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.…

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 objective of this study is to add to the extant literature on graduate attributes by examining the mediating role of global/moral citizenship and lifelong learning attributes in the relation between students' scholarship attributes and their academic self-directedness in a higher-education open distance learning (ODL) environment. The Graduate…

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…

Distance education programs often try to prove their legitimacy by using methods and materials as similar as possible to those used in traditional, classroom-based, lecture-oriented courses. Since off-campus students must exhibit a certain level of independence and self-guidance to succeed, it might be more reasonable to tailor educational…

A qualitative analysis of adults' descriptions of their learning activities was conducted to determine those factors that organize nonformal learning but which apparently lie beyond the consciousness of the learner. It was hypothesized that the organizing circumstance (organizing factors external to the learner), rather than preplanning by the…

This book consists of 15 papers addressing issues and conceptions of self-directed learning. The following are included: "Self-Directed Learning as a Political Idea" (Stephen D. Brookfield); "Social Influences on Individual Commitment to Self-Directed Learning at Work" (Alan J. Brown); "Goals of Self-Learning" (Rosemary S. Caffarella); "From…

This review of self-planned learning is divided into three parts: (1) learning theory, (2) instructional theory, and (3) practitioner application. Its objective is to help participants learn about the relevance and applications to and implications for adult development and learning of psychology. In the first part behaviorism and neobehaviorism…

A British librarian reviews a number of studies on adult education and lifelong learning and the part that public libraries play in helping adult students, particularly the independent learner. (MF)

Following an Introduction by editor Gerald A. Straka that posits various definitions of self-directed learning and discusses the views of the various authors in the text, this book consists of nine papers addressing issues and conceptions of self-directed learning in Europe. The following are included: "Self-Directed Learning in Continuing…

Reviews research on the relationship between self-directed learning and selected demographic predictors. Concludes that student age may be an important determinant of success at the college level but is not significant in postsecondary art education programs. Finds that education level is a more accurate predictor among older adults. (CFR)

This article defines the cultural nature and scale of change in learning consciousness that has to take place when the organizationally-based adult learner makes the transition from formal prescriptive learning practice to self-owned, self-directed learning. It articulates some of the learning-to-learn process models that introduce, accelerate,…

A technological transformation during the past decade has eliminated the boundaries between formal and informal learning. As people adapt to a knowledge-driven society, a cultural transformation is occurring. Lifelong learning is an essential goal of education as a means to improve the quality of life for an individual, a culture, or a society.…

Six papers on various topics of adult education are contained in these proceedings. The following papers are included: (1) "Self-Guided Learning and Change," by Allen Tough--a review of research that shows that nine of ten adults engage in approximately ten hours of informal but purposeful learning per week. (2) "Needs Assessment Strategies and…

These 23 papers provide as complete a picture as possible of the current efforts in self-directed learning application and research. The papers are: "Learning about Self-Directed Learning" (Long); "Philosophical, Psychological, and Practical Justifications for Studying Self-Direction in Learning" (Long); "In Search of…