Feedback from 22 adults enrolled in evening language classes revealed a need for clear precourse information and advice, appropriate assessment and placement, and attention to group dynamics in order to retain learners in language classes. (SK)

The philosophy underlying assessment in a New Zealand adult education program rests on four assumptions: (1) assessment is integral to life and learning; (2) assessment involves power relations; (3) adult learning culture involves self-direction, critical reflection, and transformation; and (4) assessment should be valid, fair, and appropriate.…

Feedback about their learning experiences was obtained from part-time students at Hong Kong Polytechnic through videotaped focus groups. Video clips were used to develop an orientation program for new adult students and for staff development seminars on working with adult students. (SK)

Problems in research on participation in adult education include the following: (1) treatment of participants as voluntary, which ignores the growth of compulsory training in the workplace; (2) lack of knowledge about the choice to be a nonlearner; (3) individualistic focus; and (4) inadequate investigation of informal learning. (SK)

In the last decade there have been many attempts to mount online distance higher education programs on a global scale, led by the e-learning industry and university companies and consortia, some with government support: e.g. Universitas 21 Global, Cardean University, Fathom, NYUOnline and the UKe-University. A primary commercial objective has been…

This study first explores intermediate-level English learners' preferences for hypermedia annotations while they are engaged in reading a hypermedia text. Second, it examines whether multimedia annotations facilitate reading comprehension in the second language. The participants were 44 adult learners of English as a foreign language studying…

This study examined the way part-time students cope with fitting in study on top of other demands on their time. To measure the deployment of coping mechanisms, an instrument was developed based on previous qualitative work. The earlier work had identified three coping mechanisms--sacrifice, support, and negotiation of arrangements--operating in…

This study analyzed the relation between volunteer tutor training and reading instruction in 4 adult literacy programs. The data focus on tutors' choices of reading materials and strategies for assisting in the development of comprehension and word identification skills. Tutor training did not always transfer to practice, and it did not always…

What is the nature of an adult student identity? Based in social constructivist theory, this study explored coconstructed understandings of culturally and socially mediated student identities through a select group of adult undergraduates in intergenerational community college classroom contexts. Key findings elaborated the coconstruction of two…

This examination of the pedagogical and curricular characteristics and imperatives of an interdisciplinary studies program for adult learners, within a wider context of theory and practice, draws on the example of a general education course to demonstrate the vitality between interdisciplinary thinking and adult learning.

This paper discusses three technologies used in an adult continuing education Masters programme: blogging, learning objects and e-portfolios. My reflections on their use and on the literature underpinning their use form the basis of the discussion. All three of these technologies were used to promote self-directed learning, reflection and learner…

There has been a strong faith in the power of education to create and maintain many kinds of progress in society: social cohesion and order, economic growth, equality, justice, etc. The history of education is in many ways involved in the history of religion and churches. Along with the rise of the lifelong learning policy, adult education has…

Adult learners of English as a second language who speak Chinese (n = 30), Japanese (n = 28) or Spanish (n = 46) as a first language (L1), and a comparison group of native speakers (n = 22) read sentences that contain: (a) ungrammatical "wh"-extractions that violate island constraints; and (b) grammatical long-distance Subject and Object…

This article details the work of Vonda Ward--a middle-school teacher turned librarian. When Vonda Ward was a middle-school teacher, she could not get her students to share her excitement about history because they could not read its stories. That is when she realized how much subject mastery depended on the basics. Broward County Library's leaders…

What does a very active and successful auditor/accountant do when she is about to retire with adequate means but inadequate interest in traveling or golfing? She might decide to expand her adjunct work as instructor at the local university. To complement her professional knowledge of accounting and auditing, she might decide to take a few courses…