Adult developmental mathematics students often work under great pressure to complete the mathematics sequences designed to help them achieve success (Bryk & Treisman, 2010). Results of a teaching experiment demonstrate how the ability to reason can be impeded by flaws in students' mental representations of mathematics. The earnestness of the…

This paper stems from a dialogue on the subjects of learning and learners: one forged out of experiences in research and teaching, and the application of psychodynamic insights, developmental psychology and recent work in the neurosciences, to thinking about adult learning and subjectivity. We argue that some notion of the self needs to be…

This collection of 58 articles from the recently-published third edition of the International Encyclopedia of Education focuses on learning, memory, attention, problem solving, concept formation, and language. Learning and cognition is the foundation of cognitive psychology and encompasses many topics including attention, memory, categorization,…

A Study was conducted to determine the effects of saliency, concept rule, and stimulus variety upon number of trials to solution and focusing strategy. A prediction of special interest was that there would be a concept rule x saliency interaction. A 2 x 2 x 3 design combined concept rule (conjunctive, inclusive disjunctive), saliency ("high" and…

This article describes how the design of digital learning objects can spark professional learning. The challenge was to build learning objects that would help experienced special education teachers, who had been teaching in math classes, to demonstrate their proficiency in middle and secondary school mathematics on the PRAXIS examination. While…

When one learns complex material, the important thing appears to be the ability to understand the material. Once understanding occurs, learning and remembering follow automatically. The conventional psychological literature says little about the processes involved in the learning of complex material--material that takes weeks, months, and even…

A series of exploratory studies and three experiments dealing with conceptual rule learning are reported in this paper. Discussants related the results to subject matter fields and to educational research and development. Four groups of subjects, five to twelve years old, solved six rule learning problems. It was concluded that younger children…

The differences among children, adolescents, and adults with respect to concept formation and learning processes and speed are discussed. (CK)

Participants aged 17-26, 39-51 and 59-76 solved concept problems to investigate intellectual correlates of concept identification as a function of stage of learning in adulthood. Differential ability-performance relations as a function of stage of learning were considerably less potent in the elderly v the young and middle aged. (Author)

This study of social capital employs data from the Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning (LSAL), funded by the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy (NCSALL) and conducted at Portland State University to increase understanding of the learning process of adults with limited formal education. It provides longitudinal data on…

Self-directed learning (SDL) is among the most productive areas of research in adult education. Malcolm S. Knowles is credited with a comprehensive synthesis of adult teaching and adult learning principles. Andragogy, the art and science of helping adults learn, lies at the heart of Knowles' work. Lucy M. Guglielmino theorized regarding the…

Increasingly, adult educators are using narrative and stories for many reasons, including their deep appeal, satisfaction, and cultural transcendence. As a fundamental structure of human meaning making narrative is a valuable classroom tool in that it can enable students to understand life events, personal actions, and solidify identity formation.…