In formal learning spaces, students must navigate making meaning of both new knowledge and potentially new worldviews. In this qualitative grounded theory study, we examined how adult Buddhist monastic students learned about and described the origin of biodiversity in an introductory biology course. The study was conducted at a Tibetan settlement…

Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) is a term for various methods by which universities accredit student experiential learning. One such method is the academic portfolio, a written reflective process in which students demonstrate that their personal or professional learning fulfills university outcomes. Proponents of academic portfolios claim that…

This article reports on the findings from an interview-based, qualitative study of adult learners in Scotland participating in the MITx u.lab massive open online course in 2015 and 2016. It focuses on interviewees' accounts of the impact of participating in u.lab on their work and lives. Using grounded theory as an analytical guide, we explore…

This article seeks to begin a conversation about pedagogical responses to the current moment. Specifically, I argue that two of adult learning's most venerated practices--transformative learning and the use of personal narrative--are insufficiently nuanced to respond effectively to the political divisions and the epistemological chaos represented…

Marginalized adults have limited access to learning experiences that prioritize reflection and discourse, both considered preconditions in the Mezirow-informed field of transformative learning (TL). Using narrative analysis of a staff focus group and participant interviews over a 1-year learning journey, this study shows how a literacy program in…

Task-based language teaching (TBLT) is one of the most effective approaches to language teaching. Teachers should provide students with task-based activities which will motivate students to learn. Task-based writing instruction provides educators with effective ways to integrate social and emotional skills with writing skills. The contemporary…

This article describes research exploring the potential of arts-based, affective pedagogy to enact the dual mandate of second language programs for adult newcomers to Canada: facilitating official language learning and social integration. Deleuze-Guattarian affect theory informs the study framing both research and pedagogical practices as effects…

This research undertook to determine what motivates adults to continue learning while other less cognitively strenuous, and admittedly more hedonistic, choices exist. Many older adults desire to seek out and integrate knowledge about their environment, thus improving or stimulating intellectual functioning. Comparative analysis was used to…

The adult students who participate in the web-based studies of the open university have in many ways heterogeneous starting points for studying and learning, for example, the educational backgrounds, the acquired work experience, the general academic skills and the objectives of the future can vary considerably. The adult students striving from…

This paper presents a critical account of the extent and the ways in which learner-centred education approaches are used as a tool for enhancing adult learning in distance learning universities as well as the conditions and restrictions they face. The exploration is illustrated by qualitative data from interviews with eight adult educators and 16…

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework for the teaching-learning transaction that conceptualizes knowledge through learner-centered foci emphasizing accessibility, collaboration, and community. Given the importance of access to achieving social justice, UDL is a promising approach to meeting all learners' needs more effectively. In…

Drawing on Mayer's (2014) cognitive theory of multimedia learning, the purpose of this study was to examine which modes of gloss presentation (i.e., L2 definition, aural, and video animation) are effective for learners' vocabulary learning and delayed word recollection. One control group and three experimental groups were formed by 132…

This article contributes to contemporary debates about the significance of emotions within Higher Education. Using a psychoanalytic lens we analyse the ways in which experiences of anxiety and tension are essential for learning. The anxiety associated with learning can stimulate meaningful and reflexive outcomes but "learning inaction"…

This article presents empirical research exploring adult returner students' patterns of learning via qualitative analysis of a series of semi-structured interviews. Interviewees' comments shed light on the relation between patterns of learning on the one hand, and study skills, epistemological issues and attitudes to peer interaction on the other.…

Using Kegan's constructive-developmental theory, this study examines transformative learning among six low-income and homeless women of Color pursuing their GED in a shelter-based literacy program. Narrative analysis of two developmental interview instruments indicated that some participants' epistemological perspectives and knowledge construction…