are expanding in university communities, given the growing emphasis on successful aging in our society. This dissertation consists of two articles that examine data from ethnographic research in a southeastern lifelong learning institute associated with a state university. Data include observations over…

This study examines the nature of adult engagement in lifelong learning in Taiwan. Previous studies have shown that gender and socioeconomic status (SES) are key variables related to equal access to education. Are these variables related to adults' engagement in lifelong learning in a specific country? This study analysed data from a survey of…

NIACE's 2010 representative sample survey of adult participation in learning in the UK shows something of a sea change in adults' engagement in learning. After years in which the numbers reporting participation in learning fell overall, and the gulf between the learning rich and the learning poor widened dramatically, there has been a major…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships of learning style characteristics to self-directed learning propensity among adult learners. The learning style characteristics investigated were learning style balance as measured by a scoring method developed by Mainemelis, Boyatzis, and Kolb (2002) and learning style dimensions as…

Gender and age differences in the effects of e-learning, including students' satisfaction and Internet self-efficacy, have been supported in prior research. What is less understood is how these differences are shaped, especially for higher aged adults. This article examines the utility of family support (tangible and emotional) and Internet…

The purpose of this paper is to report on the development of the first online self-directed inventory on the measurement of academic programme preferences (MAPP) for potential students at the Open University of Hong Kong (OUHK). In this study, trait-factor theory and personality type theory were employed. 1,963 respondents in Hong Kong were…