Auditory and auditory-visual (AV) speech perception skills were examined in adults with and without language-learning disabilities (LLD). The AV stimuli consisted of congruent consonant-vowel syllables (auditory and visual syllables matched in terms of syllable being produced) and incongruent McGurk syllables (auditory syllable differed from…

When mature students enter higher education they bring with them a wealth of knowledge and experience gained in their lives outside of education. A majority of higher education institutions in the UK and elsewhere around the world have now set up systems for recognizing and accrediting such learning. However the processes of assessing learning…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect that participating in online literature discussions would have on the discourse and learning of adult students. Would electronic literature (e-lit) discussions promote grand conversations? Would students feel that e-lit discussions enhanced their understanding of what they read, and, if so,…

Adults bring with them a wealth of literate experiences into adult education classrooms. And yet, they and the programs they enter often do not see such experiences as significant to their learning. This is surprising because it is often in the out-of-school experiences where the adults demonstrate the greatest sense of agency and ability with…

The purpose of this study was to explore patterns of learning among adult learners in a Web-based learning environment over the study period of one year in the Open University in Tampere and Lohja in Finland. The learning environment varied from face-to-face small group sessions to Web-based online discussion sessions. During this study contextual…

Students in part-time courses were interviewed about their perceptions of good teaching and tutoring. The perceptions differed markedly between those with reproductive conceptions of learning and students holding self-determining ones. The former preferred didactic teaching but disliked interaction, whereas the latter had almost diametrically…

It has long been orthodoxy among adult educators that those who teach adults need to take into account the existing knowledge, practices, perceptions and expectations of the learners. This is true at both central level where curricula and teaching-learning materials are developed and at local level where adult teacher/facilitator meets adult…

This article explores the ways in which prior experiences in formal learning contexts influence adult learners' views of their current context. Using interview data from five women participating in a General Educational Development program, this study suggests that these learners' constructions of previous learning contexts function as "screens"…

Little empirical evidence exists on how adult literacy learners act as consumers. Yet, adult literacy programs often employ a "functional" approach to consumer education and assume that adult learners are deficient in consumer skills. Data from a qualitative study of the consumer behaviors of adult literacy learners are used to explore how adult…

The rapid growth in the number of older adult learners presents new challenges and opportunities for adult educators. These include facilitating the development of individuals as they make the transition to their later years and of American society as it struggles to reenvision aging.

How do we teach and learn, knowing that adults are complex, connected individuals who want to change but also want to maintain continuity of the Self? (Contains 1 figure.)

This chapter addresses ethical issues that can arise for an educator who ascribes to and practices from the theoretical perspective of transformative learning.

This chapter discusses the challenges, characteristics, and transitional roles of adult learners. Implications for student services professionals are presented.

Typically, non-credit or credit-granting adult higher-education programs are primarily staffed by non-tenured and part-time adjunct faculty. Not surprisingly, these are the faculty members with the least power to affect or influence change regarding an institution's approach to serving the adult learner population. But full-time tenured and…

Based on a qualitative study of Latin American adults enrolled in a California English as a second language (ESL) program, this article examines the ways in which gender as a social construct mediates learners' decisions and opportunities to learn English. In narratives audiotaped during life-history interviews, participants shared their varying…