Adult participation in book discussion groups satisfies lifelong learning needs. The informal learning that takes place helps adults acquire self-knowledge and construct new meanings by connecting texts and life. (SK)

Like adult education, the field of volunteer management shows increasing movement toward professionalization. The establishment of standards--both for the profession of volunteer management and for volunteer service itself--is generating debates similar to adult educators' debates over purposes and objectives. The types of learning that occur in…

Popular misconceptions about creativity include the following: it is limited to a few unique individuals, it declines seriously with age, and it is associated with uniqueness or innovation. As the focus of creativity research has shifted from examination of the personality traits of creative individuals to examination of the social and…

Journals have a long history as a means of self-expression, and they can be used as learning tools in adult education. Types of journals include the reader response journal or literature log, the learning journal, the reflective journal, and the electronic journal. Journal writing offers several benefits for adult learners: journals are less…

In addition to the cult mystique that the notion of self-directed learning (SDL) has attained, controversy has arisen over its definition, its proper environment, and other issues. Consequently, a number of issues have arisen. The first is that adults are naturally self-directed. The reality is that adults' reactions to and capability for SDL vary…

A growing body of literature is questioning whether existing models of human development apply equally to men and women. Prevailing theories of human development have been criticized for being based on research with primarily male subjects of similar ethnic, racial, or class backgrounds. Some research supports the viewpoint that women have…

Trends and issues related to arts and humanities in adult and continuing education can be categorized in three ways: ways of knowing, informal sites of learning, and cultural pluralism. The arts and humanities are vehicles for critical reflection, and they present paths to the individual construction of knowledge that are intuitive, relational,…

Multiple, sometimes competing, purposes for adult arts education are to develop the individual, maintain the dominant culture, or change the culture; develop appreciative audiences or creative practitioners; or liberate creativity or develop technical skills. Art may be the means or a goal in itself; that is, the arts may be used for instrumental…

In one school of thought, self-directed learning (SDL) is based in the autonomous, independent individual who chooses to undertake learning for personal growth. However, another school of thought stresses the social construction of knowledge and the social context of learning. Some writers challenge the exclusive emphasis on the autonomous self…

Emerging research findings demonstrate a relationship between learning styles and approaches to using the World Wide Web and other hypermedia, especially in terms of success with information retrieval. One of the most widely used conceptions of learning styles is Witkin's Field Dependence (FD)/Field Independence (FI). FI individuals perceive…

Teaching adults should be different if adults learn differently than children do. Theories or perspectives on adult learning, such as andragogy, make a number of assertions about the characteristics of adults as learners. If there are indeed distinctive characteristics of adults, on which claims for the uniqueness and coherence of adult education…

Incidental learning is unintentional or unplanned learning that results from other activities. It occurs often in the workplace, during the use of computers, and in the process of completing tasks. Incidental learning occurs in many ways, including the following: through observation, repetition, social interaction, and problem solving; from…

Recent developments have broadened the definition of literacy to multiple literacies--bodies of knowledge, skills, and social practices with which we understand, interpret, and use the symbol systems of our culture. This compilation looks at the various literacies as the application of critical abilities to several domains of importance to adult…

A new breed of nontraditional institution has arisen to meet the demands of working adults who want to participate in lifelong learning but lack the time for full- or part-time study at a traditional institution. These new institutions range from completely virtual universities, online arms of existing institutions, learning marketplaces, or…

Howard Gardner and others have continued to expand on Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences (MI), a broad range of abilities people use to learn, solve problems, and create. Whereas most past studies and practical applications of MI theory have focused on learners in grades K-12, recent projects are extending MI to adult education. For…