Adult learners returning to school to complete a secondary diploma are faced with a range of extrinsic and intrinsic factors influencing their ability to engage and commit to their education (Cantor, 1992; Entwisle, Alexander, & Olson, 2004; Klein, Noe & Wang, 2006). The needs of these adult secondary learners (also known as mature learners) challenge educators to adapt programs to improve learning experiences. One avenue is technology which has changed the face of traditional classrooms at all educational levels (Becker, Ravitz, & Wong, 1999; Dawley, 2008). Particularly, eLearning has been associated with constructivist environments where flexibility and accessibility enhance learning experiences (Kassop, 2003; Johnson, 2001; Neo, 2005). Conversely, eLearning can isolate learners where technological frustration or learning anxiety translate into attrition rates ranging from 30--80% (Flood, 2002; King, 2002). Characteristics such as lack of self-directedness and motivation among mature learners suggest that pure eLearning is not ideal (Flood, 2002; Packham, Jones, Miller, & Thomas, 2004; Schrum & Hong, 2002). To support the needs of mature learners, an alternate course modality was explored. Blending classroom and online learning into a hybrid course offered a potential balance for mature learners (Berge, 2006; McCray, 2000; Skill & Young, 2002). The purpose of this inquiry was to understand the teaching and learning experiences of mature learners and their instructor within a hybrid course. A case study research approach was adopted, and multiple data collection methods helped construct a multifaceted description of the participants' experiences. The findings point to benefits of hybrid learning for mature learners, while also highlighting the skills of the learners and the role of the instructor as influential in the learning experience. The perspectives revealed in this inquiry allow us to envision how hybrid learning could shape a more dynamic learning experience for mature learners.

Because Web-based Learning (WBL) is a relatively new educational environment, limited research has been undertaken in exploring the factors that affect learners and instructors in WBL. (Trentin, 2001; Muirhead, 2001; Sloffer, Dueber & Duffy, 1999; Gabriel, 1999; Land & Hannafin, 1997; Mayer, 1997; Newman, Webb & Cochrane, 1996). How WBL learners co-construct knowledge through collaboration with each other under the guidance of an instructor has not been examined in-depth. Although there is literature that examines general factors affecting learners in the WBL environment, there is little research that reveals why these factors are significant to the process of constructing learning, or how they impact learners' ability to collaborate in a WBL environment (Trentin, 2001; Carstens & Worsfold, 2000; Sloffer, Dueber & Duffy, 1999; Gabriel, 1999; Edelson, Pia, & Gomez, 1996; Silva & Breuleux, 1994). This qualitative single case study was comprised of a WBL course delivered to a group of public sector employees in various locations around the world, and focused on their WBL experiences. An instructor, a course administrator, a Website manager, and eight learners volunteered to participate in the case study. Data from the study were analyzed in order to provide in-depth descriptions of factors affecting collaboration among learners in a course delivered solely through WBL. This study revealed factors that primarily prevented learners from collaborating among themselves as they constructed their learning in a Web-based environment. Some factors that could have facilitated collaboration were evident; however, the barriers to it were insurmountable in this case. The findings of this study have illuminated findings of previous studies, and contributed new understandings. Recommendations for WBL processes and components will assist WBL instructors and designers to facilitate collaboration and knowledge co-construction among learners.

The purpose of this study was to gain insight into the environments young adults find conducive to creative endeavours. Adolescents, parents, teachers, educational systems, and society as a whole would benefit from a deeper understanding of how creative individuals interact with, shape and seek out environments to fulfil their various creative needs. The present project was guided by an interactionist model of creative behaviour (Woodman & Schoenfeldt, 1989) which takes into account the four major strands of inquiry involved in creativity research and provides a conceptual framework for their holistic study. The focus of the present study was primarily on environmental determinants of creativity as perceived by the participants; however, some consideration was given to the remaining three areas of creative research, namely, person, process, and product. To this end, a qualitative study employing grounded theory methods was adopted. The research design adheres most closely to the social constructionist interpretation and application of the grounded theory method as outlined by Charmaz (1990). Thirteen creative seniors selected from a local city high school were interviewed. Insights from these interviews are divided into three sections. First, in section I, a method for identifying creative individuals within a high school is developed and discussed. In section II, an environmental process model of creativity is illustrated. Last, in section III, implications for educational systems as well as creativity research in general, are examined and practical avenues of action are suggested.

The Business Case for Corporate Training Applications of Web-Based Tele-Learning is divided into five chapters, each illustrating a key concept related to the economic and business impacts of implementing Web-based training in corporations. Chapter 1, the "Market for Web-Based Tele-Learning" presents an overview of the Web-based training industry and includes many examples of how corporations are using Web-based training today. The costs and benefits of Web-based training are introduced, including online training management. Chapter 2, "Cost-Benefit Analysis of Web-Based Tele-Learning: Case Study of the Bell Online Institute" hypothesizes that there are several key design elements that must be considered in costing Web-based training projects. The relative importance of these elements is examined using a case study approach. Chapter 3, "Web-Based Competency and Training Management Systems for Distance Learning" discusses the value to companies of using a Web-based system for competency and training management, using the case of Bell Canada as an example of how companies are implementing these tools today. Chapter 4, "Pricing Models for Web-Based Tele-Learning" examines the factors that influence the pricing of Web-based courses for employee training. Chapter 5, "Business Process Reengineering for the Use of Distance Learning at Bell Canada" is a case study that examines the use of Web-based training at Bell Canada in the context of business process reengineering. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Developments in the Quebec educational system enabled us to evaluate the impact of a new educational environmental program (EEP) on a group of children enrolled in this program for the first time (i.e., the experimental group). This EEP comprised a formal curriculum and environmental activities. A control group of children was enrolled in schools where environmental issues were confined to the natural sciences subject. The goals of this study were threefold. The first goal was to evaluate the impact of an EEP on children's and parents' ecological knowledge, attitudes, motivation, and behaviors. The second goal was to investigate if a motivational model of ecological behaviors observed in adult populations could be replicated with children. Part of this goal also included the comparison of path analyses results across experimental conditions, independently for children and parents. The third goal was to identify more clearly what specific children's characteristics influenced parents' ecological attitudes and motivation. Included in this goal was the investigation of possible differences in the strength of associations between constructs in paths analyses conducted in the experimental and control groups of parents. Results suggested that children in the experimental group were more likely to ask teachers and parents for ecological information and presented a more self-determined motivational profile. Additional analyses revealed that children enrolled in an EEP performed ecological behaviors less for extrinsic motives. Level of knowledge, other attitudes and behavioral measures did not differ significantly between the two groups. Parents of children in the experimental group reported lower levels of satisfaction towards the environment and were more likely to get information on ecological issues and strategies from children. No other significant differences between groups of parents were found. Path analyses results suggested that parents' perceptions of children's provision of autonomy support and of ecological information, as well as, joint child/parent involvement in ecological activities favored parents' ecological attitudes and motivation. These results were consistent across the experimental and the control groups. Future studies are necessary to identify optimal intervention strategies devised to foster in people a sense of personal responsibility and self-determination that may propel them into action.

The purpose of the present study was to describe the process of how youth team sport coaches develop knowledge for coaching through experience. Schon's (1983; 1987) experiential learning theory of reflective practice was used as a conceptual guide. The research design included two focus groups (a pre-study) and multiple-case studies (Yin, 1994). Six coaches of competitive youth team sport comprised the case studies; three in soccer and three in ice hockey. Case study sources of evidence included background interviews, documents, observations combined with video and audio recording, on-site interviews, interval summary interviews, and member check interviews. Data were collected over an entire playing season with each coach. Guided by the case study analytic strategy of relying on theoretical propositions, five methods of qualitative data analysis were used: memos, coding, data displays, interim case summaries, and electronic text searches (Kelle, 1995; Maxwell, 1996; Miles & Huberman, 1994; Yin, 1994). The experiential learning process found in the case studies comprised six components: (a) coaching issues, (b) role frames, (c) issue setting, (d) strategy generation, (e) experimentation, and (d) evaluation. The latter four components comprised a cycle of reflection, referred to as a reflective conversation. Each coach's personal role frame, or approach to coaching, bracketed the reflective conversation, and coaching issues provided the impetus for reflection. The process of identifying an issue, and deciding why it was an issue, is referred to as issue setting. Issue setting included three options: other, peer, and self. Issue setting was proceeded by the strategy generation stage. Six options for generating coaching strategies were found. Three were dependent on coaching peers: advice seeking, joint construction, and reflective transformation. The other three were independent of coaching peers: coaching materials, creative thought, and coaching repertoire. After one or more strategies were generated, an experiment was conducted (real world and/or virtual world). An experiment's effectiveness at resolving a coaching issue was then evaluated. Three options were found at the evaluation stage: other, peer, and self. Once an experiment was evaluated, a coach would either exit the reflective conversation because the issue was resolved or considered unworthy of further reflection, or return immediately to the strategy generation stage to continue the reflective conversation. The selection of options at each stage in a reflective conversation was influenced by four conditions: (a) access to peers, (b) stage of learning, (c) issue characteristics, and (d) environment. The present study provides a first step towards unpacking the frequently cited conclusion that coaches learn through experience. Perhaps the study's most notable contribution to the field of coaching is not the empirically based confirmation that coaches do indeed learn through experience, but an explanation of how coaches learn through experience. Furthermore, when the findings are used to examine other coaching studies, the reflective conversation appears to be valid in other coaching contexts. However, additional research is needed to explore the transferability of the results, and the validity of an experiential learning theory for coaches.

This is a study of personality types of adults undertaking workplace leadership training in relation to perceived training outcomes. Training programs to facilitate adult learning in the workplace are a logical and necessary extension of formal education. Leadership training programs are gaining importance in management education. From another perspective, personality characteristics of adult learners have been related to leadership effectiveness, but there is a lack of studies relating training outcomes to personality. Based on these considerations, this study addresses the following question: After subjects attend a values-based leadership training seminar in the workplace, is their expressed commitment to implement its content a function of their personality types? The sample consists of one thousand managers of a large North American corporation. The subjects participated in a leadership seminar focusing on personal needs and values. Subjects self-administered the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). Three weeks after the seminar, ratings of commitment to the implementation of the seminar were obtained, using a scale developed by the writer, the Perceived Implementation Rating Scale (PIRS). Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics, item analyses, reliability estimates, and multivariate analyses of variance. The key results of this study may be summarized as follows: An overall comparison of the MBTI types yielded significant differences in perceived outcomes. More specifically, the combined group classified as TJ (Thinking-Judging) yielded lower scores than their non-TJ counterparts, and the Feeling group reported higher scores than the Thinking group. An exploratory comparison of men and women showed that women reported higher scores than did the nudes. These results imply that learning theories or models such as Andragogy and the Characteristics of the Adult Learner might do well to consider individual differences in personality as potentially relevant to learning outcomes and to the design of pedagogical strategies for adults.

This study arose out of a concern for the adult learners who choose to study in computer conferencing courses offered via the World Wide Web. The numbers of these adult learners are burgeoning; universities are responding to the demand by placing ever-increasing numbers of courses online. However, this learning environment is a new one for many adult students and instructors. Therefore, the primary purpose of this study was to describe the salient features of communicating and learning in this environment, and to explore the factors which underpin the successful participation of adult learners in computer conferencing courses. Twenty adult learners enrolled in two different computer conferencing courses in two universities located in different provinces in Atlantic Canada participated in this study. As well, the four instructors who delivered these courses were involved in the research study. The design of this qualitative study utilized multiple sources of data. The study entailed in-depth interviews conducted via telephone at two points---once early in the course, and a second time when the course was complete. In addition, information was collected in initial questionnaires and from the transcripts of the courses. A computer-assisted qualitative data analysis program was utilized to assist in the coding of the emerging themes. These emergent themes were incorporated into the protocol for the second set of interviews. Results of the study indicate that the computer conference supported a shift in the roles of learner and instructor, as instructors functioned as facilitators and learners became more self-directed in their learning. However, this shift occurs on a continuum, and is dependent upon how the computer conferencing environment is organized. The potential of group work for supporting a constructivist learning environment in the computer conference emerged. The importance of clear communication, which can be supported by forging personal relationships with classmates in the computer conference also emerged as an essential component of achievement in the computer conference. And finally, the learners in this study expressed a strong sense of academic efficacy. They demonstrated a strong subjective assurance in their ability to succeed at the academic task which they had undertaken.

This thesis provides an exploration and analysis of university education in prisons from a historical point of view. It examines how post-secondary education in prisons has reproduced dominant economic and cultural relations, but also how it can resist doing this. A qualitative research process is used to investigate the empirical research produced in this field. The primary method used is the analysis of the experiences and the voices of persons who have participated in higher education in prisons as students and teachers. The primary objective is to give a voice to prisoners as a traditionally oppressed group. Past and current post-secondary education in Canadian prisons are examined, as are the problems encountered in both. An argument is made for an alternative form of education in prisons, with an emphasis on the pedagogy of Paulo Freire. Freire's work calls for the empowerment of the oppressed and argues that this is best done through participatory education. It is further argued that prisoners should be in charge of their own educational practices in order to counter the hegemony of correctional education's discourse.

Cette recherche porte sur la relation entre l'orientation épistémique de formateurs et l'utilisation, dans un contexte nord-américain, d'une approche andragogique par rapport à une approche pédagogique. Cette recherche poursuit trois buts. Elle se préoccupe de la relation entre l'orientation épistémique des enseignants et leur approche d'enseignement; identifie l'orientation épistémique d'une approche andragogique; et observe la relation antithétique entre le mode rationnel et le mode noétique du modèle de Rancourt. Une revue de la littérature révèle que les formateurs n'utilisent pas une approche andragogique en présence d'apprenants adultes et cela, tant dans les institutions d'éducation formelle que dans celles d'éducation non formelle. Dans le but de fournir des éclaircissements à ce sujet, certaines études mettent en relation diverses variables démographiques avec l'utilisation d'une approche andragogique. Toutefois, la majorité de ces études démontrent des résultats non significatifs ou contradictoires, rendant impossible l'établissement d'un cadre pour expliquer l'utilisation d'une approche andragogique. L'échantillon (300) provient d'une population (2 700) d'enseignants anglophones, qualifiés aux cycles intermédiaire et supérieur et responsables d'apprenants adultes. On utilise l'instrument KAMI (Knowledge Accessing Mode Inventory) une version anglaise de l'IMAC (Inventaire des modes d'accès à la connaissance) de Rancourt (1986, 1990) pour identifier l'orientation épistémique des formateurs. Le PALS (Principles of Adult Learning Scale) identifie l'utilisation d'une approche andragogique par rapport à l'utilisation d'une approche pédagogique. On a trouvé une fable corrélation entre le mode rationnel et l'utilisation d'une approche andragogique. Cette corrélation supposait que moins le formateur utilisait le mode rationnel pour accéder, traiter et transmettre la connaissance, plus il avait tendance à utiliser une approche andragogique. Cette recherche contribue à l'avancement des sciences parce qu'elle a trouvé que l'orientation épistémique d'une approche andragogique semble être NER; que l'orientation épistémique des formateurs des écoles secondaires en Ontario semble être plutôt empirique; que parmi les formateurs qui utilisent une approche andragogique, les formateurs dont l'orientation épistémique est non-rationnelle utilisent davantage de principes andragogiques que les formateurs dont l'orientation épistémique est rationelle à cause de l'encapsulation; et que peu de formateurs possèdent une orientation épistémique RNE et NRE à cause de la relation antithétique entre le mode rationnel et le mode noétique, selon le modèle de Rancourt. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)