A study measured the effectiveness of traditional classroom instruction versus computer-assisted instruction (CAI) in raising the competency levels of adults enrolled in adult basic education (ABE) classes one grade level for each 80 hours of instruction. Classes were conducted in Indianapolis and Richmond, Indiana, from November 1988 to April…

Across the nation, colleges are discovering a new group of students: retired learners. Special programs are emerging to meet the unique needs and interests of this mature population. This booklet describes these programs under the generic title, College Centers for Older Learners (CCOLs). CCOLs offer a stimulating college environment for older…

Both museums and public libraries are available sources of education for adults. Besides their traditional functions of collecting and preserving items from human artistic or scientific history, museums have taken on a more active role in educating the public, particularly adults. Some educational services provided by museums are dioramas, period…

The role of language transfer in the acquisition of English as a second language as indicated in the production of relative clauses was examined. Analysis of adult Arab students' written responses to a variety of test types revealed that (1) language transfer is a significant factor in second language acquisition; (2) there is a distinction…

Designed for part-time faculty at Jefferson College, this handbook answers questions regarding institutional policies and procedures and offers tips to help part-time teachers provide the best possible teacher-learner climate, touching upon a wide variety of issues related to adult learners. The first section of the handbook contains practical…

Futurists claim that computers will change the workplace and the entire society of the United States within the next few years. Already they are making many changes such as displacement of clerical workers and creation of more jobs for programmers and analysts. In the future, the majority of adults will need to be computer literate. However,…

Theoretical framework, instrument development, and psychometric qualities are reviewed for some measures of learning style currently in use with adults. Instruments reviewed include: (1) Kolb's Learning Style Inventory I; (2) Kolb's Learning Style Inventory II; (3) the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator; (4) the Productivity Environmental Preferences…

This bibliography focuses on the training needs of adults and the incorporation of the most effective training delivery systems for adults into job training programs. It includes citations exploring current training practices, methods, and philosophies in both the private sector and the educational system; how each system can learn from the…

A study tried to determine if development can continue through middle age, if education can stimulate adult development, and, if so, what the contributing factors are. The subjects were 60 men and women who had begun doctoral studies between ages 37 and 48, half of whom had just finished and half of whom had just started. Half of the students were…

This booklet was developed to help literacy instructors of older adults become more knowledgeable about these students. The guide is organized in eight sections that cover the following topics: older adults--who are they?; characteristics of older adults; barriers to learning; older adult developmental stages; the older adult learner; finding…

This guide provides the job instruction course tutor with materials for a 13-session training program for job instructors. An introduction provides information helpful as a prelude to the actual training, covering such topics as the problems of mixed ages and experience, surviving the first course, student involvement, small group skills, and the…

Recent national concern about the levels of adults' literacy skills has resulted in a demand for expanded and more efficient basic skills programs. In turn, governmental agencies at all levels, politicians, and community organizations are seeking continually increasing amounts of information about a variety of topics pertaining to literacy…

This personal narrative recounts the experiences of a group of adult learners six months after they completed a graduate diploma in adult education. They speak of their discovery that empowerment, in terms of enabling and energizing, involved a seeming contradictory sense of vulnerability in terms of "the paradox of empowerment." The…

When adult learners come to the learning program, they bring the individual "baggage" that they carry around--such as home problems, time constraints, employment problems, and positive or negative feelings about self. The baggage of an adult's life contains all that adults are, have been, and hope to be, as well as all that life means to them.…

These proceedings contain 58 papers. Selected brief titles are: "Teaching Reading in Advanced English to Adult Chinese Students" (Bao); "Analyzing the Training of Trainers and Adult Educators" (Boshier); "Knowledge Utilization in Social Work Practice" (Baskett); "Adult Education in the U.K." (Bright); "Developing Media Literacy in Adults"…