Maria Andree focuses on an immigrant student whose error in a laboratory activity leads to a novel, colorful outcome that she excitedly shares with peers. After engaging in class activities for a few weeks she returns to her earlier dislike of science, saying: "I hate science, particularly Chemistry." The classroom activity system…

The comments and profiles of four adult learners indicate that complex forces form a diverse population, and that institutions can build programs responsive to the individual backgrounds and motivation of this growing college audience. (MSE)

The literature and prior research findings support the belief that motivation-related strategies must be developed to support at-risk learners in postsecondary vocational programs. Essentially, two fundamental approaches have been used to conceptualize motivation. Mechanistic approaches ignore the thinking processes of humans and stress the…

Discusses the basic concepts of andragogy, or the teaching of adults. Topics include differences between children and adults; characteristics of adult learners, including time perspective, motivation, being self-directed, and experienced in life skills; and effective program design for adults. (LRW)

Research on grades 9-12 in an elite, coeducational private school in an urban area examined the effects of the school's social organization on students' commitment to educational goals and their sense of academic purpose. The author gathered data through 2 years of participant observation as a teacher-researcher and through questionnaire…

Contends that resistance is not adequately problematized in the critical pedagogy literature. Asserts that clarification is necessary to point out the multiple resistances in classrooms and their implications rather than situating resistance only with students and only in relation to social inequality or critical pedagogy. (16 citations) (VWC)

These four articles are part of an ongoing series of material directed to a statewide veterans group in Florida with regard to assessing the educational effects of the Vietnam Era GI Bill. Part 1 focuses on the manner in which the Veterans Administration (VA) relies on program starts as a measure of success rather than on completion rates. It…

Drawing from a review of the literature, this paper explores the role of university and community college faculty in teaching the growing number of adult students and potential adult students. First, section I offers background on the growth in adult enrollments at Fullerton College (California). Next, section II profiles the adult college…

While effective schools research has inspired new efforts toward improving education for all students, it is flawed by offering simplistic prescriptions based on correlational studies focusing on basic skills achievement. Effective school research and theory can be upgraded by a more careful definition of the goals of learning and a systematic…

During the past 10 years, the community college student population and its needs have changed, calling for community college professors to develop a better understanding of their students and to provide the appropriate classroom environment and content for this population. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, postsecondary…

This document, which was developed for presentation at a seminar on adult learning and safety, examines approaches to occupational safety and health (OSH) learning/training in the workplace. Section 1 examines selected factors affecting adults' learning in workplace OSH programs. The principal dimensions along which individual adult learners will…

The question of where "women returners" to education are returning from was examined through an exploration of the life histories of 18 women in southern England. The study focused on the biographies of women who regarded themselves as primarily responsible for the care of others and yet whose aspirations involved some form of continuing…