All around the globe, the development of digital skills is considered a priority because individuals are increasingly asked to interact with digital information. Digital literacy is required to communicate effectively and accomplish social and work-related tasks. Although there is a significant body of literature on the development of digital…

In further education (FE), teachers and trainers are not legally required to undertake continuing professional development (CPD), with this mandate removed in 2013. Nevertheless, the Education and Training Foundation has emphasised the importance of maintaining and updating professional knowledge. Literature highlights CPD's contentious role among…

Students in adult education (AE) programs have limited access to quality writing instruction due to lack of empirical research. The current study is part of a larger research project to design and test the feasibility and effectiveness of a writing curriculum based on strategy instruction with self-regulation. We present the findings of our…

"Grow Your Own" (GYO) programs have emerged as a new approach to expanding teacher supply, addressing localized shortages, and diversifying the profession. However, little is known about the scale and design of GYO programs, which recruit and support individuals from the local community to become teachers. We conduct a quantitative…

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) technologies have introduced significant changes to higher education, but the role of Embodied GenAI Agents in Mixed Reality (MR) environments is still relatively unexplored. This study was carried out to develop an embodied GenAI system designed to facilitate active learning, self-regulated learning and…

This 5-year research project was based on an NSF S-STEM research grant (1742118) focused on student veteran education and workforce preparation. We addressed STEM workforce and defence community needs by providing targeted scholarships and support for veteran students pursuing engineering degrees. Our aim was to enhance the workforce by improving…

The number of mature students in PhD programs in Canada has increased over recent years. While research suggests older adults are more intrinsically motivated and tend to academically outperform their younger peers, studies generally focus on the problems and barriers mature students frequently encounter. The purpose of this research is to fill a…

Liberal education in the United States begins with the premise of inclusion, a response to histories of exclusion of members of marginalised communities. Inclusive practice is developed to validate diverse students by acknowledging and incorporating these students' cultures, languages and histories into regular classroom practice. However, in…

Drawing from Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grant evaluations and interviews with the field, this chapter includes examples of three cases that integrated advising and prior learning assessment for adults returning to education, and discusses the benefits and drawbacks of each approach.

Technological resources have the potential to improve the quality of life in a context in which social pressure for the use of these tools is increasing. In this sense, the adoption of technological resources by the elderly is a highly complex issue because numerous and varied factors are involved. Precisely for this reason, this study aims to…

This article aims to examine how to improve the support for working learners in their learning and education based on the findings of the issue's articles. For this, I focus on describing what can be learned from the articles' findings and, based on that information, discuss directions and practices necessary to support adult working learners. I…

The issue of proximity for adult students has become increasingly salient as age demographics shift in higher education and states propose initiatives to increase adult degree completers. One way of alleviating proximity barriers for adults at universities has been to increase online courses and degrees. Nationally, online education experienced…

Learning analytics provides a novel means to examine various aspects of students' learning and to support them in their individual endeavors. The purpose of this study was to explore the potential of learning analytics to provide insights into non-traditional, vocational practical nurse students' (N = 132) motivational profiles for choosing their…

The problem at the southeastern university study site is that adult nontraditional learners taking classes on campus are graduating at a low rate, which may indicate a lack of needed support services. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore the learning support needs of adult nontraditional learners and institutional support…

Micro-credentials have been used in the education setting for many years. Adult learners have taken micro-credential courses to improve their skills to perform their jobs successfully. The federal technology transfer professional has limited professional development opportunities to perform their jobs better. This dissertation study examined the…