An action plan for adult educators working with students with disabilities includes (1) getting to know disabled people and observing their physical and psychological barriers; (2) examining curricula and facilities for accessibility; (3) using speakers with disabilities as subject experts; (4) recruiting disabled students; and (5) working with…

Two models are presented. The first illustrates five concentric spheres influencing tutor-learner relationships (personal, organizational, local, national, and international factors) affected by gender, race, and class. The second model charts positive and negative effects of these factors on the relationship. (SK)

Assumes that adult second language learners cannot achieve the same degree of proficiency in a second language as children learning a second language. An information-processing approach is presented, and the aspects of utilization, faulty or incomplete declarative knowledge, and limited working memory space are used to account for deficiencies in…

A follow-up study contrasted the performance of adult second language learners on phonological perception tasks with their performance in articulatory production. Native speakers of French (N=12) and second language learners of French at two levels of French proficiency were tested on three perception and four production tasks to identify the…

In continuing education, recruitment is the step whereby adults are inducted into a program of systematic learning; retention relates to the capacity of the program to transform the initial commitment into continuing participation. Adult students are more likely to initiate and to continue participation when recruitment and retention activities…

Describes the recruitment and retention of adult students in light of two varieties of organizational theory. Compliance theory was formulated to classify relationships between organizational representatives and "lower participants" in large organizations. Open systems theory emphasizes the nature of the interaction between an…

Addresses issues related to the recruitment, admissions, and academic success of adult students and presents a variety of institutional practices aimed at the retention of adult students. (JOW)

Recruitment and retention strategies in continuing higher education must consider both organizational and programmatic approaches and focus on the subtleties of learners' participation patterns. (Author)

The phenomenon of dropout that once plagued correspondence education can be reduced in modern distance education systems by careful recruitment techniques and counseling strategies. (Author)

Using a taxonomy of student motives and a framework of transition phases in residential experience, data from interviews with four adult students and questionnaire responses from others showed the following: residential adult students have individualized and instrumental motivations; communal life is seen as vital to the experience; and results…

The notion that adults freely choose to participate in education is problematic. Some have unconditional choice, but for others attendance may be driven by potential vocational usefulness or be necessary to keep a job or state benefits. "Voluntary" is not, therefore, a defining characteristic of adult education. (SK)

Discusses the motivational needs of adult learners; reviews motivational instructional design; and describes the development of a needs assessment instrument (the Course Effort Survey Revised) and the Adult Learner-Instruction Interaction Motivation Model which can be used to effectively plan for the motivational needs of adult learners. (Contains…

Survey responses from 879 adult students and 100 tutors in art, craft, and language courses in Gloucestershire revealed a wide range of motivations, many social, for participation. Skills acquired were used in many practical ways, including starting businesses, changing careers, and enriching volunteer work. Participation increased social…

Semistructured interviews with 14 adult basic education students from a sample of 45 were coded using grounded theory, yielding descriptions of experience in two phases: entering the class and being in class. A core category, "like school/not like school," appeared valuable in understanding how adults interpret their current experience in…

This article is concerned with classroom related reasons for dropping-out from the adult English-as-a-Second-Language classroom. It presents a novel method of discovering how adult students from various cultural backgrounds perceive language learning events. (18 references) (JL)