This qualitative study explores the learning conditions of marginalized adult learnrs enrolled at an adult high school. The study also explores the role of mathematics in the adult learning environment. The study collected data from two sources: a survey collected data from 64 adult learners enrolled in a high school mathematics course that leads to graduation; interviews were also conducted with ten of these participants. The findings indicated that although both external and internal factors were identifited by the participants as affecting the learning envoronment, these were not regarded as barriers to learning. The participants had a positive view of their own abilites. Mathematics was regarded by the learners as important and was not regarded as an obstacle to their goal of a high school diploma.

This research is a case study. The study investigates the teaching strategies currently utilized in the adult education classroom; ascertains the reasons for the use of such strategies and recommends teaching strategies that could be used in order to improve instruction. The research was conducted at an adult learning centre. In pursuit of his objectives, the researcher aimed to answer the following key questions: • What teaching strategies are currently being utilized in the classroom? • How effective are these teaching strategies in meeting the learning needs of the adult learners? • How do these teaching strategies relate to existing literature? Data was collected primarily by engaging in the observation of actual teaching in the classroom. Structured interviews were conducted with the educator and learners concerned in order to confirm the classroom observation findings. Although the findings from this study are problematic to generalize, the findings will give us a better understanding of teaching strategies. This understanding could be useful to: • Educators of adult learners with a view to improving their practice. • Researchers in the field of education. • Textbook writers and curriculum development specialists. • National and regional policymakers. • Anyone who has an interest in education. This study is guided by the theory of andragogy as expounded by Knowles. This theory is relevant because it informed the study as to how best teaching and learning of adults can be undertaken. Findings from this study reveal that the teaching strategy most frequently used are the mass instruction strategies. The lecture method is most frequently used. This method is made interactive with the incorporation of discussions, recitations and the use of questioning. Individual instruction and group instruction strategies are used to a limited extent. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007.

Train-the-trainer is an educational method extensively used by organizations for capacity development. Despite the wide spread use of this method, there is little information regarding its use, role in educating adults, and participant perceptions of its utility. Healthcare service providers’ perceptions of a train-the-trainer educational method was investigated in this qualitative study. A focus group methodology was used. Content analysis revealed themes about participant perceptions. The overall theme identified was the need to address location-specific challenges, specifically, recognition by the trainer of the context of communities and programs in which the training occurs. Organizations using this method need be flexible and willing to revise the training plan based in adult learner needs. Service providers recommended that the provision of strategies and examples for transfer of learning into practice was critical as was the tailoring of train-the-trainer workshops in length, facilitation style, resources, and delivery modality to community capacity and needs.

All forms of child abuse are associated with a variety of short- and long-term negative effects. In particular, adult victims of child abuse have been known to experience more insecure forms of attachment to significant others in adulthood (McCarthy & Taylor, 1999; Muller, Lemieux, & Sicoli, 2001). It was hypothesized that particular forms of child abuse would be associated with particular forms of insecure attachment in adulthood and that adult attachment style would act as a mediator between child abuse history and negative outcomes. Five hundred fifty-two female and 294 male university student completed questionnaires on their child abuse history, adult attachment style, self-esteem, current psychological symptoms and a number of demographic variables. Regression analyses, ANCOVA’s and bootstrapping mediation analyses were completed. Physical abuse was associated with attachment avoidance and psychological maltreatment was associated with attachment anxiety. Some support was also found for associations between neglect and physical abuse with attachment anxiety. Sexual abuse was not associated with either attachment avoidance or attachment anxiety. Social support, as a control variable, was also found to be an important predictor of attachment avoidance and attachment anxiety. While it was hypothesized that there would be differences between high and low severity sexual and physical abuse on adult attachment anxiety, no statistically significant differences were found. Both attachment avoidance and attachment anxiety were found to partially mediate the relationships between child abuse and psychological symptoms and child abuse and self-esteem. These findings provide more detailed information regarding the importance of adult attachment in the area of child abuse and implications for the support and treatment of child abuse victims. One’s child abuse history can provide important information regarding one’s attachment tendencies in adulthood impacting important adult relationships including the therapy relationship.

Despite their enormous mineral wealth, communities affected by large-scale mining in Ghana struggle to survive amidst its tremendous ecological and social impacts. Ghana's adoption of structural adjustment (SAP) in 1983 and its more recent status as a Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) has prompted an unprecedented liberalization in the mining sector, favoring the interests of multi-national corporations (MNCs). As the clamour for gold escalates, community responses and resistance to exploitative mining activity has grown, demanding corporate social and environmental responsibility, fair compensation and development for the communities. Emerging within this movement are NGO-community partnerships, which are an important site for informal learning engagements – a type of learning not given enough attention by researchers. This exploratory case study uses document analysis to investigate these NGO-community responses to MNC-led mining development Ghana, to unearth the forms that learning takes in this struggle. / En dépit de leur énorme richesse minérale, les communautés affectées par l'exploitation extrême au Ghana luttent pour survivre parmi les impacts écologiques et sociaux énormes. L'adoption au Ghana d'une programme d'ajustement structural (SAP) au 1983 et plus récents le statut d'un pays pauvre et fortement endetté (HIPC) a incité la libéralisation accrue dans le secteur de extraction dans l'intérêt des sociétés multinationales (MNCs). Pendant que la demande pour l'or augmente, les réponses de la communauté et la résistance à l'extraction exploitante ont ainsi augmenté, en demandant la responsabilité sociale et environnementale des corporations, compensation juste et développement pour les communautés. Émergent dans ce mouvement sont les associations entres les O.N.G's et les communautés, qui sont un emplacement important des étude sans cérémonie - un type d'étude souvent négligée par des recherchistes. Cette étude exploratoire emploie l'analyse de document pour étudier ces réponses de l'O.N.G.-communauté au développement de extraction des MNC au Ghana, pour déterminer les formes d'étude dans cette lutte.

Physicians' online learning has been gaining attention in the continuing medical education (CME) literature. This descriptive multiple case study investigated rural family physicians's (RFPs) learning about early Alzheimer's disease (AD) from an online continuing medical education (OCME) program. To overcome common criticisms of lecture-based OCME programs, a problem-based collaborative approach was implemented. Eight RFPs, working in pairs and plenaries, completed the AD Program which lasted 9 months. A family physician with expertise in AD moderated the online discussions; an educator coordinated logistics and took the dual role of designer and researcher. The effectiveness of the program in supporting participants' learning about Alzheimer's disease and transfer to practice was evaluated at various levels: participation, satisfaction, learning, competence and performance. Data analysis included within- and cross-case analyses. Member checks, data triangulation, long-term observation and thick description were used to verify the quality of the study. Regarding learning, objective measures demonstrated a significant increase in declarative AD knowledge and improved problem solving of clinical cases focused on AD treatment. Self-reported measures provided evidence that the AD Program had an impact on the RFPs' reports of their clinical practice. Regarding the effectiveness of the Program, participants were uniformly satisfied, and would recommend it to their peers and to accreditation bodies mainly for its innovative design, interactivity and convenience of access. They said the most effective features were the educator's scaffolding, opportunities to practice, and collaborative plenary discussions. The least effective features were an unfriendly platform (i.e., WebCT), paired activities and, limited facilitation during online discussions. Variables that may have influenced learning and reports of transfer to practice were: (a) levels of computer literacy and / L'apprentissage en ligne des médecins capte de plus en plus l'attention dans la littérature en formation médicale continue. Cette étude descriptive de cas examine l'apprentissage du début de la maladie d'Alzheimer par les médecins de famille ruraux, à partir d'un programme en ligne de la formation médicale continue. Cette investigation englobe également l'analyse des huit cas, i.e. les huit participants. Afin de surmonter les critiques courantes sur l'enseignement magistral des programmes en ligne de la formation médicale continue, une approche par résolution de problèmes utilisant la collaboration fut mise en pratique. Huit médecins de famille ruraux, travaillant en paires et en plénière, ont complété en neuf mois le programme portant sur la maladie d'Alzheimer. Un médecin de famille, expert en maladie d'Alzheimer, a agi comme modérateur des discussions en ligne; une enseignante a coordonné la logistique et a assumé le double rôle de concepteur et de chercheur. L'efficacité du programme à soutenir l'apprentissage des participants concernant la maladie d'Alzheimer et le transfert à la pratique ont été évaluée à plusieurs niveaux : participation, satisfaction, apprentissage, compétence et performance. Des analyses de cas interne et transversal furent effectuées sur les données. La vérification par les participants, la triangulation des données, les observations à long terme, et les descriptions substantielles furent incluses afin d'assurer la qualité de l'étude. Quant à l'apprentissage, des mesures objectives ont démontré une augmentation significative des connaissances déclaratives et une amélioration dans la résolution de problèmes en cas cliniques centrés sur le traitement de la maladie d'Alzheimer. Des mesures fournies par les participants eux-mêmes ont démontré que le programme axé sur la maladie d' Alzheimer avait un impact sur les rapports de pratique clinique fournis par les médecins de famille ruraux. C

Young adults are moving back into their family homes and are now living with their parents. Common terms for the adult children include "previously launched adult" and "incompletely launched adult." I used data from Wave 3 (2001 to 2003) of the National Survey of Families and Households to analyze the relationship between different life course and family development variables and the launching status of young adults. This dissertation specifically uses the dependent variable "launching status" of either previously launched or failure to launch. I undertake two multinomial logistic regression models with the dependent variable "launching status." I then proceed to a replication of the original analysis with two other multinomial logistic regression models, using the dependent variable "launching status" and the data gathered from Wave 2 of the National Survey of Families and Households (1992 to 1994). I conclude with a descriptive analysis of the 2009 American Community Survey to describe current trends of adult child and parent co-residence. The first analysis uses various life course variables as independent variables and then introduces control variables into the models. The second analysis uses various family development and family structure variables and then introduces control variables into the models. After running the two models using the Wave 3 data, I determined that the life course variables had a significant relationship with launching status, and the family development variables did not prove to be very significantly related to launching status. The replication of the Wave 3 analysis with the Wave 2 data showed similar results. Like the original analysis, the life course variables were significantly related to launching status, whereas the family development variables were not significantly related to launching status. The descriptive results using the American Community Survey data show that a majority of young adults who are living at home are between the ages of 18 and 24, are male, are White and non-Hispanic, and have a high school education or less. The major contribution of this research is that it differentiates between those who have never left the family home and those who left and then returned. This is the first study, to my knowledge, to do so.

<p> This phenomenological study investigated the lived experience of identity construction during a military officer's role change from the middle ranks to senior leader. This role change encompassed education, training, and work experiences over the course of several years between the initial selection for advancement and the first official duty assignment in a senior leader position. The inquiry focused on active duty U.S. Amy officers in the rank of colonel or lieutenant colonel (promotable) and the construction of their identities as senior leaders during this multi-year process. The officers' narratives provided insight into how the role change affected their self-concepts and how they coped with the challenges of ascending to a more complex environment with greater responsibilities to both the Army and the Nation. </p><p> The population for this phenomenological inquiry was purposefully sampled using a criterion-based selection. Interviews with the resulting twelve participants were conducted in accordance with Seidman's (2013) three-interview method. Through applying Moustakas' (1994) phenomenological method of data analysis, eleven themes emerged, resulting in a composite textural and structural description that presented the meanings and essences of the identity construction experience. </p><p> The following three conclusions resulted from the analysis. The first was that the identity transition expected by the Army is only partially occurring due to a combination of organizational and cultural barriers. The second conclusion was that assuming the mantle of senior leadership is an especially human endeavor, driven more by relationships, character, and mentoring than skills and competencies. The third conclusion was that the study of identity construction requires a more nuanced appreciation toward ambivalent reactions to the work situation and the various ways one may exit. Implications include potential enhancements to Kira &amp; Balkin's (2014) model, recommendations for the Army's senior leader development process, and the potentially greater use of the Seidman's (2013) phenomenological interviewing method to capture data regarding the development of Army leaders through key role changes.</p>

The purpose of this study was to investigate how an ADHD diagnosis late in life as an adult can have effected childhood and adult life. It is a qualitative study executed by interviewing four adults, two men and two women. The individuals in the study had all experienced difficulties in their childhood and in school and had all felt different from the rest of the ambient. None of the interviewees were on medication for ADHD but most were open for trying. Support from school or other settings had been minimal. Work was described as an important part of their lives and that a significant part of it was to not become restless. None of the interviewees had committed serious crime but some talked about substance abuse in form of alcohol. All of the individuals in the study showed strong qualities that had helped them through difficult times. They had all reacted positively to the diagnosis as it gave a greater understanding for their problems. Almost all talked about how life before and after diagnosis had affected their confidence mostly the women but they all had experienced problems with mental health.

This thesis was undertaken with the purpose of developing a program in Community Adult Education in Lesotoho. The methodology employed by the writer included review of community and adult education patterns in the U.S.A., selected countries of Africa and the Unesco’s perspectives of adult education in developing nations. In addition, the methodology included personal interviews of certain specialists in Community and Adult Education.This thesis has discussed the community adult education patterns which appeared adaptable to Lesotho and suggested recommendations for further research in the area of Community Adult Education.