The purpose of this study is to understand the ways in which meditation practice can be used as an online pedagogical method based on adult learners' experiences with various forms of meditation practices. To arrive at this purpose, the researcher found it necessary to gather data about frequency of use, preferences, and related transformative…

Research indicates that older adult learners are faced with a multitude of obstacles and challenges during their experiences as students in higher education. A primary obstacle faced by non-traditional students is adjusting to the use of technology, compared to younger individuals, which is a trend that was exacerbated during the pandemic.…

This paper reports on the coping strategies of mature female students whilst studying a Foundation Programme at a Business School. In recent years, research has focussed less on the problems that confront adult learners and more on how they exercise personal agency and cope with the multifarious challenges of combining study with part-time…

As the number of traditional-aged students steadily declines in the United States, colleges and universities must seek to attract and enroll the large number of adults who have some college but no degree. This research sought to understand how one southern mid-sized institution recruited and enrolled a consistent number of adult learners over…

Adult learners, or undergraduate students aged 24 years or older, represent one third of the undergraduate student population in the United States. The purpose of this study was to explore the pathways to thriving for undergraduate adult learners, taking into consideration their entering characteristics and life circumstances. Thriving has been…

Adult learning and leadership concepts have received heightened interest in recent years as enrollment of students ages 25 to 34 years at degree-granting postsecondary institutions increased 35 percent between 2001 and 2015 and is projected to increase 11 percent between 2015 and 2026. The U.S. Bureau of the Census (2019) recently reported that…

This study examined nontraditional students using linguistic inquiry and word count (LIWC) of their reflective writing assignments. Participants included 364 adult students enrolled in a degree completion program. Data comprised a multiweek reflective writing assignment and demographic data, linguistically and statistically analyzed. The study…

This is a study of the process of biographical learning and how it can be observed in narration. There have not yet been empirical studies focused explicitly on the learning aspects of biographical learning, as scholars have focused more on the biographical part of the concept -- more on the question of what is learned than of how it is learned.…

At 30 sites across the United States and Puerto Rico, the Bard College Clemente Course in the Humanities provides economically and socially marginalized adults with a free college course in the humanities. The experience of non-traditional adult students, particularly adults of color, is often missing from academic literature, exacerbating past…

As three academic researchers resisting the existing recognition order through generative, non-instrumentalizing relationships, we represent a substantive move away from the prevailing developmental model of doctoral student preparation. We highlight the struggle against misrecognition in the academy. Drawing on duoethnographic methods, we explore…

Many postsecondary institutions already recognize that adults comprise a significant portion of their student body -- or they may be starting to recognize the potential for serving more adults as they face declining enrollments from their traditional student pipelines. These institutions realize that they should have programs and services in place…

In today's educational and workforce settings, the desire is for students to not only have "book knowledge" but also the ability to implement that knowledge into skills and abilities. Those desires are often met with decreasing time and money in order to help foster those knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA). Experimental Learning is a…

The North Carolina General Assembly allocated funding for the expansion of adult learner initiatives. The North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS) distributed $50,000 to each of the ten schools in FY 2022 which was from the John M. Belk Endowment (JMBE), other partners, and the state. The colleges were given until June 30, 2023 to spend the…

Recruiting in today's higher education landscape is not without challenges. Prospective students have options which means the market is saturated with advertisements and messages from postsecondary institutions of all types. And when you add the layer of recruiting students who are no longer in high school and often have competing demands, the…

In 2021, the John M. Belk Endowment (JMBE) launched NC Reconnect -- an initiative aimed at re-engaging adult learners in North Carolina. The goal of the program is to ensure adult learners across North Carolina have maximum opportunity to pursue a degree or credential at one of the state's 58 community colleges. Starting with five community…