A study tried to determine if development can continue through middle age, if education can stimulate adult development, and, if so, what the contributing factors are. The subjects were 60 men and women who had begun doctoral studies between ages 37 and 48, half of whom had just finished and half of whom had just started. Half of the students were…

A case study investigated the linguistic and social contexts of an adult Indonesian learner of English as a second language (ESL) in Australia, and how these factors affected his language learning progress. The learner, raised in Indonesia, was a young adult of Chinese descent. The discrepancy between the learner's perceptions of his own language…

This short guide examines three types of syllabi that can be used in helping adult English-as-a-second-language (ESL) students develop functional communication skills--grammatical, topical, and functional syllabi. Examples of the types of vocabulary that would be introduced in each curriculum are provided, and the main approaches that would be…

When adult learners come to the learning program, they bring the individual "baggage" that they carry around--such as home problems, time constraints, employment problems, and positive or negative feelings about self. The baggage of an adult's life contains all that adults are, have been, and hope to be, as well as all that life means to them.…

The Tennessee State University and Community College System is focusing special attention on a particular population of nontraditional students--academically underprepared adults. In 1985, the State Board of Regents implemented the Academic Assessment and Placement Program (AAPP) at the system's universities and two-year colleges. The entry-level…

Students were surveyed to determine the outcomes of participation in an introductory social science course at the Open University (England). The 18 students were taking their first Open University course, and most had little recent formal education. Many were unsure about their ability to handle the course and did not know what to expect of it.…

Adults often prefer self-directed learning over teacher-directed, classroom-oriented learning. They feel that their life experiences and self-initiated projects teach them more than they can learn in a formal classroom situation. Persons usually do not pursue such self-directed learning, however, because of conflicting role requirements, a lack of…

Drawing upon relevant literature, this paper addresses various aspects of the administration, design, and evaluation of community service programs in community colleges. First, the paper considers administrative issues. It proposes an administrative structure for the Community Services Division, outlines the duties of the dean and director of…

A study examined the influence of cultural values on classroom behaviors of adult Vietnamese refugees. More specifically, the study was designed to determine the effect of culturally acquired attitudes and personality traits on the refugees' classroom behaviors, the relationship between these behaviors and the cognitive learning styles favored by…

A great variety and amount of teaching materials and methods related to water quality and other Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concerns have been developed. Program developers/trainers responsible for instructional programs will find in ERIC and the Instructional Resources Information System (IRIS) enough material to organize dozens of…

Preferences of students who take a Saturday class at the University of Wisconsin Center-Waukesha County were determined through a spring 1985 survey. Of the 185 Saturday students, 158 completed the survey. Findings include: the majority of the Saturday students are nontraditional-aged students, employed full time, and about two-thirds are women;…

Project REDEAL (Research and Evaluation of Distance Education for the Adult Learner) has designed a three-semester system for distance education. Design features have been recommended to maximize personal learner success as well as to have an impact on indicators of success. The individualized instructional environment recommended is a specific…

A research project studied the impact of study support on students at the upper secondary level and on adult students in Sweden. Project activities at the upper secondary level began with a survey charting social recruitment for the three- and four-year lines of upper secondary school. Measures proposed to counteract the increasing social bias of…

The role of colleges in providing educational opportunities for adults during the 1980s is discussed by the president of New York University. Relevant federal legislation is noted, along with New York University's programming for adults. The following five national priorities for adult education are considered: (1) more attention should be…

The interaction between learner attributes and instructional treatments has attracted considerable interest in the educational literature. This investigation attempted to capitalize upon the learner-attribute-by-learner-performance interaction concept in exploring the factors that have an impact upon learner motivation in distance education. Four…