Problems and needs of unprepared adult learners are identified and purposes and processes for programs designed to hold them and encourage them on to more systematic study are outlined. Includes description of released time and multi-media programs at Sheffield University Department of Extra Mural Studies for trade unionists and housewives. (JT)

The author comments on the theory of adult education as a scientific discipline and the establishment of a special academic discipline in the university for teaching and doing research in adult education. Focus is on the interrelationships between the fields investigating adult and youth education. (MF)

Reports on a seven year study indiating that adults each year conduct five learning projects, each one requiring an average of one hundred hours. While some projects rely on instructors and classes and some on friends and peer groups, over 70 percent are self-planned. Some high priority directions for the future are suggested. (Author/CSS)

Characteristics of the adult learner that differ from those of the child include the adult's greater responsibilities, larger stores of information, more fixed responses, and tendency to learn best what he can use immediately. Other concerns are included. (JMD)

Reviews Kurt Lewin's theory of the action of forces on an individual as a force field, with four figures to illustrate the modification of forces toward learning goals, interpreting this to mean that the adult educator must motivate adult learners to focus on goals. (MF)

The higher education needs and interests of adults were examined and four major factors that could influence decisions to participate or not participate were identified in this study. They are designated self-development goal, affective barrier, career goal, and situation barrier. (Author/LBH)

This system has five techniques, each of which deals with a crucial part of the reading process. They are (1) language experience; (2) information reading; (3) life skills; (4) context clues; and (5) silent reading. (Author/AM)

Discusses ways in which reading can enrich adults' lives, aid in problem-solving, and provide information on many vital issues; shows how adults can develop plans for purposeful reading. (GW)

Seven guidelines for an adult typewriting program are presented to insure that the program is compatible with adult needs and characteristics. The guidelines include cooperative assessment of goals, flexibility in classroom procedures, immediate feedback, self-evaluation and self-direction, and job relevance. (MF)

Blocks to formal learning during mid-life (ages thirty-five to forty-five) are fairly prevalent. Discusses five psychological blocks to successful learning for adults in this age period and suggests ways adult educators can deal with these blocks. (EM)

After noting that adult educators should examine how to facilitate learning in a training situation, the author describes three experiential activities (for use in the opening sessions of workshops or seminars) which allow the participants to become acquainted with each other and thus, help establish an atmosphere conductive to learning. (EM)

Helping students learn how to learn should be a major teaching objective and a major teaching skill in nontraditional education. Evaluation processes, both in planning and implementation, should be consistent with knowledge, values, and goals of nontraditional education, and their basis should be a theory of adult learning. (Author/LBH)

Using a multivariate cluster analysis procedure, the authors identified five distinct types of adult learners. The unique motivational profile for each is discussed within the context of the need for postsecondary institutions to be responsive to the range of educational motivations of their adult students. (Author/LBH)

A historical justification for the need for traditional liberal learning in adult education programs to balance the vocational and experiential forms of learning is offered. (LBH)

Case studies and user surveys are examined to determine which resources are likely to be used by varied types of information seekers. The study develops a profile of how adults learn and the relevancy of public libraries to their learning project activities. (Author/EM)