While adult literacy programs have historically been marginalized within the US educational system, there is growing interest in making these programs more academically effective. Because of this, the General Education Development (GED) exam was recently revised to be more rigorous, especially in its assessment of writing. Although these changes…

Raising skills is critical to Portugal's economic success and social well-being. As globalisation and digitalisation are transforming how people work, how societies function and how individuals interact, Portugal needs to equip its entire population with strong skills so that they can benefit from new opportunities. Portugal has put education and…

This study aimed to design a program based on visual thinking (VT) to develop the adult learners' English Language Fluency (ELF). The study started with literature review and previous studies related to VT, visual literacy, writing ability and writing fluency (WF). The researcher designed the research program, and the instruments of measuring the…

Objectives: Determine whether a specific numeracy skill cut-point(s) reflects an empirical threshold in the context of preventive health service utilization, and identify associations between numeracy and preventive health services utilization among middle-aged and older adults in the United States. Methods: A nationally representative sample (n =…

We are now in a knowledge-based age and economy. Through this new era, we have seen the ascension of socioeconomic globalization, or the interconnectedness of the world economies. The vast reach of globalization and technology have had both positive and negative effects on adult, continuing, and postsecondary education. For instance, college…

Background: Given the information/technology rich environment coupled with ongoing trends in population aging in the U.S., the central role that health literacy plays in determining health behaviors and outcomes has recently received an increasing amount of attention. Despite a growing research and policy focus on health literacy, some key…

Theater is a millenary art form that has stably maintained its minimum indispensable elements over the years. Yet, not much is known about the psychological impact of this performing art. A literature review shows a broad and sometimes contradictory spectrum of theoretical and empirical evidence. In the last few decades, however, interdisciplinary…

Purpose: This study investigated acoustic-phonetic modifications produced in noise-adapted speech (NAS) and clear speech (CS) by children, young adults, and older adults. Method: Ten children (11-13 years of age), 10 young adults (18-29 years of age), and 10 older adults (60-84 years of age) read sentences in conversational and clear speaking…

Which NP does "all" associate with in e.g. "The pandas, the children all saw"--the pandas, the children, or both? The intuition of adult Mandarin Chinese native speakers regarding the interpretation of the adverbial quantifier "dou" 'all' remains unclear and controversial, and various incommensurate theories of domain…

Assessment of support needs has received significant attention in the disability field, however, little is known about the stability of support needs scores over time. Data from 82 adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) who were reassessed with the Supports Intensity Scale-Adult (SIS-A) version as well as the SIS-A Annual…

This chapter reviews discourses about "senior" and retired faculty. These discourses suggest a deficit or burden-based view that shapes the values and practices of faculty and department chairs. Yet retired faculty can be valuable resources and help with teaching, service, and research. A process for changing departmental views to create…

Public health relies on sample surveys to monitor the health of populations and investigate factors that contribute to population health and illness. Such investigations require surveying individuals who are selected in ways that support statistical inference to the population. Faced with rising costs and declining participation, survey…

Purpose: This work evaluates whether seeing the speaker's face could improve the speech intelligibility of adults with Down syndrome (DS). This is not straightforward because DS induces a number of anatomical and motor anomalies affecting the orofacial zone. Method: A speech-in-noise perception test was used to evaluate the intelligibility of 16…

The rate of competitive employment, or employment in community settings for minimum wage or higher, of working-age individuals with disabilities trails behind individuals without disabilities in the United States. These statistics are even more alarming among Hispanic individuals who have disabilities. The purpose of this study was to explore the…

The purpose of this qualitative dissertation was to understand the narratives of gay male individuals who identify as Christian. Although some researchers have focused on conducting studies on religious topics and others on various aspects of the LGBTQ community, there remains a paucity of research that has examined the intersection of these…