Adult learner

A shared document-based annotation tool was presented, and its usefulness in two different real-life web-based university-level courses (adult learners, n= 27 and adolescent learners, n= 23) was empirically investigated. The study design embodied three data collection phases: (1) a pretest measuring self-rated motivation, learning strategies, and social ability; (2) log file data analysis showing actual use of the system features; and (3) a posttest in a form of an email survey. For both groups, the results showed that the level of motivation has a positive effect on activity in the system and the final grade. The learners, who reported to have good time-management strategies, were the most active users of the system. The level of social ability predicted both the number of consecutive comments in the documents and the threads in document-related newsgroup discussions. Log file data analysis showed that user activity in the system was positively related to the final grade in both samples. Results of the posttest showed that all the respondents agreed when asked: (1) if the system brought added value to the learning process; (2) if the use of the system changed their studying habits favourably; and (3) if they would like to use the system in other courses.

This paper highlights the necessary application of mixed methods in educational research within the field of adult learners and lifelong learning in higher education to provide adult learners with a “voice”. The paper will introduce the reader to educational research through focusing on mixed methods and the theoretical frameworks within. Critical hermeneutic epistemology or transformative research (as espoused by Freire

This study investigated the classroom interaction and in-home, bilingual interviews of 17 adult learners of English with no previous formal English language instruction in order to find the frequency of use and some functions of forms of language which are not explicitly taught: the discourse markers well, you know, and like. Previous findings in this area are based most often on data from more advanced language learners and do not present a clear picture of which learners use these markers more often or why. Results of the current study show that this set of learners uses few discourse markers. A review of the focal students’ background information (including language use patterns outside the classroom) suggests that the students who use more discourse markers may be the students who are more acculturated to the US. This suggests that the students who comprise the population at the data collection site, in general, remain, to some degree, isolated from English language culture in the US.

Although online instruction has many potential benefits, technical difficulties are one drawback to the increased use of this medium. A repeated measures design was used to examine the effect that technical difficulties have on learning and attrition from voluntary online training. Adult learners (N = 530) were recruited online and volunteered to participate in a 4-hr training program on using computer spreadsheets. Technical difficulties were inserted in some of the training modules in the form of error messages. Using multilevel modeling, the results indicated that the presence of these technical difficulties impaired learning, such that test scores were lower in modules where trainees encountered technical difficulties than in modules where they did not encounter technical difficulties. Furthermore, the effect on learning was greater among trainees who eventually withdrew from the course than among trainees who completed the course. With regards to attrition, pretraining motivati...

Online learning environment is becoming more popular among learners because of its multiple information representation. Many researchers are interested to investigate online reading strategies and their effects on reading comprehension. Despite the growing importance of online reading strategies among adult learners, little attention has been given to postgraduate EFL learners. This study is a quantitative research designed and aimed at investigating metacognitive reading strategies used by the Iranian postgraduate learners to read online academic texts. Purposive sampling method was used to select 39 Iranian postgraduate students who were studying in different Universities in Malaysia. The questionnaires used in this study were the MARSI questionnaire developed by Mokhtari and Sheorey (2002). Findings of this study emphasized on metacognitive reading strategies used by adult learners of various age groups and fields of study. The results revealed that adult learners use Computer, i...

Nontraditional students are a growing population in higher education, yet our understanding of the unique factors that predict their success have not increased. Economic challenges, changing work demands, and the desire for personal and professional advancement fuel the nontraditional student's return to school (Kelly & Strawn, 2011). Their isolation and lack of social networks lead to poor academic outcomes as

Nowadays there seems to be a wide acceptance that there is a CP for first language (FL) acquisition, with compelling evidence that, unless they are exposed to language in the early years of life, humans lose the ability to learn a language, especially its grammatical system. The situation with (adult) SL acquisition however appears to be far less clear. While

The learning achieved by individuals through their work‐based activity is unique and differentially experienced. It involves a combination of intuitive reasoning, inference and inductive thinking which is normally tacit and not available for analysis. In this paper I present research undertaken with groups of adult students training to work as mentors on a community mentoring project, in an attempt to explore how they learned from their mentoring encounters through the use of reflective practice. Each mentor was asked to keep a ...

... felt and what they could do to deal with the unpleasant aspects of online learning. ... find mechanisms that encourage learners to evaluate their positive and negative feelings alike and ... The advantage of sharing emotions via multiple sources over some time allows online learners ...

Interactive television (iTV) is a new media technology that has great potential for supporting second language learning, particularly for independent adult learners. It has many characteristics demanded by modern second language (L2) learning theories and is technologically quite sophisticated. However, in order for it to succeed it needs to fit in with these learners' approaches to media use in language learning. While there is an extensive literature on many other aspects of language learning and teaching, particularly in classroom settings, we know surprisingly little about the independent adult language learner's attitudes and approaches to learning and to technologies for supporting it. In this paper, we describe a project to develop language learning via interactive television (iTV) where a focus group study has been used to elicit the attitudes of potential users in order to direct the design process using a use-case scenario. We present the design implications that e...

The present study investigated the relative contributions of experiential and ability factors to second language (L2) passage comprehension and L2 vocabulary retention. Participants included a cross section of 99 adult learners of Spanish as a foreign language enrolled in beginning through advanced level university Spanish courses. Participants completed a standardized reading proficiency test (Adult Basic Learning Examination, Spanish version) to verify a range in proficiency, a checklist and translation passage sight vocabulary test, and a written recall in the native language of the 4 passages that were read. Vocabulary retention was measured at 2 time intervals by a multiple-choice test of receptive retention of meaning of targeted vocabulary. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). Results revealed consistent support for the following model: (a) Language processing experience positively influenced L2 passage sight vocabulary; (b) L2 passage sight vocabulary...

In the past ten years, many executive education programs have been developed at universities to assist leaders in learning new skills and proficiencies. However, there is little published literature that examines specifically how CEOs have learned needed new skills in the past or on the learning preferences of CEOs. This research examines how the CEOs of thirty-three real estate companies

The study of adult learning—andragogy—has emerged as a learning framework due to its increasing popularity in the past four decades. Research on andragogy has been mostly exploratory till recently, when Lynda Swanson Wilson designed and tested the Adult Learning Principles Design Elements Questionnaire (ALPDEQ) to measure six andragogy principles and eight andragogy processes (a 77-item instrument). The present study attempts to find the applicability of andragogy by testing its principles using the self-developed Perception, Experiences, and Learning Satisfaction of Knowles ’ Andragogical Theory Questionnaire (PELSKATQ) on 91 graduate students from multiple disciplines (Business, Education, Public Health, and Religion) and two programs (Masters and PhD). The findings of this study showed that gender, marital status, program of study, age, field of study, work experience, coursework completion do not influence learning satisfaction of adult learners. We recommend further studies int...

Most research on language awareness in a second language (L2) has been carried out with adult learners. This research presents data showing that pedagogical techniques can be devised enabling children as young as 8 to develop metalinguistic awareness of their emerging L2 system. Building on existing work by Canadian researchers, this classroom-based study investigated tasks designed to encourage young learners to develop language awareness through repair and analysis of their errors. Forty-three 8- to 9-year-old children in a Montreal French immersion class were prompted by the teacher-researcher to correct their non-target-like utterances. Corrective feedback was provided on lexical, phonological and grammatical errors, and on uses of L1. While watching their videotaped oral presentations, participants were guided to notice and repair errors through group discussion. Results indicated that through group interaction, young children were able to notice and repair errors, to identify language features involved, to negotiate form and to do grammatical analysis of the errors.

The learning derived from acting as a Researcher in one's own organisation provides possibilities for autonomy and empowerment. To study ones own practice is part of the way new knowledge is generated and practitioner-researchers are able to bring about ...

The study examines the effects of cultural background knowledge on immediate incidental vocabulary gain through reading brief narratives that depicted either culturally familiar or culturally unfamiliar versions of everyday scenarios. Participants were high-intermediate adult learners of ...

The paper describes conditions that influenced the implementation of new technologies in educational organizations for adult learners and presents a project of deployment of ICT assisted learning for underprivileged groups of adults. The aim was to ...

Interactive television (iTV) is a new media technology that has great potential for supporting second language learning, particularly for independent adult learners. It has many characteristics demanded by modern second language (L2) learning theories and is technologically quite sophisticated. However, in order for it to succeed it needs to fit in with these learners' approaches to media use in language learning. While there is an extensive literature on many other aspects of language learning and teaching, particularly in ...