Cleary it is no longer possible to think about learning without context. Although context cannot be ignored anymore, educators often struggle to explain how people learn in "and" with various contexts. Situated cognition and cultural--historical activity theory (CHAT) hold promise for understanding how adult learners are cultural and historical…

While there may be similarities between adults and children in how they learn (such as language, interaction and communication), many writers argue that adult learners are different from child learners in a number of ways. This article aims to review how adults learn through examining one particular theory of adult learning. Two conflicting…

There are 54 million working adults in the United States without bachelor's degrees (Pusser et al., 2007). Many would like to obtain a college degree but need an educational program that fits their needs. A viable alternative to a traditional college program is an accelerated program in a cohort format. This article highlights best practices for…

In this chapter, two women doctoral candidates examine the nature and function of support systems in graduate adult education. Recommendations and strategies for building social capital in the academy are also discussed.

It is now generally agreed that some form of focus on the target code is necessary in adult L2 instruction. One question that remains to be answered is whether all aspects of L2 grammar are equally amenable to pedagogic intervention. A number of researchers have examined the effectiveness of instruction with regard to simple vs. difficult grammar…

Concerns about social rejection can be disruptive in an academic context. We set out to train a positive cognitive habit that would buffer against social and performance threat thereby making students less vulnerable and more resilient to rejection. Participants from adult education centers (n=150) were first trained to inhibit rejection using a…

This research is an exploratory multiple case study of adult serving undergraduate colleges and universities. Using the Council of Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) Principles of Effective Practice for Serving Adult Learners, this study examines the differences of adult serving undergraduate colleges across the three sectors of higher…

This descriptive case study explored how repurposing and a pedagogical-based instructional design model, the multimodal model (Picciano, 2009), were used to create quality courses in a rapid development setting at a Midwestern land grant university. Data triangulation was used to secure data from faculty member interviews, course syllabi, and…

Online learning in higher education has increased substantially over the past five years with community colleges in the forefront of most of this growth. The California Community Colleges System, the nation's largest higher education system, has increased its online offerings among its 110 colleges. But student success rates for online learning…

Adults are a significant, growing part of today's postsecondary education demographic that may face special challenges that classify them as at-risk. Specifically, adult "at-risk" students may be recent immigrants to the United States, residents of a home where English is not the native language, members of a minority group, employees working…

The FE (further education) and and Skills sector will be transformed by the announcements of the Spending Review. The impact will be far more wide-reaching than a simple reduction in the amount of central funding the sector will receive from government. The decisions taken will directly affect issues as diverse as uptake, retention, curricula,…

This report reviews the engagement of older learners (defined as those aged 50 and over) in education and training with particular reference to their involvement in higher education. The ageing of populations was one of the most important trends in the 20th century and will raise major challenges in this century. Appended are: (1) Selected UK…

Teachers of adults learning English often compete with many demands on learners' attention. Concerns about family, jobs, money, and transportation; fatigue; and negative past experiences with education are some of the factors that might inhibit an adult learner's full engagement in class. In a study of learner engagement in adult literacy…

Between 42 and 45 percent of American students are "adult learners." They're over 25. They're returning to school for career change more than career advancement. And they're challenging the educational world to understand and meet their needs. Educational institutions have adult learners squarely on their radars. Over-25s are among the fastest…

This paper focuses on some of the author's research studies over the past thirty years and places these in a wider context to reflect on research into affective issues in learning technologies over this period, and to consider whether and how the issues uncovered by research have changed as technologies have developed over time. Three issues are…