A qualitative case study approach with individual and focus group interviews identified senior enlisted Army soldiers' primary motivations and perceived barriers to postsecondary education participation. The 92 interviewees shared these common characteristics: they were enlisted soldiers, were older, attended college part time, worked full time,…

A number of factors have come together to generate a renewed interest in adult learning in Organization for Economic Cooperation Development (OECD) countries, including emphasis on demand shifts associated with technology and globalization; large size of skills needs; and aging population. Major gaps in knowledge about adult learning still hinder…

This action research project implemented and evaluated an intervention for improving student engagement in the learning process. The targeted population consisted of first, third, and fifth grade students in a small, traditional, middle class community, located in central Illinois. Evidence of non-engaged behaviors were documented from teacher…

Describes a study of fifth- and sixth-grade students that assessed the relationship of group size, exposure time, and attributions on children's performance on drill and practice of tutorial microcomputer tasks. Results of hierarchical regression are discussed and it is suggested that software designers focus on appropriate feedback to enhance…

A faculty development program that encourages faculty from different disciplines to engage in research on student cognition, motivation, and self-regulated learning in their own classrooms teaches theory as well as practice. The program has been well received by faculty and has also produced useful results for academic departments and the…

This paper discusses the design and implementation of a task-oriented collaborative learning (and training) experimental project that was carried out with future language teachers. More specifically, a class of sixteen French students enrolled in a Masters of Education course were asked to create multimedia resources for a group of Australian…

We use quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate the links between participation in adult learning and self-efficacy, particularly for the subgroup of adults who had low levels of achievement at school. We focus on self-efficacy because it translates into a range of wider benefits and because it may afford protection from depression and…

A study investigated (1) whether Japanese learners of a second language have the same learning strategies as other groups previously studied, and (2) whether the experience of studying or living abroad affects learning strategy use. Subjects were 24 Japanese third-year college students, learners of English as a second language who were studying in…

During the past 10 years, the community college student population and its needs have changed, calling for community college professors to develop a better understanding of their students and to provide the appropriate classroom environment and content for this population. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, postsecondary…

Based on a long-term comparative ethnographic study in two Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) public schools, the study reported here describes what two teachers do to create successful learning contexts for the biliterate development of linguistic minority children in their classes. Two classrooms situated in contrasting community, program, and language…

If schools are to respond effectively to the problems of youth at risk, they must build "reclaiming" environments that recover alienated youths by addressing both the students' needs and the needs of society. In the first of three sections, this document examines the alienation of children in a frequently inhospitable society. Destructive…

Although the existence of small Catholic elementary schools (enrollment: 300 or less) is precarious, these institutions enable students to succeed academically beyond national norms, due to the special learning environment that they provide. The recent Small Schools Survey of Catholic elementary schools indicated that classes in small Catholic…

The classroom practice of promoting glib recitation, on cue, of the surface structures of a foreign language is criticized. This practice has been based on the belief that it equates with, or leads to, communicative performance but the author claims that the attempt to simplify language learning into a sequence of skills beginning with listening…

This paper presents the results of a study designed to provide an empirical test of a learning theory proposed by McKenzie and Staaf in which the student effort enters as an argument in the learning achievement function. The model states that final achievement in economics is equal to the initial stock of knowledge plus improvement, where…

TEACHING MACHINES HAVE SEVERAL ADVANTAGES--TIME IS SAVED, CORRECT RESPONSE IS REINFORCED IMMEDIATELY, AND STUDENTS ARE NOT PUBLICLY CONFRONTED WITH FAILURE. THERE ARE TWO APPROACHES TO THE PROGRAMED INSTRUCTION INTRINSIC TO THEIR USE--ONE (THE SKINNER METHOD) IS BASED ON FILLING IN BLANK SPACES, THE OTHER (THE CROWDER METHOD) EMPLOYS…