The Open University is playing a significant part in "compensatory" education by providing degree-level courses for large numbers of adults who for one reason or another did not go on to degree-level education after leaving school. It has attracted a large number of students from working-class backgrounds. (Author/LBH)

Describes an increasingly widely-used scheme of second-chance adult education in which adult students participated in classes with traditional community college students. (EM)

Although many community colleges need to increase their enrollments from new student populations, an inadequate job is being done to recruit women students. These community colleges must make a special effort to offer women students more than traditional options and to meet their educational needs. (JG)

A study of a course for matriculating adult students looks at the course structure, student numbers and characteristics, withdrawals and dropouts, final degree results, and the problems encountered by adult students. (MSE)

Investigates the interrelationship of several factors--phonological similarity between L1 and L2, transfer, and markedness as they relate to the acquisition of two English vowel phonemes by native speakers of Brazilian Portuguese. Phonetic and phonological similarity between L1 and L2 appear to be important factors. (LMO)

A study using problem-based, small-group techniques drawing on adult learning theories suggests this is a feasible approach to continuing medical education. Physicians use current and previous experience in the learning process and integrate new information with peer support, while the teacher facilitates learning and monitors the group process.…

Discussion of the use of interactive television to meet the needs of nontraditional adult students focuses on distance education programs at Minnesota community colleges. Cost factors and cooperation with telephone companies are discussed, and partnerships with public school systems and businesses are described. (LRW)

Describes the instructional television fixed service (ITFS) at Arizona State University which is used to televise on-campus classes to remote classrooms at branch campuses and area businesses. An evaluation of the system is provided by analyzing results of a survey designed to assess student attitudes. (LRW)

A combination of strategies that stimulates and engages graduate students, who take classes at night, is the use of cases drawn from students' personal working experiences. Material from these cases plus stories from current newspapers joined with the techniques of role playing, inquiry instruction, and Socratic dialogue create stimulating…

Jo Anne Keyes, who has struggled to go to college as an adult, has established a one-person foundation and collected over $40,000 in cash and $75,000 worth of books to help other adult students get an education. (MSE)

In a review of the literature, some of the reasons traditional college-age students withdraw are applied to adults. Conclusions regarding adults who persist versus those who drop out are offered and suggestions for increasing the retention of adult students are presented. (Author/MLW)

Observational studies focusing on adult English-as-a-second-language (ESL) students' behavior and attitudes examined different learning styles and learning strategies and suggested the need for ESL teachers to be trained to better understand and develop sensitivity toward students' individual learning styles. (Author/CB)

Details a study of learning involvement among adults through interviews with 41 males over 25 enrolled at a small New England community college. Interviews revealed that in the preceding year respondents completed an average of seven learning projects, spending 285 hours on each, and that 56 percent of the projects were self-directed. (DMM)

Describes an experiment whose principal aim was to examine how a classroom silent period, devoted almost exclusively to aural comprehension, operates. In the case of the French adult learners of English involved in this study, 60 hours proved to be a satisfactory period. (SED)

Colleges and universities have responded to the need of adults to possess academic credentials by designing programs flexible enough to fit any situation. Portfolio assessment, independent study, credit-by-exam, and credit for prior learning are among the ways people earn degrees. Some women's experiences and sources for study cited. (MLW)