For many people mathematics is something like a very huge and impressive building. It has a given structure with lots of levels and rooms. For many people this structure and therefore mathematics itself is independent from society, culture and history. It exists and mathematicians try to recover (not: to construct!) new parts of it. From this…

Most teachers of adult professionals have been teachers of a younger student population. The characteristics of adult learners and their learning process necessitates other considerations in the designing of learning experiences. Additionally, the content to be learned and the responsibilities of the teacher are essential considerations in…

Reviews some of the current literature on the sociolinguistic aspects of ESL. (RM)

The effectiveness for adults of several instructional television segments is assessed. The results have significant implications for those doing programming for instructional television for adults. (Author/DEP)

This report is a compilation of the presentations given at a three-credit workshop on self-directed adult learning held July 14-25, 1980, at Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa. An introductory section overviews the workshop, the purpose of which was to initiate the development of policy guidelines for both facilitators of learning and learners…

Guidelines and suggested instructional materials are outlined as an aid for English instructors who teach non-English-speaking adults. First, teachers are urged to recognize that learning a language is a difficult task that requires a great deal of time; that there are some sounds and words that an adult learning a new language may never be able…

The work of eight learning theorists was used to evaluate a proposed adult education/learning experience in an effort to operationalize a system for locating strengths and weaknesses in an instructional system prior to its implementation. Thirty-five implications for adult education were extrapolated from work representing the Behaviorist (B.F.…

The study of andragogy, a well developed science in Europe, is gaining greater acceptance in the United States. Malcolm Knowles introduced it to American adult educators in 1968 and has made it the central theme of his work since. The distinction between andragogy (the art and science of helping adults learn) and pedagogy (the art and science of…

THIS PRELIMINARY MANUAL OUTLINES CONTENT, ADMINISTRATIVE AND SCORING PROCEDURES, ANTECEDENT RESEARCH, AND AVAILABLE NORM DATA FOR THE TEST OF ADULT COLLEGE APTITUDE (TACA). THE TACA, A COMBINED TEST AND ANSWER SHEET ADAPTED FOR VISUAL SCORING BY AN OPTICAL SCANNER, CONSISTS OF 22 ITEMS ON BIOGRAPHICAL DATA (AGE, SEX, OCCUPATION, FAMILY AND MARITAL…

This document is the interview schedule which was used to collect the data reported in "The Adult's Learning Projects" (see note), a research study conducted to determine the basic characteristics of learning projects in several adult and youth populations. The document consists of the following: six pages of script for the interviewer…

While Jean Piaget's work as it relates to the development of childhood and adolescent cognition has long been explored, only recently has the usefulness of Piaget's theory in the study of adult cognition been studied. Recent research by educational psychologists has raised serious doubts about Piaget's theoretical position that the highest level…

Research has indicated that the elderly retain the ability to learn, and specifically to learn new languages. Furthermore, the increasingly greater proportion of old people in the population demands that their need for continued intellectual stimulation be met. In the absence of explicit motives for learning an ethnic language, Esperanto is a good…

THIS STUDY EXAMINED GROWTH MOTIVATION AS A DEVELOPING CONCEPT AND AS A THEORETICAL CONSTRUCT, AND THE IMPLICATIONS OF THIS THEORY FOR ADULT EDUCATION THEORY AND PRACTICE. SPECIAL ATTENTION WAS GIVEN TO THE THEORETICAL CONSTRUCTS OF ABRAHAM MASLOW, TO THE NATURE OF GROWTH MOTIVATION CONCEPTS IN GENERAL, AND TO FORMS OF SELF UNDERSTANDING AND…

Understanding the connection between motivation and education is crucial for the achievement of adult educational goals. In social psychological terms, for each individual the learning process proceeds selectively in the context of motivational forces. With increasing age and ego development, basic motivational forces are socially defined,…

The paper presents results of a study to assess to what extent visiting a museum is an adult learning experience. Study population was 112 adult visitors to the Ohio Historical Center in Columbus during December 1976 and January and February 1977. Visitor behavior was observed and recorded and the visitors were then interviewed for their comments…