Education Commons^™

Motivating Adult Learners: Exploring The Emergence Of Adult Business Students In An East Texas University, Douglas Luke, Madeline Justice

Administrative Issues Journal

Adult enrollment in higher education institutions has grown significantly during the last decade, with students aged 25 and older attending 4-year institutions at higher rates than before. In the 21st century, few can improve their socioeconomic status or advance professionally without higher education. Colleges and universities must consider this diverse student population by identifying new modes of motivation for students to pursue degrees at 4-year institutions. Research suggests that universities focus on the new learners of higher education: nontraditional students who are motivated by their desire to learn and advance professionally. This study examined motivational factors and patterns of students …

Evaluating Language-Learning Mobile Apps For Second-Language Learners, Xiaojun Chen

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

As mobile technologies become more affordable and more advanced in function, researchers suggest that using mobile apps to assist English language learning are appropriate. This three-step evaluation study (designing a theory-driven rubric, selecting apps, and evaluating the apps) aims to investigate and evaluate the affordances of English language learning mobile apps for adult learners. The results of this evaluation study contribute to the literature of mobile learning targeting adult learners, and also broaden the knowledge body of integrating mobile learning into English Language Learning (ELL) classes.

Power, Positioning, And The Potential Of Adult Learning Communities, Jacquelyn Mcmanus

EDL Sixth Year Theses

An initial curiosity around the variations and effectiveness of literacy coaching led to the extension of this research study, which explored the needs of adult learners in general as they existed and operated in their professional learning communities (PLCs). With a greater understanding of what adult learners sought from their learning communities, the research also established why certain adult learners pursued leadership positions, specifically was there a common profile of an adult learner who decided to lead PLCs instead of just participating. This study explored the functioning of the adult learners in their current PLCs and the perspectives of those …

The Learning Projects Of Municipal Elected Officials, Rebecca Campbell Smeltzer

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this exploratory study was to describe the learning projects related to the governmental role of a selected sample of elected municipal officials in a geographic region of a Southeastern state. The study includes the revision of Tough’s (1975) learning projects interview schedule and the addition of eight demographic items.

Participants were selected by using a random number generator to choose 12 cities from seven population groups, creating a stratified sample of 68 elected officials, 41 of whom agreed to be interviewed. Demographic information revealed that the participants were a mix of mayors (26.8%), vice-mayors (19.5%), and city …

Supporting Adult Learning In Early Intervention, Carol M. Trivette

ETSU Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Assessing Adult Learner Experience At Northern Stark University: An Exploratory Study, Kathleen Burke

Higher Education Student Work

Close to 40% of students currently enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities are adult undergraduate learners, many of whom attend school on a part-time basis (Day et.al., 2011). The rate of college enrollment by adult students, age 25 and older, can be expected to rise even further due to the current economic recession, as adults find themselves in need of new skills and knowledge to pursue continued employment (Day et. al., 2011). This capstone project was conducted through a transformative paradigm with the intention of making a positive change for the adult population at Northern Stark University. I conducted eight …

Not Just A Watered-Down Version Of A Freshman Orientation, Emily Skibski

Honors Projects

I developed and piloted two 40 minute sessions for Bowling Green State University’s (BGSU) Student Orientation, Advising, and Registration (SOAR) Program, a one-day intesenive orientation program. After developing facilitation guides for these sessions, I trained a group of eight Orientation Leaders (OLs) to facilitate sessions for nontraditional and transfer students during SOAR, which occurred on January 8, 2016. Depending on how a student self-identified, the student attended among sessions for nontraditional, transfer, or traditional students. A facilitator’s guide for a session for traditional students was already developed and in use. The facilitation guides created for this honors project were designed …

Computer Mediated Communication And Adult Learners: A Case Study Of Messages Using The Hyperpersonal Framework, Linda B. Dickmeyer, Ronda Knox

Speaker & Gavel

There is an increasing amount of research examining the role of computer-mediated communication (CMC) in a variety of educational settings. Online courses are of particular interest to adult learners. In addition, we notice that communication research rarely studies adult learners, who provide increasing numbers in our face-to-face and computer-mediated classrooms. The purpose of this research is to investigate the interaction that occurs between adult learners in an online course. Specifically, the hyperpersonal framework is used as a lens to examine how participants communicate with one another. The hyperpersonal framework components (receiver, sender, channel, and feedback) were evident through a qualitative …

Finding A Balance: Using Qualitative Data To Identify Student Learning Barriers And Alleviate Instructor Burnout In An Online Information Literacy Course, Natalie Bishop, Holly Mabry

Dover Library Faculty Professional Development Activities

For-credit information literacy instruction is starting to gain momentum is in academic libraries. In this session, presenters will provide an overview of their library’s for-credit online research skills course for non-traditional students. They will identify student learning barriers, describe qualitative measures used to improve the course over time, and discuss long-range tools and objectives.

Unique Barriers Faced By First-Generation Adult Learners, Paulette Williams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There has been an increase in the number of first-generation adult learners in higher education institutions. However, literature has revealed limited information on the experiences of first-generation adult learners and their perception of the barriers they face in higher education. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine the experiences of 6 first-generation adult learners attending a higher education institution and their perception of the barriers they faced. The theoretical foundations were andragogy theory and social-cognitive career theory. Data were collected using purposeful interviews and data were analyzed using iinterpretative pphenomenological aanalysis. Five detailed patterns were identified: (a) students …

Examining Barriers To Retention Of Adult Learners In Rural Education Programs, Tiffany Minyon Spivey

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The retention of adult learners in rural educational settings throughout the United States is challenging for adult education instructors. Adult learners in rural areas encounter internal and external barriers, including lack of self-efficacy and minimal transportation. Research exists regarding the retention of adult learners, but little is known about the barriers to persistence among adult learners in rural areas, or the motivations experienced by students and instructors. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to identify perceived barriers to retention at a rural adult learning center in Georgia and to provide suggestions to improve adult education and literacy initiatives. …

Adult Learner Perceptions And Experiences In A Community College Engaged In Intensive Student Success Reforms, Susan J. Barcinas, Tracy A. Kachur, Duane Akroyd, Heidi N. Mccann, Yaxin Zheng

Adult Education Research Conference

This qualitative study is based upon 200 hours of observation and 30 participant interviews aiming to deeply describe and analyze adult learner perceptions of community college intensive student success reform initiatives.