Adult learners bring a greater background of life experiences to the learning situation; may experience diminished learning rates, if not ability; and approach learning from personal or professional needs, not compulsion. Effective adult learning requires time for reflection and for application and manipulation of ideas. Principals dealing with…

Although computer-based training for adults has some disadvantages, it is useful for individuation, cost effectiveness, and interactivity. Computer instruction for adults must be designed carefully, considering content organization, learner control, practice, feedback, reinforcement, and assessment. (SK)

To remain viable, classrooms must be transformed into learning communities wherein deep ideas are developed. A Pennsylvania superintendent (Owen J. Roberts School District, Pottstown, PA) describes how discussions of great literature among administrators, faculty, and board members have helped forge shared understandings as they tackled thorny…

Examines adults from China and Canada solving single-digit multiplication problems. Reports that Chinese adults were faster and made fewer errors than Canadian adults, and Chinese adults made more errors that reflect verbal-production processes that may occur after retrieval whereas Canadian adults made more errors that reflect retrieval…

A teacher developing a method to teach spiritual care to nursing students over age 25 used a journal to record and reflect on experiences. The importance of a safe and open learning environment, use of adult-learning principles, and immediate recording of journal entries was underscored. (SK)

Adult learning for citizenship (ALC) represents a necessary challenge to the dominant discourse of lifelong learning for economic development. ALC consists of four dimensions of social purpose learning: learning for inclusive, pluralistic, reflexive, and active citizenship. (SK)

Examines some of the characteristics and needs of adult learners contrasted with traditional learners in colleges and universities, and considers distance education as a vehicle to meet these needs. A case study demonstrates possibilities with different communications technologies, including videoconferencing. (LRW)

Examines issues concerning collaborative assessment of adult learners' formal coursework in a networked learning context. Considers how to make assessment a learning event in the context of lifelong learning, especially in the field of continuing professional development. (LRW)

Interviews with adults experienced in foreign language self-instruction generated profiles of language experience at learner and self-instructed language-token levels. Results showed separations between languages with and without self-instruction. The most effective learning route was starting with classwork. Ab initio self-instruction produced…

Responses from 187 of 350 human resources development (HRD) practitioners identified values in the organizational culture of HRD, including both humanistic and corporatist orientations, high priority on program planning, stronger preference for preclass over in-class skills, and emphasis on trainee reaction in evaluation. (SK)

Traces the origin and early usage of the term andragogy in the 19th and 20th centuries. Reviews the andragogy debate and the viability of the theory. Concludes with reflections on the search for identity in the field of adult education. (SK)

Critically examines British policy statements, asserting there is a gap between participants and nonparticipants in lifelong learning, and learning is an economic imperative. Reviews methods and findings of studies of adult participation, and concludes with the need to bridge the divide between discourses of lifelong learning as defined broadly or…

As the number of Indian educators rises, fewer non-Indian educators are needed. Non-Indian educators can still play a role in educating non-Indian colleagues about the philosophy of Indian education and demonstrate how principles of adult learning are compatible with it. (SK)

Underlying the discourse of lifelong learning are varying agendas and contested concepts. Even in programs designed to facilitate capacity building in community regeneration, some groups remain excluded. Social capital can be both a beneficial force and a means of reproducing inequality. (SK)

How adults change over time is best understood through consideration of three kinds of time: historical time period, chronological age, and culturally specific social timetable of life events. Time provides a context for understanding developmental processes. (SK)