<p> Senior adults face a quandary through the process of aging. While enjoying the benefits of retirement, the senior adult also struggles with issues of health, independence, loneliness, and society&rsquo;s stereotypes concerning their relevance and usefulness. With the aging of the population and graying of the church membership, the necessity to mobilize and equip senior adults becomes critical in maintaining a healthy church. As senior adults face an ever-changing society filled with technological, organizational, and social transitions, they need assistance in coping with and managing these age-related issues.</p><p> The project includes training materials to mobilize and equip the senior adults attending Crowley Assembly for effective ministry within the church and to the local community, thus validating the significance and relevance of senior adults in the local church. The project focuses on four ministry interventions: a four-part sermon series for the congregation, a ministry opportunities seminar for senior adults, an age-related issues management seminar for senior adult leaders, and the development of a senior adult ministries manual. Post-sermon, pre-seminar, and post-seminar surveys identify the understanding of and attitude toward material presented in the respective sermons and seminars. The project promotes a biblical awareness of the importance and value of senior adults in the congregation at Crowley Assembly and encourages acceptance of intergenerational ministries. A closer evaluation reveals the keys to the project&rsquo;s effectiveness and identifies improvements for future projects. </p>

<p> The author analyzed survey responses from fifteen adjunct faculty members teaching in applied graduate programs to examine the language they used to discuss information literacy in conjunction with their own research and the teaching of graduate college students. The adjuncts are industry professionals, experts in their respective fields. The college, Goucher College, is a small private liberal arts college established in 1885, in the state of Maryland. Three research questions guided the work - how do faculty come to understand information literacy, what language do they use to describe it, and how do they transfer this knowledge to their students.</p>

M.Ed. / This study focuses on the role of ABET programmes in the rural South African context in the Thohoyandou Area. The introduction of ABET has created much uncertainty among adult learners, centre managers and the facilitators. A qualitative research approach was followed and a case study design was adopted to look at a small group of participants. In addition, the following methods were used to collect data: structured interviews, focus group interviews and non-participant observation. The study discovered that participants have different views regarding the factors that influence their enrolment in ABET centres. Furthermore, the major reason to attend an ABET centre is to eradicate poverty and illiteracy. Through ABET programmes, adult learners are taught to read, write, start projects such as sewing, gardening and juice making. This means that ABET programmes are empowering the people in South Africa. Participants included stakeholders affected by the introduction of the new curriculum of ABET. It was revealed in this study that in 1993 some three million South Africans were illiterate, and that around three million unemployed adults had inadequate basic schooling. In order to bridge this gap, the Ministry of Education introduced ABET as a force for social participation and economic development, providing an essential component of the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP). The establishment of these ABET programmes were expected to make more cost effective use of available educational facilities. However, ABET centres tend to have a substantial drop-out rate. The consequences of illiteracy amongst adults are still reflected through the economy in the form of low productivity, poor quality of life of low-income households and communities, and in political and social instability. Furthermore, in 1999 there were over 23 million adults between the ages of 16 and 65 and beyond three million who never had access to basic learning. In order to improve the role of ABET programmes in the rural South African context, the following recommendations set out below were suggested.• This inquiry revealed that there is a shortage of facilities such as books, computers and sewing machines. I therefore recommend that the Department of Education should provide the facilities to all the centres. • It also revealed that participants dropped out from ABET programmes because they thought that they are able to read and write sufficiently well. I recommend that adult learners should be told about the value of ABET programmes. • The study revealed that adult learners dropout from the centre because there was no one to look after the children when they were in the centre. I recommend that ABET classes should be conducted on weekends, when most of the people who look after the children would be available. • The study further revealed that participants dropout from ABET because they find employment far from their homes and the ABET centres. It is important for these participants to seek other ABET centres where they are working.

<p> This research study was designed to examine accelerated, second-degree prelicensure baccalaureate graduates&rsquo; perceptions of the andragogical practices employed by faculty that prepared students best to begin practice as entry level professional nurses. The study further sought to identify the ways in which andragogical practices used by faculty incorporated the students&rsquo; prior learning and life experiences as they accrued knowledge of the art and science of nursing. It was anticipated that through the processes of interviewing and listening to the voices of graduates, that an emic perspective of the perceptions of the graduates would emerge. Analysis and interpretation of the results of this study demonstrated six key themes related to the educational experience. Perhaps most significantly, findings revealed that elements external to teaching strategy such as faculty attributes and program design influenced learning significantly for the study participants. This research adds to the existing body of literature related to the education of accelerated, second-degree prelicensure baccalaureate students. Findings of this study can be used to inform faculty about best practices for teaching this particular cohort of students who seek nursing as an alternate career and assist with innovative curricular designs to meet the needs of this unique group. Keywords: accelerated nursing programs, nursing education, second-degree students, teaching practices </p>

<p> Aboriginal people in Canada are less likely to complete postsecondary education than are non-Aboriginal people. This lack of education leads to increased rates of unemployment and poverty and the need for additional government supports. The purpose of this project study was to identify and examine barriers faced by Canadian Aboriginal adult students as they return to school for postsecondary education. The conceptual framework for this qualitative study was based on the work of Ertmer, which suggests barriers can be placed into broad categories of extrinsic and intrinsic barriers. A case study design was used with a purposeful sample from a local academic institution. Eleven Canadian Aboriginal adult students were interviewed, 6 who successfully completed the college entrance program and 5 who did not complete the program. One counselor from the program was also interviewed to help provide a better understanding of the complexities of the identified barriers. Data analysis included substantive and theoretical coding. Thematic analysis led to 8 overall themes or barriers that affected these students&rsquo; success: level of self-confidence, social environment, racism, spirituality, government policies, mental health and addictions, perceived value of education, and perceived need to demonstrate leadership. Recommendations include the development of a professional learning community made up of students, teachers, and the Aboriginal communities where the students lived. The project emanating from this study is a 3-part workshop intended to identify and mitigate barriers of Canadian Aboriginal adult students. Understanding and mitigating the barriers will promote positive social change by increasing the success rates of this population of students as they attempt to return to postsecondary education.</p>

<p> The terms leadership and leader development are often used synonymously. However, there are different outcomes and needs associated with each type of development. Even with these differences, both types of developments may be needed to help individuals master leadership skills effectively. This study explored the critically formative processes and influences contributing to a leader&rsquo;s leadership formation and development. A framework of adult cognitive development, identity development, and spiritual development offered areas where an individual may need development for leadership, while a framework of social cognitive theory, andragogy, and transformational learning offered insights into the process of development and transformation. By using phenomenography as the research method, this study aimed to find the variation of the phenomenon and describe leadership development as the participants experienced it. This information may help organizations and individuals who are trying to develop future leaders understand critically formative processes and influences contributing to a leader&rsquo;s leadership formation and development. </p><p> The research found four categories related to the participants&rsquo; leadership development experiences within Leadership Tuscarawas and one category based on past experiences outside of the program. These categories were: (a) learning from others, (b) becoming aware, (c) building relationships, (d) emotions and feelings, and (e) leadership development experiences. Each category gave insights into what Leadership Tuscarawas alumni experienced within a leadership development program.</p><p>

Magister Educationis - MEd / This Research sets out to understand the participation experiences of a selected group of adult learners at one of the partner institutionsof the online Intercontinental Masters in Adult Learning and Global Change. The study offers an understanding of adult learners' experiences of success and persistence in relation to online study within a higher education context, and also offers insights into what may costitute successful learning communities. In relation to literature, , the student perceptions obtained via the study largely affirm what 'successiful' can mean to a group of postgraduate adult learners in an online learning environment. This stidy also contributes to the ongoing conversation in terms of the unique experiences of students in one particular cohort of the programme. / South Africa

<p> This study is an <i>ex post facto</i> correlational study that analyzed the mediated relationship between <i>everyday adult literacy practices (directions or instructions; letters, memos, or mail; newspapers or magazines; professional journals or publications; books, manuals or reference materials; financial statements; diagrams, maps, or schematics)</i> and <i> literacy scores,</i> using <i>vocabulary scores</i> as the mediator while controlling for <i>educational attainment, current educational practices, age,</i> and <i>number of books at home.</i> This study used the Program of International Assessment of Adult Competency (PIAAC) 2012/2014 public use household dataset which includes data from over 8,000 participants. This dataset contains information about participants&rsquo; background, daily lives, and reading practices as well as literacy, numeracy, and informational technology skills. Analyses were completed using the IDB analyzer to complete regression analyses on the final sample which included 1,599 participants who had taken both the literacy and print vocabulary assessment. The Sobel process was used to determine mediation. According to the Sobel test, the <i>vocabulary score</i> mediated the relationship between <i> reading letters, memos, or mail</i> (b = 4.18, SE = 0.23, <i>p</i> &lt; .001) and <i>newspapers or magazines</i> (b = 2.55, SE = 0.29, <i> p</i> &lt; .05) and the <i>combined plausible literacy score.</i> This showed that a portion of the ability to predict adult literacy scores from the frequency of reading letters, memos, or mail and newspapers or magazines could be due to vocabulary proficiency.</p><p>

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University

The thesis will establish, through philosophical argument, particularly in philosophical psychology, that professional practitioners in adult education are those who see themselves (and indeed are also seen) as agents of the integration of (a) adults' learning from their experiences (the authenticity aspect), with (b) the values of 'education' (the integrity aspect). That is, such practitioners employ 'know how' to bring such integration about, and they may ideally exemplify a kind of wisdom in 'knowing why' they act as they do. We will call this the 'integrationist' model of adult education practice. This integrationist thesis, drawing mainly upon Wittgenstein, Kant and Aristotle: * takes the very phenomenon of the practices of adult educators as its starting point, rather than analyse concepts or language per se, and treats ethical and epistemological dimensions of this practice as interwined and equally central in such phenomena; * requires extensive treatment of the formation of the 'appropriateness' or efficacy of the ethical and epistemological ingredients of professional practice, and subsumes this 'know how' in the significance of sociocultural location; * assumes such people are still 'students' in the broad sense that they are integratively learning from their practical experience and that socio-culturally located workplaces provide the most significant context for their practice (intentionality and competence are especially addressed); * re-examines the emphasis in adult education on the role of experience and the self, and accordingly revitalises a constructivist approach more firmly based in ontological considerations; * accordingly, moves beyond an atomistic conception of professional competence and the sovereignty of the agency of the individual practitioner, * develops an emphasis on teleological considerations - adding 'knowing why' to a more holistic 'know how' and, in that sense, signals a retrieval of the notion of 'vocation', with an orientation towards the attainment of the 'rightness' of practical wisdom (phronesis) as the purpose of adult education as professional practice. Integrationism is thus also constructivist: professionals in any field are expected to make a positive difference. There are general features of the analysis pertinent to any practice where adults' circumstances are up for amelioration.