Adult learners require supports and services to help them successfully transition into taking on the demands and expectations of college students. Transition programs have grown in popularity as a means to aid adult learners as they transition to higher education. Unfortunately, previous research on adult learner participation in transition…

This mixed-methods study illustrates the implementation of Malcolm Knowles's 1986 model of learning contracts in a current Italian University context. The study attempted to improve and adapt the tool to a master's degree course at the University of Padua. Three professors conducted the integrated course, making extensive efforts to share the aims…

We ask the reader to consider a proposal for cooperative renewal in the evaluation of a course (OurU) offered in partnership between a university and community-based adult learning center. This proposal's aim is to enhance adult learners' ability to evaluate their learning experiences, with the goal of adopting more learner-directed content into…

The purpose of this article is to identify an issue that impacts individuals and institutions on a seemingly individual basis but collectively affects numerous program participants and their communities. Specifically, this article is about the tension between the need to provide student support service programming with the need to advocate for the…

Most students come to their graduate programs with academic writing skills insufficient to excel in their studies. A lack of academic writing skills among graduate students has been a problem in a college of education at a large southeastern public research university where the project described in this article was implemented. To address this…

In this reflection, the author proposes that doctoral education is currently undergoing paradigm devolution. Her perspective is that of a doctoral student, specifically a full-time graduate student working towards a Ph.D. in adult education. This fall semester marks her last of coursework, and she finds herself searching to make meaning of the…

America is becoming a less educated nation (National Commission on Adult Literacy, 2008). While this is frequently measured through comparisons of the number of adults with college degrees, strategies to address sagging educational attainment statistics in the United States are typically focused on K-12 reforms--mostly through expanded definitions…

Friends University in Kansas turned its program around by offering more programs during the evening. Success of the adult programming is attributed to business-industry support, pioneering attitudes of faculty and administrators, and adult-learner population needing flexible scheduling. (JOW)

Northern Illinois University offers ACCESS (Adult Continuing Education Services), a learning skills program for workers at a Chrysler plant in conjunction with the United Auto Workers. The project illustrates the necessity of determining mutually desired outcomes for labor, management, and educators and of flexibility on the part of universities…

This article describes the challenges Sub-Saharan African women, including the author, have experienced in their pursuit of graduate studies in the United States and successful strategies that have been adopted. The author begins with a brief overview of the education of girls and women in Sub-Saharan African countries. She then explores the…

Describes "Project Learn," a program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham to assist individuals in getting off welfare by obtaining productive employment. Discusses the five components of the program: (1) referral/screening, (2) job placement, (3) case management, (4) mentoring, and (5) educational/employability skills. Includes…

A graduate program in workplace learning at the University of Calgary evolved into a continuing online community. A 5-year evaluation revealed some key elements: use of adult learning principles, effective instructional design, timely and meaningful feedback, and a cohort model. (JOW)

By following an accreditation model used in a college or university, funding agencies can be sure that adult basic education programs are following good practices rather than structuring their services to satisfy student assessment and outcome goals. (Author/JOW)

An adult education practicum was designed to help adult learners turn theory into praxis. Supervised field experience and seminars for reflection and discussion helped professionals integrate their content knowledge with learning in practice. (SK)

As military downsizing displaces servicemembers, there is a need for policy advocates for veterans' education, coordinated national action, cooperation of colleges in accommodating veterans, systematic exchange of information, and connections among the triad of military experience, education, and jobs. (SK)