An old adage--the truly educated never graduate--has come to exemplify the rationale for the growth and expansion of professional continuing education (PCE) programs in the United States. This monograph is about the trends and best practices in professional continuing education. It explores how this area of higher and adult education, once the…

Many people in higher education are concerned about the declining numbers of foreign students attending New England colleges and universities. Restrictions on student visas since the September 11 terrorist attacks, along with increasing competition from higher education institutions across the country and around the globe, have both contributed to…

Using methods from conversation analysis, this microethnographic longitudinal case study traces the development of interactional competence which results from adult learners' socialization into literacy events in a modified Sustained Silent Reading (mSSR) program. The investigation focuses on two learners who participated in the mSSR program in an…

This article reports on an investigation into the attributions of success and perceived areas of strength and weakness of adult learners of English as a foreign language in the Department of Continuing Education at Minsk State Linguistic University, Belarus. The students attributed their limited progress in learning the foreign language mainly to…

Grounded in the philosophy that academic advising is a robust form of one-on-one teaching, this monograph places advising in a new light, one that brings it to the center of the institutional mission and activity. This monograph challenges all readers to embrace the tremendous potential that academic advising has for educating today's college…

Distance education is rapidly becoming the global trend for lifelong learning. This book emphasizes the importance of conceptual understanding of online distance learning and focuses on theoretical and practical challenges of online teaching and learning. It illustrates lifelong learning strategies and how technology can support the course…

Two facts have become clear since passage of the Workforce Investment Act in 1998. First, when low-skilled individuals increase their basic skills, these higher skills pay off in the labor market in the form of higher employment and earnings. Second, these earnings increases are typically modest and fall short of what people need to become…

Curriculum innovations succeed or fail according to the extent to which teachers, and to some extent students, feel that they are meaningfully involved in the process of change. For change to be effective, it cannot be simply imposed from above; rather it depends absolutely on the people who implement it. The innovations described in this book…

By estimate, more than 47% of enrollees in U.S. higher education institutions can be classified as adult learners (Creighton & Hudson, 2002). Adults pursue higher education for various reasons including personal enrichment, change of career, or a requirement for promotion. The majority of adult students enroll in community colleges to fulfill…

Several studies examining computer-mediated communications (CMC) in online courses have found low levels of participation under both voluntary (ungraded) and mandatory (graded) conditions. This is troubling since student participation is widely considered to have a positive impact on performance. Program-level data were analyzed to explore the…

The article presents a comparative analysis of educational policy and provision in Sweden and Australia, with particular emphasis on the relative investment in continuing and further education in both countries. The authors investigate the extent to which further education opportunities provide a "second chance" at learning for adults…

In seeking to explore theorists' claims that learning, education, and development in old age are linked, this qualitative study investigated how seeking a graduate or undergraduate degree functions in late-life development. Sixteen participants, ages 70 to 84, enrolled in higher education, were interviewed with a view to exploring their major…

This monograph is designed to provide a blueprint to educators on how to improve academic advising for first-year college students. Seventeen chapters are: (1) "First-Year Students: The Year 2000" (Wesley Habley); (2) "Insights from Theory: Understanding First-Year Student Development" (M. Lee Upcraft); (3) "Creating…

A study examined second language learners' interaction in the interaction stage of dictogloss to see how it might facilitate language learning. Dictogloss, a class activity, involves the teacher reading a passage aloud in class at natural speed, students taking notes for reconstruction, and students producing, in pairs or small groups, their own…

This manual is part of a Mexican series of instructional materials designed for Spanish speaking adults who are in the process of becoming literate or have recently become literate in their native language. The manual is an instructor's guide to teaching carpentry to adult students with little or no formal education. The goal of the course is to…