This predictive study tested the theory of andragogy in a post-secondary educational setting. It produced a sound psychometric instrument (ALPDEQ). The study was one of the first to successfully isolate adult learners, a major step forward in testing andragogy. Results provided insight of andragogy's effect on two student outcomes, learning and…

Computer-based instruction (CBI) was considered the technological phenomenon to revolutionize education and training. Today, the Internet and computer technology are reported to have significantly altered the education landscape (Johnson & Aragon, 2002). The rapid advances in technology, the need for lifelong learning, and the growth of…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect that participating in online literature discussions would have on the discourse and learning of adult students. Would electronic literature (e-lit) discussions promote grand conversations? Would students feel that e-lit discussions enhanced their understanding of what they read, and, if so,…

Adults bring with them a wealth of literate experiences into adult education classrooms. And yet, they and the programs they enter often do not see such experiences as significant to their learning. This is surprising because it is often in the out-of-school experiences where the adults demonstrate the greatest sense of agency and ability with…

This research uses the National Child Development Study to investigate the effects of adult learning upon 12 outcomes that act as proxies for health and social capital. To minimise selection bias we consider changes in outcomes rather than levels. We find that adult learning plays an important role in contributing to the small shifts in attitudes…

The purpose of this study was to explore patterns of learning among adult learners in a Web-based learning environment over the study period of one year in the Open University in Tampere and Lohja in Finland. The learning environment varied from face-to-face small group sessions to Web-based online discussion sessions. During this study contextual…

It has long been orthodoxy among adult educators that those who teach adults need to take into account the existing knowledge, practices, perceptions and expectations of the learners. This is true at both central level where curricula and teaching-learning materials are developed and at local level where adult teacher/facilitator meets adult…

This article explores the ways in which prior experiences in formal learning contexts influence adult learners' views of their current context. Using interview data from five women participating in a General Educational Development program, this study suggests that these learners' constructions of previous learning contexts function as "screens"…

Little empirical evidence exists on how adult literacy learners act as consumers. Yet, adult literacy programs often employ a "functional" approach to consumer education and assume that adult learners are deficient in consumer skills. Data from a qualitative study of the consumer behaviors of adult literacy learners are used to explore how adult…

Two adult and religious educators--a Muslim and a Jew--demonstrate the impact of interreligious dialogue on personal transformation and democratic social change.

The rapid growth in the number of older adult learners presents new challenges and opportunities for adult educators. These include facilitating the development of individuals as they make the transition to their later years and of American society as it struggles to reenvision aging.

How do we teach and learn, knowing that adults are complex, connected individuals who want to change but also want to maintain continuity of the Self? (Contains 1 figure.)

The brain, a pattern-finding organ, seeks to create meaning through establishing or refining existing neural networks; this is learning. Emotion affects what is learned and what is retained.

This chapter highlights the central role of experience in learning and consciousness; it also outlines experience-based instructional processes that adult educators can use. (Contains 1 figure.)

This chapter discusses the challenges, characteristics, and transitional roles of adult learners. Implications for student services professionals are presented.