During the next twenty years, a significantly expanding adult population and decreasing youth population will cause education for adults to be an increasing concern to the educational system. Out of necessity, an increasing proportion of the resources in education will be directed towards educating adults. Challenges which present themselves are how adults learn, what they want to learn, and where they want to learn. Research needed to launch a comprehensive system of adult education is unfortunately lacking. A basis for future implications for research and development for adult education is to be found in Mezirow's approach to research, which answers six significant questions: (1) How many adults learn through learning projects? (2) Who is responsible for planning the learning? (3) What motivates adults to learn in this way? (4) Where does this learning take place? (5) Why do adults choose to learn on their own rather than take a course? and (6) Is this research not confirming the learning behavior of educated adults? Implications for research include the need for further data on self-directed learning and the adult learner. (Questions and answers are appended.) (YLB)