This article is based on results from a research project which focused on chemistry teachers and student narratives from lived experience. The purpose was to find a way to make abstract chemistry more meaningful. The project began with six experienced teachers who used narratives and stories as a didactic tool. These narratives stemmed from the…

For adult students at Lehman College, in the Bronx, and LaGuardia Community College, in Queens, the separation between politics and daily life seems practically invisible. Both colleges are part of the 23-campus CUNY system, where more than two in five of the nearly 197,000 students are 23 and older. For most of these students, it is nearly…

A 60-item questionnaire on conceptions of learning was mailed to students taking preparatory courses by distance learning with The Open University in the United Kingdom. Complete data were provided by 372 respondents. Their scores on six factor-based scales showed satisfactory internal consistency, cluster analysis identified five groups of…

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to discover how adult learners from the British Virgin Islands (BVI) experienced online distance learning. As the amalgamation of online distance education has become integrated in all facets of education within the past decade, learners in BVI had the opportunity to experience this alternative mode…

This literature review looks at the impacts of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 on English language learners (ELLs), educators and schools. A brief overview of the current state of English as a second language teaching for adult learners will first be described. Then the importance of the enactment of the NCLB of 2001 is mentioned. Both…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of four instructional methods--context clues, definition, elaboration technique, or word parts and word families--on the vocabulary growth and acquisition of adults enrolled in a community college developmental reading course. The study investigated whether performance in any or all of the four…

With the increasing number of older people in the world and their interest in education, universities play an important role in providing effective learning methodologies. This paper presents a new instructional methodology implementing inquiry-based learning (IBL) in two courses focused on alternative energies in the Program for Older People at…

Learner motivation is a key to effective instruction and is critical to creating a successful online learning environment; yet, there is a paucity of theory and empirical research on how to create a motivating online learning environment. The purpose of the present study was to explore and describe the experiences of adult learners in a…

This article examines several research questions to establish a theory model for explaining factors that influence adult learners' preferences for constructivist Internet-based learning environments (CILE). Data were gathered from 541 individual participants enrolled in adult education institutes in Taiwan for structural equation modelling (SEM)…

This paper examines article use in the L2-English of adult and child speakers of Russian, an article-less language. In earlier work on articles in adult L2-English, Ionin, Ko and Wexler (2004) proposed that speakers of article-less L1s fluctuate between dividing English articles on the basis of definiteness vs. specificity, as a result of direct…

The aim of the current study was to examine mature-aged student perceptions of university support services and barriers to study. Using a mixed methods approach, interviews and focus groups were conducted with mature-aged students to identify barriers to study, knowledge and use of current student support services, and suggestions to improve upon…

Life history methods were used to explore the literate identity of one African American woman, Orlonia, who lives and works in a small rural community in the southeastern United States. Specifically, the authors explore how Orlonia's literate identity is constantly developing throughout her life, taking place in frames of biography and history.…

The authors examined the implementation of assistive technology in a community literacy centre's writing program for adult learners. Quantitative and qualitative analyses indicated that (a) software and instructional methods for writing must be selected according to the needs of and in conjunction with adult learners, (b) learners needed…

The objective of this study was to assess the attitudes of distance education students toward the use of ICT in learning and teaching. The sample and units of analysis were 500 adult students undertaking distance education studies at the Institute of Education Development (InED), UiTM. The variables studied were computer anxiety, confidence,…

The national imperative to improve postsecondary degree completion has led to various innovations within colleges and universities to improve student retention and academic success, particularly of non-traditional learners. One innovation that has been in use since the 1970s, but is often under-promoted and under-utilized within institutions, is…