The long range goal of the Rhode Island Adult Education program is to encourage the establishment of programs to enable all adults sixteen years and older to continue their education through secondary school and to secure training to make them more employable, productive, and responsible citizens. The State Adult Education Staff Development Plan…

Demographic trends indicate a continued population rise among the elderly, suggesting an expanded market for adult education efforts. Early retirement, unemployment due to technological change, as well as the need for older workers to stay current in their fields all point in the direction of education of the elderly. The elderly report great…

A university extension project designed to help communities provide a setting for lifelong learning opportunities and for community improvement planning was begun in New Zealand in 1975 and continues through 1977. Procedures, programs, needs, and evaluation are presented and future activities are touched on. (MF)

Nontraditional learning environments challenge instructors to develop educational formats responsive to specific objectives and milieu. Competencies related to long-term goal achievement instead of short-term information retention are highlighted. An innovative instructional format presented during an international education semester aboard the…

Investigates whether Universal Grammar (UG) is accessible to adult language learners. Advanced Korean adult acquirers of English were given a test of grammaticality judgements on English "wh-" sentences, where the relevant constraints are thought to derive from principles of UG. Clear UG effects were found. Sample instruction sheet given…

Discusses facilitative teaching, roles and relationships of teachers and students, and factors in the teaching environment that facilitate learning. Characteristics of facilitative teachers and factors that increase and decrease relevance of facilitation are outlined. Implications of facilitative teaching for training organizations, instructors,…

A workshop is described that presents faculty members in pathology with basic information about the adult learning process, how adult learning may be enhanced, and how physicians can improve their teaching skills. The workshop is seen as a practical format for teaching learning theory and teaching skills. (Author/MLW)

Ten articles focusing on adult learning services in public libraries highlight global trends, support for intentional change, counseling and information needs of adult learners, adult learner services at Pratt Library and North York (Ontario) library, process of learning, administrative considerations, political factors, and implications for…

Contains "Adult Learner and the Perkins Act" (Terry); "Special Needs Provisions of the Perkins Act" (Cobb, Kingsbury); "Strengthening the Academic Foundations of Vocational Education" (Parks, Henderson); "Planning New Directions for Consumer and Homemaking Education" (Kister, Smith, Hughes); "Sex Equity…

Describes a study conducted to gather faculty perceptions of the adult learners in their classes, to explore teaching strategies and methods used by outreach faculty, and to examine faculty motivations for teaching in an off-campus setting. Findings are reported, examined, and summarized. (CT)

Presents an unexpurgated interview with an 18-year-old prisoner soon after he learned to read and write, showing the importance of teacher caring in the process. (HOD)

Describes two experiments which assessed the ability of adult second language (L2) learners to produce and comprehend real, unreal, and past unreal English conditional sentences. Developmental differences are analyzed in relation to distinctive features. The analyses lend support to the explanatory power of markedness theory in explaining L2…

This article discusses only the perceptual modality, or sensory-intake styles of learning, and the implications for adult education. In addition, several techniques that the practitioner can utilize to assist in helping adult learners identify their learning style(s) are presented. (CT)

An emerging theme in professional development for adult literacy program staff over the past decade has been the topic of learning disabilities (LD). As adult educators have come to recognize that the effects of LD can play a significant role in the performance and retention of adult learners, many have sought answers to the following questions:…

This collection of essays is intended to spark thoughtful discussion about future directions for developmental education. The essays grew out of a conversation among 21 local, regional, and national leaders in the field of developmental education at the "First Intentional Meeting on Future Directions in Developmental Education," held in October,…