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Copyright of Jordanian Educational Journal is the property of Association of Arab Universities and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This qualitative study investigated how educators in urban second-chance high school settings made sense of their work with formerly disconnected youth. Using Duncan-Andrade’s framework of critical hope, we examined how adults’ orientations toward hope shaped the educational context in ways that were necessary and sufficient for student success. Findings from this study highlight the need for more critical approaches to student engagement, specifically for students most affected by systems of marginalization. Implications for urban educators and the institutions that prepare them are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter identifies directions for future ABE research and suggests how researchers and practitioners can enrich the field's knowledge base. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter on high school equivalency describes recent events involved in updating the adult education high school equivalency assessment services and the entrance of additional assessments into the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the story of Chandra (her real name), a middle-aged, Guyanese-American woman attending an adult education center in the Northeast United States. Chandra grew up in extreme poverty in Guyana, and was taken out of school at age eight to help meet the family's basic needs. At age 22, she immigrated to the United States in hopes of better opportunities. Through narrative methods, Chandra's story is constructed from 34, narrative and expository, written texts that she composed for a literacy tutoring program, as well as three, in-depth, oral interviews. The result is a moving account of Chandra's childhood in Guyana, immigration and acculturation in the United States, and her determination to continue her education despite the obstacles she has faced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been observed that every culture has its own attribution behavior with which individuals in the community perceived it to be based on their understanding. The purpose of the present study was to find out how the Indian students attribute the foreign students and also how the foreign students attribute the Indian students. In this study the sample of 40 students was used which included 20 students from foreign country and 20 students from India, comprising of 10 male and 10 female students in each group. In this study content analysis method was used to analyze the data collected on 30 variables. Based on the findings theses variables arc found to be attributed to the foreign students which includes Diligent, Aggression, Social, Familial, Resilience, and Creativity, while the Indian students arc found to be attributed with the following variables which includes Corruption, Gossiping, Offering help, Racism, Values, Expressing Emotions, Hypocrite, Arrogant. In addition the remaining variables were found to be attributed to both group of students which includes Intelligent, Needing Help, Empathy, Equality, Security, Communication, Dressing, Health, Life style. Career, Hospitable, Memorable Moment, First Impression, Occasion, Cheating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do we account for the close personal bonds and deeply caring relationships forged by educators with learners in many adult educational encounters? The literature is relatively silent on the emotional and relational basis to adult educator work. This is a serious silence, given the stressful nature of adult education in developing contexts such as South Africa and the relative vulnerability of such educators. This article addresses this gap by exploring a range of theoretical and conceptual frameworks which may help navigate the relational and affective landscape of adult educator work as care work. Here the frameworks of African perspectives on learning, feminist perspectives on learning, expanded conceptions of transformative learning and Freire’s pedagogy of love are considered. The second part of the article shares some findings on adult educators’ emotional and relational bonds with learners from a study of the Human Rights Democracy and Development project and discusses these practices in light of the theories discussed. A summative table of the various frameworks together with a discussion of their implications for adult education practice, research and policy forms part of this latter section. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the growing number of adult students in higher education in the U.S. It states that students, particulary 50 years and above, higher education institutions strive to meet the specific needs of these group of learners, thus, increasing the number of educational grant programs. An overview of the support these students get from community colleges is also offered.

In this study we examine the long-term impact of second chance education (SCE) on incomes of poorly educated individuals who live in Sweden but were not born in a Nordic country, using data on income changes from 1992 to 2003 compiled by Statistics Sweden. Ordinary Least Squares regression analyses show that participation in SCE increased the work income of non-Nordics by a higher percentage than that of Nordics. The results also indicate that much of the effects of SCE on non-Nordics are related to increases in “Sweden-specific” human capital, rather than increases in their educational level per se, which seems to provide a form of ‘endowment insurance’ that improves their labour market position in Sweden. Relying on the theoretical framework of the Capability Approach, we conclude that such effects are related to the instrumental economic value of individuals’ capability to be educated, as well as the value of material well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Context: One of the most important factors of medical education that can revolutionize the learning process in postgraduate students (PGs) is assessment for learning by means of formative assessment (FA). FA is directed at steering and fostering learning of the students by providing feedback to the learner . However, though theoretically well suited to postgraduate training, evidence are emerging that engaging stakeholders in FA in daily clinical practice is quite complex. Aims: To explore perceptions of PGs and teachers (Ts) about factors that determines active engagement in FA. Subjects and Methods: It was a descriptive qualitative study involving focus group discussions (FGDs) with PGs and Ts from Departments of Pediatrics and Orthopedics. FGDs data were processed through points/remarks, data reduction, data display, coding followed by theme generation for content analysis. Results: Four higher order themes emerged: Harsh reality of present summative assessment structure, individual perspectives on feedback, supportiveness of the learning environment, and the credibility of feedback and/or feedback giver . Conclusions: Engaging in FA with a genuine impact on learning is complex and quite a challenge to both students and Ts. Increased acceptability along with the effective implementation of FA structure, individual perspectives on feedback, a supportive learning environment and credibility of feedback are all important in this process. Every one of these should be taken into account when the utility of FA in postgraduate medical training is evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Irish public policy strongly promotes greater flexibility in higher education. This review paper examines Irish policy conceptualisations of flexible learning. The review finds that the promotion of flexible learning is positioned within strongly economistic discourses of lifelong learning, and primarily in human capital terms of meeting the skills needs of the workforce. Irish policy largely presents flexible learning approaches unproblematically as positive and beneficial. This paper demonstrates that flexible learning is not an unproblematic concept and reveals some problems and tensions relating to Irish flexible learning policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter frames the transition to adulthood in the context of the moving from formal educational settings to the often less-structured learning that occurs in workplace settings. Although schooling may end, learning continues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter discusses the influence of cultural identity and social conditions on the transition to adulthood in a stratified, multicultural context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter provides an overview of theories of the transition to young adulthood. It sets out the argument for conceptual renewal and discusses some implications of new patterns of transition for adult education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter focuses on the transitional experiences of youth with dis/ability labels and highlights how a critical orientation to dis/ability can inform adult educators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter considers how transitions to adulthood have been historically represented and presents alternative ways of thinking about transitions to adulthood through the context of adult basic education programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Student parents (i.e. students who have their own dependent children) are a specific subpopulation of adult learners. This study investigated the impact of self-efficacy beliefs on student parents’ perceived capacity to manage multiple roles and their satisfaction with family, school and life. Survey data collected from 398 student parents enroled at four Canadian universities were analysed. Latent variable analysis was conducted using maximum likelihood estimation with robust standard errors using Mplus. Self-efficacy beliefs were found to influence student parents’ perceptions of satisfaction at school, in the family and with life in general. Perceptions of one’s capacity to manage multiple roles (i.e. school–family balance) were found to mediate the relationship between academic self-efficacy and school satisfaction as well as parental self-efficacy and family satisfaction. Furthermore, preliminary evidence is provided of unique subgroups within the student parent population based on children’s ages, partner status and enrolment status (i.e. full/part-time studies). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The present study focuses on the link between three global personality traits (Psychoticism, Extraversion, and Neuroticism), one sociobiographical factor (knowledge of languages), and levels of foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA; Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986) in the second (L2), third (L3), and fourth (L4) language of two groups of adult language learners and users. The first group consisted of 86 students who were enrolled at Birkbeck College, University of London, and the second group consisted of 62 students from University of Les Illes Balears in Mallorca, Spain. The main aim was to examine whether, as is generally reported in the Second Language Acquisition literature, FLCA is unrelated to a basic personality trait reflecting anxiety (Neuroticism). Contrary to other findings in the field, correlation analyses revealed a significant link between Neuroticism and FLCA in the foreign languages of both groups, sharing between 9% and 25% of variance. Moderately significant relationships were found among Psychoticism, Extraversion, and FLCA in one group only. Language knowledge had an effect on FLCA in some languages. Strong correlations between FLCA values in L2, L3, and L4 suggest that levels of FLCA are relatively stable across the foreign languages known by the learners/users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent surveys and research on second language (L2)/foreign language acquisition help explain the challenges that postsecondary students in lower-level foreign language (FL) courses may experience. The present study extends this line of research by examining changes in students' affective profiles in a two-year Japanese program (n = 382) at an American university. The results indicated that students who reached the end of the program perceived more social, economical, integrative, and other value in learning Japanese than those at the beginning of the program. Results also showed that students appeared to expend significantly less effort in learning the language at the end of the program than at the beginning. This article urges FL instructors, especially those in lower-level courses, to carefully consider issues of motivation in these and other courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author discusses higher education in further education colleges. The author says that nature of higher education in further education colleges are badly understood due to scale, complexity and status. He states that colleges offer types and levels below higher education and provide variety of higher-level professional and technical qualifications. He adds most of the colleges are expecting growth in the student number on higher education programmes in England.

It has become apparent through the work of many researchers and practitioners that adults learn differently than their younger counterparts in the educational system. This is especially important to those educators teaching in colleges and universities in the sciences. Biology education in the post-secondary setting is inundated with teachers who know biology backward and forward but lack the skills to effectively teach that knowledge to others. By applying the theories of andragogy, transformational learning, and experiential learning, and by integrating practices of self-directed and critical reflection, we can improve the effectiveness of biology education in America colleges and universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Monografias Ambientais is the property of Revista Monografias Ambientais and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The 160 third, seventh, and eleventh-graders involved in this study agreed, almost unanimously, that reading was "important." Participants cited the empowering benefits of reading as they justified this opinion. However, with regards to the enjoyment of reading, fewer middle and high school participants reported "liking" reading than their elementary counterparts and fewer reported reading in their free time. One solution to this dilemma involves providing adolescent students with a context devoted solely to pleasure reading. In doing so, educators can look to an institution that boasts both an historical link to literate culture and current-day pop culture appeal: the coffeehouse. When combined with more traditional forms of literacy instruction, the coffeehouse provides a viable model for promoting both empowerment and pleasure in adolescent literacy learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to identify subgroups of adult basic education (ABE) learners with different profiles of skills in the core reading components of decoding, word recognition, spelling, fluency, and comprehension. The analysis uses factor scores of those 5 reading components from on a prior investigation of the reliability and construct validity of measures of reading component skills (MacArthur, Konold, Glutting, & Alamprese, 2010). In that investigation, confirmatory factor analysis found that a model with those 5 factors fit the data best and fit equally well for native and non-native English speakers. The study included 486 students, 334 born or educated in the United States (native) and 152 not born nor educated in the US (non-native) but who spoke English well enough to participate in English reading classes. The cluster analysis found an 8-cluster solution with good internal cohesion, external isolation, and replicability across subsamples. Of the 8 subgroups, 4 had relatively flat profiles (range of mean scores across factors <0.5 SD), 2 had higher comprehension than decoding, and 2 had higher decoding than comprehension. Profiles were consistent with expectations regarding demographic factors. Non-native speakers were overrepresented in subgroups with relatively higher decoding and underrepresented in subgroups with relatively higher comprehension. Adults with self-reported learning disabilities were overrepresented in the lowest performing subgroup. Older adults and men were overrepresented in subgroups with lower performance. The study adds to the limited research on the reading skills of ABE learners and, from the perspective of practice, supports the importance of assessing component skills to plan instruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Zeitschrift für Pädagogik is the property of Julius Beltz GmbH & Co. KG Beltz Juventa and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The pressure for accountability in higher education is extremely high. Some advocate accountability systems that use standardised measures of student learning and non-cognitive outcomes; others argue that locally developed measures provide a better fit with the unique mission of institutions. We first describe a general 'proof of possibility' accountability model for initial teacher education that relies upon locally developed, programme-specific assessments. We then illustrate how such a model may respond to claims made by an institution, demonstrate student learning, and inform programmatic changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When adult students write their life story, they gather selected life experiences and transform these onto the written page. In the course of this literary process they revisit sites of the past and reflect on the meaning of past events; many reconstruct these events from the point of view of the present, and most close their narrative by affirming their identity in the present and envisioning a possible future. Through an analysis of the written life narratives as well as research with one group of writers, a case is made for autobiography's power as an instructional method to bring new light to the past and deepen our sense of self and others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Malaysian Journal of Distance Education is the property of Universiti Sains Malaysia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article presents the author's insights on funding adult and communication education (ACE). It argues that the distinction or dichotomy of the policy between the courses of literacy, numeracy and foundation skills, and hobby and personal interest is false and rests on various misconceptions on adult learners, their learning and the nature of literacy, numeracy and foundation learning of adults. The author suggests that a broad-based approach to ACE funding is necessary to gain social benefits. He believes that there are good reasons to have new approach to ACE funding in time of recession and growth of unemployment. Moreover, he recommends to review the researches related to ACE issues sooner and used it to inform policy.

This chapter examines practical problems encountered in mentoring adult learners in higher education through stories of ethical dilemmas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this chapter, two women doctoral candidates examine the nature and function of support systems in graduate adult education. Recommendations and strategies for building social capital in the academy are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the findings of a small-scale qualitative study exploring the aspirations and learning identities of three groups of Level 1 students in two English further education (FE) colleges. Emerging identities are explored in the context of classed and gendered dispositions and the educational positioning of the young people. Empirical sections show that the young people's lifestyle aspirations have a heavy celebrity influence and that their occupational aspirations have an unreal, dreamlike quality associated with a lack of awareness of the trajectories they would need to follow to achieve their ambitions. Further, the paper argues that whilst the young people are developing identities in which learning, leisure, work and domesticity are synonymous, leisure identities assume the greatest importance to them. The paper concludes that this aspect of their young lives is significant since it provides an 'escape' from the mundane drudgery of a low-value vocational programme and the inevitability of a future engaged in low-paid, low-skillled work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to investigate different trajectories of education, based on annual attendance in postcomprehensive and higher education between ages 15 and 42, and their correlates and antecedents. A special focus was on education that occurred after spending several years in the labor market (i.e., off-time education). Analyses were based on the Finnish Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development in which the same participants have been followed from age 8 to 42. Four trajectories were obtained: no or early, off-time, on-time, and continuing education. Through adulthood, career stability, and occupational status were lower among off-time and no or early education participants than among the others. Women on the off-time education trajectory showed an increased level of optimism and achieved identity from age 27 to 42. Both off-time and no or early education participants came from a low socioeconomic (SES) family and had problems in their social behavior at age 8 and school adjustment at age 14. Different types of, and reasons for attending, adult education should be better understood, and adult education should be individually targeted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The TLRP project reported on in this article attempts to understand how the Learning and Skills sector functions. It traces how education and training policy percolates down through many levels in the English system and how these levels interact, or fail to interact. The authors first focus upon how policy impacts upon the interests of three groups of learners: unemployed people in adult and community learning centres, adult employees in work-based learning and younger learners on Level 1 and Level 2 courses in further education. They focus next upon how professionals in these three settings struggle to cope with two sets of pressures upon them: those exerted by government and a broader set of professional, institutional and local factors. They describe in particular how managers and tutors mediate national policy and translate it (and sometimes mistranslate it) into local plans and practices. Finally, the authors criticise the new government model of public service reform for failing to harness the knowledge, good will and energy of staff working in the sector, and for ignoring what constitutes the main finding of the research: the central importance of the relationship between tutor and students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the importance of community based adult education for the Aboriginal people in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Such program is considered to be an important step toward positive social change for the Aboriginal adults who lack proper education and training. The study found out that, a number of concerns were prevalent among the program participants while some commented on the issue of self esteem and child care.

Health and social care education has a long established association with reflective learning as a way of developing post‐qualifying professional practice. Reflective learning is also a key feature of self‐regulatory learning, which is an essential aspect of life‐long learning for today’s National Health Service workforce. Using a small‐scale case study of practice this paper considers the experiences of 25 learners who, as qualified health and social care practitioners studying a B.Sc. (Hons.) Public Health programme, used Blackboard to reflect online. Questionnaires, a focus group discussion and examination of online dialogue were used to collect data. Findings suggest that learners developed more extensive reflective accounts than they had done previously when reflecting in traditional classroom environments. They reflected further, spent longer reflecting, self‐managed their reflective learning and recognised significant learning achievements through reflection. Data indicate varying levels of engagement in the online reflective process, with not all learners achieving a deep level of critical analysis. This paper considers the design and construction of the online learning activity and environment before discussing the findings of the evaluation and implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Distance education programmes warrant the use of innovative intervention practices to enhance student learning experiences. Academic and social empathy by faculty has been shown to enhance student retention in programmes along with their critical thinking abilities. Using Holmberg’s theory of teaching–learning conversations as the guiding theoretical framework, the purpose of this study was to assess whether an intervention activity (a one‐week orientation course) increases academic and social empathy for students entering a distance‐delivered MBA programme. Empathy was measured through seven academic and social integration indicators. Using pre‐surveys and post‐surveys ( n = 102), the results reveal that an orientation intervention can be effective for facilitating social and academic empathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lifelong learning is essential to participation in society, and presents important challenges for educational gerontology. This study compares Canadian and Japanese perspectives on (a) attitudes toward aging, (b) the learning needs of older adults, and (c) the role of centers of learning. Surveys were conducted of sample populations in two elder colleges in Japan (N = 419, 753; mean age 66.4,70.5) and two senior centers in Canada (N = 122; mean age 75.0). Results suggest Canadian respondents have more positive attitudes toward aging; Japanese respondents have greater needs for social/communicative learning; and Canadians have a greater need for traditional learning. Future implications for older-adult education and research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Educators of adults are often urged to use the prior personal experience of their students as a pedagogic resource. Students have expectations that their narratives will be heard and valued. Whether this can—or should—be achieved in a particular discipline, in a course with a relatively fixed curriculum and formal assessment, is the issue addressed here. The paper explores programmes in Labour Law at two South African universities, using a systemic network approach to data analysis. The conclusion is that students’ experience can provide a useful starting point for induction into the more abstract reaches of a field of professional education (in this instance, legal principles and concepts as well as case law). However, this will require conditions that are very difficult to achieve in the current university context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In summarizing earlier arguments for privileging a class perspective on adult education, this chapter considers that perspective's practical relevance and suggests resources for further reading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study which aimed to determine if institutional type has a net effect on baccalaureate degree attainment of traditional-aged students. Discussion of related literatures and studies; Methods used in the study; Conclusions and implications of the study.

The article discusses the critical challenge in lifelong science education for out-of-school adults. Community colleges, technical schools, extension services, and public-school systems provide numerous science-related programs for adults. These are generally designed to provide specific vocational training rather than providing a basic science education. Knowledge and skills acquired in youth become largely obsolete and adult years become years of creeping obsolescence in work, in play, and in understanding of the world. M. Knowles proposed the concept of andragogy, relatively new adult education model which was developed in Europe and North America. Andragogy grounds its purposes in the facilitation of customized learning opportunities selected by diagnosing the personal needs and experiences of individual learners.

The article focuses on a preparatory crash course in science and mathematics aimed at advancing unprepared adult students who are attentive to science. The preparatory crash course was designed for a target population of highly motivated people who are members of the kibbutz movement in Israel. The science-oriented preparatory crash program consists of four intensive crash courses in mathematics, physics, chemistry and technical science-oriented English. A total number of 170 students, most of whom are prospective biology science teachers, participated in the study. Each was assigned to take only those crash courses in which he lacked the basic knowledge in accordance with his previous education.

Kane and Rouse (1993) furnish evidence that enrollment in a two-year-or four-year-college program increases earnings by 5 to 8 percent per year of college credits, whether or not a degree is earned. This evidence has provided the intellectual basis for policy recommendations to increase access by adult workers to long-term education and training programs, such as those supplied by community colleges. Yet to be answered, however, is the question whether these favorable return estimates hold for experienced adult workers who return to school. For both A.A. and nondegree community college programs, our results indicate returns that are positive and of essentially the same size for returning adults as they are for continuing high school graduates. Among mates in nondegree programs, in fact, returning adults enjoy an incremental earnings effect of 8 to 10 percent above that received by continuing students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]