This longitudinal case study from a Complex Dynamic Systems Theory (CDST) perspective touches upon an under-researched issue: L1 development over the lifespan. Levinson (1978) predicts three stages in adulthood: early, mid and late, with a decline in late adulthood. We examine Diane Larsen-Freeman's publications over a period of 50 years (from age…

Knowing how adults learn through work is central to understanding their development across working lives. That development is important for their personal trajectories, and ability to contribute, sustain and advance the interests of their workplaces, and collectively to the social and economic viability of their communities and nations. This paper…

This article proposes use of a life-span developmental perspective in research on adults with learning disabilities. Considerations for incorporating such essential concepts as mediating variables, context, and age-span phases into research on this population are discussed. (DB)

Considers adult educational needs according to the idea of developmental tasks along with changes in adult life cycles and calls for changes in adult education and legislation. (MF)

The adult learner can profit from instruction and novel experience. A number of educational delivery models were discussed. Aids in learning coupled with teaching strategies were suggested for inclusion in the design of learning environments. The emphasis is on maximization of capacity through recognition of individual differences. (Author/RD)

The author expands on the false assumptions implied in the title and shows how they are in error. (AG)

Research has demonstrated that learning style preferences and how they are taken into account are closely related to learner achievement and satisfaction. The Learning Style Inventory (LSI) was the first comprehensive approach to the assessment of an individual's learning style in grades 3 through 12. The Productivity Environmental Preference…

This report of the hearing before the Senate Committee on Aging concerns the question of aging and its effects on learning and working. Statements by witnesses are recorded to present the results of ongoing longitudinal studies focused on the effects of biological aging and the measurement techniques used to analyze variables associated with…

The instrumental and expressive utilities of participating in education differ among participants. To ascertain how age affects their perception of these forms of utility, questionnaires were executed by 400 middle class participants ages 18-84 in 45 classes for adults in the Chicago area. Independent variables influencing perception of utility…

The symposium celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Division of Continuing Education at the State University of New York at Buffalo; changes in higher education during those 50 years have moved adult learning into a primary area of attention. Traditional lines of learning are bluring and assumptions about the adult learner are rapidly changing.…

Differences in preparing teachers' orientations to the profession and their career goals and aspirations were examined as a function of their life stages and ages. Intensive interviews were conducted before and after the student teaching experience. Half of the student teachers were classified as returning students or adult learners. The other…

This book contains 15 papers on the following topics related to lifelong learning: lifespan development and education, capacity to learn in the lifespan, skills formation in the workplace, learning to learn in the lifespan, and implications for policy and practice. The following papers are included: "Learning for Life: New Ideas, New…

This book, which incorporates information gathered through research in the United Kingdom and the United States, explores the nature and importance of learning throughout the human life cycle. The following are among the topics examined: (1) learning and third age education (the emergence of education for adults, third age education); (2) learning…