Discusses adult learner characteristics, explains events of instruction, and describes how the characteristics of adult learners can be merged with these events of instruction to help facilitate instruction in software use. Highlights include gaining attention; motivation; stimulating recall of prerequisite material; feedback; performance…

Six theme articles discuss facilitating adult learning in agricultural education; the farm management education program in Minnesota technical colleges; a field-based model for adult education in agriculture; new directions in Texas adult agricultural education; needs, benefits, operation, and funding of adult agricultural education; and…

Describes community development efforts of the Educacion Communitaria Radial (Community Education through Radio) in Bolivia during 1979-80 that encouraged cooperation within and between communities through coproduction of learning activities. The use of theater that evolved into a day-long educational fair is described, and school involvement is…

Describes the development of a Personalized Research Consultation Service (PERCS) for graduate students at Bowling Green State University. Graduate students' library research behavior and adult learning strategies are discussed; an evaluation of the program is reviewed; and the impact on library services, including computer searches and…

Describes a study that used a computer survey to investigate the relationship between computer attitudes and the selected variables of age, gender, and computer knowledge among adult basic education students in Texas. Hypotheses tested are explained, comparisons are made with a national sample, and recommendations for further studies are…

Discusses adult learners, lifelong learning, and methods for teaching the use of technology based on experiences with graduate students at Duquesne University. Examines computer hardware, computing expertise, and access to the Internet and e-mail; and considers the debate over concentrating elements of technology-based instruction into one course…

Lifelong learning is often viewed as "human resource development in drag," since debates are largely driven by economic preoccupations. Governments generally restrict their interventions to vocational, non-innovative training measures. England's faltering policy must be revamped to address needs for informal and information-age learning.…

Investigated the talk of 14 intermediate learners of English as a Second Language in a tertiary setting as they performed a passage-editing task collaboratively. Transcripts of the students' dialogs were analyzed for the kind of talk the task elicited, the grammatical items that drew the most attention from the learners, and the knowledge sources…

This paper considers initial findings of a research study examining the strategic behavior of nonnative speakers of English when they are faced with situations requiring pragmatic competence in a second language. The development of first-language pragmatic competence is described then the acquisition of pragmatic competence by adult…

In a high-quality professional development system, goals are student-centered, focused on learning, and incorporated into teachers' daily routine. School boards can foster this model by ensuring that professional development is aligned with student learning needs and district improvement plans and by providing sufficient resources. (MLH)

Describes the American Association of Community Colleges' first summit on workforce development. Presents key points from the summit, including: (1) the possible creation of a National Business Forum; (2) the marketing of community colleges as a major part of economic development in the nation; and (3) a more unified research agenda among and…

Examines use of cohorts in educational leadership programs from conceptual and practical viewpoints. Suggests ways to develop cohorts and discusses cohorts' effects on students, faculty, educational programs, and systems. Examines the potential for using cohorts to develop transformational leaders. Effective cohorts are learning laboratories that…

This special book review section contains reviews of 18 books in adult and continuing education and development. Subjects include rural development, feminist discourse, group facilitation, Paulo Freire, professional development, social change, participatory action research, and the ecology of written language. (SK)

Institutional norms, practices, and unwritten policies that further mediocrity include transferring nonperforming staff to avoid problems, tolerating inadequate or misleading evaluations, ignoring student-performance data in supervisory interactions, and shielding staff from meeting standards through work assignments. Focus, persistence, and…

Argues that community colleges give less attention to noncredit courses and programs, those that are designed to assist in some sort of job training or those that simply enrich a student's knowledge. Sees this credit-based value system as highlighting the discrepancy between what community colleges offer and what students, especially older ones,…