Research in the area of undergraduate college student retention has shown that faculty-student interaction contributes significantly to traditional age student retention. The scant research that exists on the effect of faculty-student interaction on the retention of adult students (age 25 and older) is ambiguous. This study investigated factors that contribute to adult undergraduate student success, especially the role that faculty-student interaction plays in adult undergraduate retention at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Quantitative and qualitative research methods were used. A survey was sent to 339 adult undergraduate students who were within 12 credits of graduation, and 138 responses were received. Of those, eight students were interviewed. A basic research approach was utilized in this study, with the theoretical base being that of phenomenology. The study explored in more general ways the larger number of students surveyed and more in-depth the individual experiences of the smaller number of students who were interviewed. Two themes emerged from the data as factors which most contributed to adult undergraduate success: commitment to the goal and support from others. Commitment was linked to two distinct reward sets, internal rewards and external rewards. Support from others came from individuals and groups both inside and outside of the university community. Faculty-student interaction was found to be both a support and, in some cases, an obstacle to adult student success. There was also evidence of a sense of certainty or confidence of degree completion on the part of the students studied.

The geographic landscape of this study is the Lao Peoples' Democratic Republic, also known by its French name Laos. Located in Southeast Asia, the Lao PDR is one of the six remaining socialist countries in the world. During my fieldwork in the Lao PDR, I facilitated a process of action research with a group of Lao INGO workers. I used qualitative research methods to capture the perceptions of the Lao development workers who collaborated with this study. This dissertation is primarily based on the data documented through interviews, participant observation, focus group discussion and reflective story writing. The core educational problem is to examine the historical reasons for the modest educational infrastructure in the Lao PDR and its impact on the growth of the development sector. The other related issues I explored include the limitations of mainstream development and educational models as well as the opportunities emerging as a result of the country's integration with the globalization process. Within the backdrop of the problem mentioned, the main purpose of this study is to explore an alternative strategy that has potential to facilitate the growth of local human resource capacity. The rationale for this exploratory endeavor is to generate functional knowledge that will potentially assist the policy makers and practitioners to develop an appropriate approach for the local human resource capacity building process. The research method I adapted in the field was a combination of action research and phenomenological inquiry. The key question that I pursued was “What is the process of collaborative capacity building that includes an alternative educational approach and model which have the potential to help Lao INGO staff to increase their capacity as development workers and, in the longer term, develop skills for self-management?”. I employed four techniques of data collection, which included interviewing 26 individuals, documenting action research process through the participant observation method, assisting Lao INGO staff to write reflective stories and conducting three focus group discussions. During the data analysis stage, I tried to incorporate the voices of the participants of the action research project to allow them constructing their way of knowing.

Due to the disruption of refugee women's lives before, during, and after flight, they take on new roles and responsibilities that raise the need for refugee women to acquire new skills and tools with which to handle their new life. The conventional approach is to look at a refugee as a problem and a deficit, desperately in need of services rather than looking at refugees as having agency, motivated, strong, and able to solve their own problems. This has resulted in programs that are not intended to empower refugee women but rather to provide for them. The main purpose of this research was to understand Sudanese refugee women's activist experiences within their communities in order to explore and analyze the possibilities of using Popular Education methods and philosophies in the context of refugee women's lives. A second related purpose was to inquire into the extent to which Sudanese refugee women activists were themselves adapting and using Popular Education methods in their daily struggles. My assumption was that none of these activists were familiar enough with Popular Education techniques to utilize them in their everyday work and reduce the burden of being frustrated and burned out as a result. I assured that if you provide services plus activism you get reform within the existing system and there is no radical change: but if you provide Popular Education and activism you get radical change because you build awareness and you sustain empowerment. As a result of this research the author found that refugee women in general and activists in particular need more than support for their basic livelihood needs. They require skills development and educational interventions that help them to be participants in the decision-making process involved in what, how and where programs should to be developed. There is a strong need for an educational intervention that develops awareness and promotes change by refugee women themselves. The Sudanese refugee women activists in this study lacked the knowledge and the tools to implement Popular Education methodologies. All the activists in this study had some experience with non-formal educational pedagogy, but all of them lacked specific training that would enable them to use Popular Education approaches in their daily struggles. There is a great need to develop programs that adapt Popular Education philosophies and methods so that the claim of empowering refugee women becomes reality. Qualitative research methods were used including intensive one-on-one interviews and a focus group was conducted to explore and understand the life histories of Sudanese refugee women activists who live and work within their communities in Cairo Egypt and in the United States.

Adult literacy and non-formal basic education programs have been implemented on a continuous basis in Nepal for the past 20 years. Both the Ministry of Education and local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have been implementing literacy courses as "entry points" for community development programs. This exploratory study examines three NGOs which, as part of their adult literacy programs, have organized adult new literates to develop and publish print materials. This process and the resultant texts have been termed Learner Generated Materials (LGM). Through a critical review of the literature, theoretical rationales and approaches for the use of LGM methods are identified, and patterns of practice, especially in Asia, are analyzed. Three intensive case studies of LGM activities in Nepal, utilizing field research, interviews and observation, describe the process of implementing LGM methods and the use of the materials developed in the Nepal context. General finding are related to the use of LGM for learning, the popularity and utility of the product for new literates, and the use of both the process and product for participatory action. Findings indicate that the authors found publishing to be an empowering experience. Readers interviewed strongly preferred reading LGM texts to professionally developed materials in regard to comprehension, enjoyment and inspiration. This was supported by author and reader beliefs that LGM validated them as knowers. LGM texts developed around specific development themes also had a catalytic effect in motivating readers to action in the area of community development. In this regard, LGM texts appear to change the relation and climate between new literates and the development process, moving them from passive recipients to active doers. Issues which emerge from the study include the use of new literates as editors, publishing texts in non-standard Nepali, the role and applications of LGM activities as tools for learning, and the effectiveness of LGM methods for promoting interactive and critical forms of knowledge. Areas for further research are also identified.

Purpose of the study. The main purpose of this study was to develop a transitional program framework that can assist homeless women with children to become self-sufficient. In order to create this framework, this study identified nine program areas containing a total of 58 components and four program outcome categories. The three goals of this study were to (a) identify, characterize, and analyze the current transitional programs for homeless women with children; (b) determine the current program areas and components, perceived component importance, and program outcomes; and (c) determine which program demographics, program areas, and components are related to successful program outcomes and important in effective transitional programs. Methodology. A descriptive research methodology was used for data collection. A survey questionnaire was sent to program directors of transitional shelter/housing programs for homeless women with children in the 29 continental United States cities that participated in the 1994 U.S. Conference of Mayors' annual 30-city survey. Results and recommendations. The majority of the participants were women with children between the ages of 20 and 34. The majority of the women (85.8%) were minority women with children. Most of the women were single. The most frequent reasons for homelessness were physical abuse; housing issues, such as eviction or the lack of affordable housing; lack of family support; and substance abuse. The average number of children in the homeless family was between two and three. Children five years or younger made up 58.8% of the children in the programs. The majority of the participants failed to graduate from high school or vocational technical school and were either unemployed or had never been employed when they entered a program. Nevertheless, program directors judged that 76.7% of the participants were probably or definitely employable. Recommendations were that transitional programs should be 5-10 individual living units in size and 24 months in length, with an additional follow-up period. Also, that transitional programs include the following important program areas: Permanent Housing Assistance, Children's Programs, Family and Independent Living Skills Education, Support Services, Family Health and Preservation, and of special importance, Adult Basic Education and Employment Training. Finally, in each of those seven program areas, 24 specific components were identified that should be included in transitional programs.

Using critical discourse analysis, seven "problematic moments" that occurred during a two week educational event in the conversations of a multinational group of fourteen students at an international development education institution are analyzed. Each moment illustrates some aspect of "silence" which I define as an consequence of ideology. A relationship is established between the micro meanings of those interpersonal and group silences with the macro level meanings of changes occurring at the international level. Contradictions in the discourse of international development education are revealed through this analysis and the dilemmas these contradictions pose for an international institution embedded in that discourse are explored. Changes which are having an impact on international development education programs include U.S. foreign policy since the end of the cold war, the increased integration and dependence of less developed countries on the international market economy, and the reduction in the amount of "public space" in which non-governmental organizations can operate. As the institution is drawn into the new international market economy, it is changing to become more academic and expert based. Its program is being developed to train graduates to manage the non-governmental and private organizations that work for an agenda of globalization. One result of these changes is confusion about the concept of identity as old theories of the self are no longer meaningful in the new-world (i.e. USA led) order. Current international changes, rather than creating order, are creating a disorder that is painful and difficult to articulate in "normal" group interactions in the context of unquestioned institutional practices. It is suggested that by paying attention to the meaning of silences in its discourse, the institution can discover ways of using language to counteract the silencing of alternative worlds, and can learn how to design participatory peer learning events that allow for a medley of voices and silences in international and intercultural contexts.

This study is concerned with the systems approach in distance education. As a modality of instruction, distance education has grown in importance rapidly in the last thirty years. Most theories in the field have been solidified and are part of a sophisticated body of literature addressing learning issues, technologies, administration of programs, instructional design, and models. Systemic thinking has been proposed as a way to operate in distance education to obtain good results in the practice of distance education. Because most theories and models of distance education have been developed in industrialized nations, this dissertation looks at the systems approach in the context of a Latin American university. Some of its postulates are examined to determine if success areas at the Virtual University are the result of systemic practices. The larger context of this dissertation is the analysis of a distance education model within a university in the developing world. The Virtual University of the Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM) in Mexico serves as a case study for this work. In eight years, the unit has grown dramatically offering several graduate degrees, undergraduate courses, and continuing education programs in 26 national campuses and in other locations of North, Central, and South America. Its success and problem areas are worthy of analysis looking at a distance education model developed in the US. Through the use of surveys, review of literature, institutional evaluations, and unstructured interviews, the study looks at the interconnectedness of different process parts of the Virtual University. An assessment of success and problem areas is presented. Through the analysis of data and discussion, I propose that distance education success in this Mexican university is perhaps related to cultural perceptions or the sophisticated technological infrastructure in the 26 campus system. The result questions the adoption of external models in developing countries. It suggests that, rather than continuing to explain practices in distance education with foreign schemes, local approaches need to be developed as the basis for research in the modality. This idea may be of interest for distance educators in developing nations and elsewhere.

This exploratory study, conducted in an integrated watershed management project in rural Nepal, was intended to explore elements that empower women as a group. The study also explores the contributions of functional literacy to the empowerment process. Experiences of five different mothers' groups from both Brahman and Gurung backgrounds informed the understandings presented in this study. The women's experiences are different, partly due to cultural differences. Open-ended interviews, document reviews and observations are the main sources used to identify empowering factors. Major factors which contribute to empowering women as a collective group found in this study include both programmatic and non-programmatic interventions. This implies that looking at empowerment of women in developing countries through one lens and drawing conclusions on that basis is premature. Women's lives are influenced by political, social, cultural, economic, and educational situations. Therefore, to consider one component in isolation is inappropriate if the objective is to achieve a multi-faceted goal like empowerment. The study implies that empowerment, which occurs at different levels at different points in one's life, is a fluid process. Finally, several issues deserve further attention. Functional literacy, assumed to be thought-controlling and mechanical, can contribute to the empowerment process. Functional literacy, which promotes knowledge and skills needed for the learners' daily lives, raises motivation and participation in actions. Engaged in action which makes their daily lives easier and given opportunities, women find it useful to explore other possibilities to improve their situations. This trend keeps women engaged in action, reflection, and dialogue, enhancing their confidence, self-esteem, and ability to take charge of their situations. Areas where the study showed investigation is needed include: how can positive socio-cultural traditions be built up to strengthen community-based women's groups? What roles and attitudes do men hold regarding women's participation in individual and community development processes? How can raising men's awareness about and participation in family health and sanitation issues be incorporated into the programs? How can a multi-caste group function as a cohesive unit? And how much do issues of caste, as opposed to economic conditions, affect the process?

In the field of rural development there is an increasing appreciation for the need to involve local people in all aspects of their own development. This situation has led to the emergence of many different participatory approaches that attempt to respond to this changing development paradigm. Participatory approaches strive to enable people to value and build upon the knowledge and power that already exists in their own community. Paulo Freire's work on transformative education has greatly influenced the process, content and expected outcomes of the different methodologies used to attain popular participation in rural development. Academics and development practitioners believe that by engaging in a participatory process, people will gain greater control over their own development which can lead to physical, behavioral, attitudinal, organizational and philosophical transformations within individuals and communities. Yet, little has been done in evaluating the range of outcomes and longer term impact a participatory approach may have on the individuals and communities involved. Thus, the development field operates with an incomplete understanding of the potential benefits and limitations of participatory methodologies as they are applied to rural communities. This study partially addresses such a deficiency through an in-depth, qualitative investigation of the short term outcomes generated by a training intervention based on critical pedagogy. The training took place in the communities of San Francisco Menéndez and Tacuba, El Salvador to respond to issues that emerged with the establishment of El Imposible National Park. Qualitative research methods were used to assess the program's effects on the participants. These data, along with products and outputs generated by the participants during the training programs, were analyzed to develop a framework for assessing the short term impact of participatory training on rural development. The research findings show that changes in consciousness level are highly individualized and could only be assessed from the researcher's in-depth interactions with the training participants and from the perspective of the participants' life situation and history. The study challenges policy makers, social researchers and development practitioners to consider the plurality of endogenous and exogenous community interactions as key components to the participatory process in rural development.

This study aims at building dialogue among culturally diverse groups by examining people's perceptions of social reality through the application of projective techniques. In this study the projective techniques consist of a set of original pictures drawn by the author based on participants' accounts of their living situations. The set of pictures combined with the process of inquiry applied in this study comprise the FotoDialogo Method. This study conforms to the following objectives: (1) developing and testing an original model of inquiry and education which promotes dialogue and self-discovery; (2) fostering dialogue skills and reflective thinking among disadvantaged Latino women; (3) promoting effective intergroup communication between health and human service providers and their client population; and (4) developing guidelines for the production of research and training materials that encourage effective intergroup communication, and empowerment of traditionally disadvantaged groups. The research methodology is grounded in qualitative and participatory research principles. The research design stems from Paulo Freire's Thematic Investigation Model, and Henry Murray's Thematic Apperception Test. This study was carried out within a community-based organization serving the Latino population in Massachusetts. The author took a leadership role in all phases of the study, as moderator of the Latina Women's Dialog Group (LWDG), and of a series of FotoDialogo Workshops addressed to health and human service providers. The LWDG sessions were conducted entirely in Spanish—the participants' native language—and recorded by audio tape. These sessions were later transcribed and translated by the author. Throughout this study pseudonyms for actual persons are used to protect participants identities and to maintain confidentiality. Accounts are based on actual interviews, and transcriptions of dialogue sessions. The results of this study revealed that the FotoDialogo Method can be a powerful strategy for Latinas to break silence about their particular experiences of oppression. The LWDG participants began a process of self-discovery which enabled them to analyze and value their experiences, and to fully participate in their community's social change. The FotoDialogo Workshops were also effective in raising awareness among practitioners regarding intercultural communication, and in reflecting upon the sociocultural context in which the Latino community is immersed.