Presents Adult Persistence in Learning model which focuses on personal issues of adult learner, learning process issues, and environmental issues related to particular institution to guide counseling services for adult learners. Factors that facilitate realistic approach to adult learning provide focus. Notes that counseling interventions based on…

Unreliable assessment practices persist across the country. Regents College has reviewed over 100 randomly selected programs and created a database of assessment programs that use unreliable practices. Assessment processes and academic programs of integrity should be built on consistently valid and reliable principles. (JOW)

The general monitoring skill hypothesis states that skilled adult learners monitor their comprehension using domain-general metacognitive knowledge and domain-specific knowledge. Results with 192 undergraduates indicate that monitoring skills are correlated across multiple domains and that individuals may possess separate monitoring skills for…

Raises questions about the nature of human relationships and education in online learning. Suggests that preference for electronic learning is highly individual. Discusses issues related to image versus reality, trust, tone, subtlety, spontaneity, and authenticity in computer-mediated communication. (SK)

Traces recent developments in the design and delivery of distance education. Presents enrollment statistics on a variety of telecommunications models for postsecondary distance education in Canada. Outlines implications for institutional organization, faculty roles, and technology costs. (SK)

Illustrates the use of learners', rather than teachers', questions as well as interviews to negotiate curriculum in adult literacy and math classes. (SK)

The Adult Returners Key Skills project uses a series of teaching/learning packs to develop key skills (information technology, communications, numeracy, active citizenship). The packs help reentry students become aware of their existing abilities and prior learning experiences. (SK)

The Life Role Inventory was completed by 136 marginalized adult basic education students. Ethnicity influenced work values and adult life-roles. Females attached greater importance to roles and values. (SK)

Suggests that educational evaluation is complex and that assessing practice, philosophy of teaching and learning, and congruence between belief and action can help to improve the evaluation of adult learners. (JOW)

Approaches to learner accreditation form a continuum ranging from institutions determining outcomes and content to empowerment of learners to use their own learning from experience in a way that meets their definition of what is credit worthy. (SK)

Focus groups with 30 adult international students studying in New Zealand identified teaching practices they found helpful and ways their perspectives changed over a year. In the acculturation period, students needed detailed assistance. A supportive learning environment that welcomed difference was a key factor. (SK)

Adults returning to school may experience shyness when speaking to teachers and in seminars. Causes include lack of confidence, feeling inadequate or out of place, and imagining themselves inferior to younger students. Increasing familiarity with college and opportunities to practice academic skills in supportive conditions may help. (SK)

Shopping malls are environments in which many adults find community. They are potentially ideal for adult learning, especially via the Internet, because they can offer pacing, flexible hours, and self-direction and interaction. (SK)

To overcome resistance to distance education as a disruptive technology, deliver it where learners need it, place projects in institutional subunits, plan to fail early and inexpensively in searching for a market, and value the attributes of the disruptive project. (SK)

Interviews with 19 African-American college students age 24 and older indicated that they reentered college with a clearer sense of their goals. To them, meaningful learning had real-world relevance. Self-efficacy was a key to their success and faculty and personal support made a difference. (SK)