This study sought to understand the essence of calling development in emerging adults enrolled at university through an interpretative phenomenological analysis of nine semistructured interviews at a small mid-western public university. The conclusions of the study suggest the essence of calling development for this population is the process of…

Many second language pedagogy experts recommend that curricular and instructional planning should begin with needs analysis. Few, however, recommend assessing students' strengths, and those that do seem not to consider learners' strengths to be integral to planning or instruction. Teacher preparation programs and materials that foreground needs…

In 2018, the author embarked on Master of Education research to investigate how mature adults were affected by regular participation in visual art classes. Visual art education is reported to have a positive effect on the cognition of mature adults in various contexts (Schindler et al., 2017; Wali et al., 2001), so this research investigates…

Teaching assistants (TAs) have a notable role in supporting individual students, groups, and classes in learning and in daily practices, both in mainstream and special education at the primary and secondary school levels. To enhance teaching assistants' learning, they should be integrated members of schools' professional learning communities.…

In this article we discuss the findings from a qualitative research project that explored the struggles of twelve work-based learners whilst they studied on a Foundation Degree in an English University. It examines the concept of struggle within the current context of Higher Education and discusses the need to acknowledge learners' emotional…

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to gain insight into experiences of adults who expressed personal discomfort with singing, either alone or when others might hear them. Singing agency in music learning, one's belief in one's own capacity to sing aloud, served as the guiding lens for the study. Narrative analysis of interview data,…

This action research project focused on teacher retention in Adult Education programs. The study was centered on new teachers in Adult Education, as defined as having less than three years of experience teaching in the field of Adult Education. The study concentrated on growing new teachers' senses of belonging, self-efficacy, and new teachers'…

Objective: To understand whether symptoms of health conditions explain the negative association between combat exposure and student Veterans' achievement of a meaningful life. Participants: 153 combat Veterans enrolled in college between November 2013 and April 2018. Methods: Through an online survey, participants reported combat exposure, health…

The tripartite of motivation- affect- cognition indicates the need for more efforts to uncover the complex nature of the interplay of self-efficacy, anxiety as well as motivation. In this study we measured the longitudinal association between adult English a foreign language (EFL) students' self-efficacy and anxiety and the role of ideal self as…

This paper discusses how mature Access to Higher Education (AHE) students worked hard to gain access to Higher Education (HE) because they wished to pursue careers that required this level of education. They wanted to transform themselves as learners to achieve their aspirations despite the hurdles that many faced, such as maintaining families,…

This article provides evidence of the ways in which Family Learning (FL) has offered opportunities for the negotiation of a culturally responsive pedagogy that positions parents as experts. Although our study is small (ten parents and six FL practitioners) its significance lies in its longitudinal perspective and in-depth analysis, which…

This qualitative study examined the identity of doctoral students in their quest to become scholars. The research question asked: What impact did a Community of Practice have on the doctoral students? The findings illustrated that on the journey the participants struggled to integrate multiple identities and roles. They also refined their…

Narrative learning is strongly allied with transformational learning and adult development (Merriam, Caffarella, & Baumgartner, 2007), given that it creates context for adult meaning making. Through the use of narrative writing, adult students have the opportunity to engage multiple aspects of learning. Many colleges and universities allow…

The current study investigated learning attributes, academic self-efficacy and sense of belonging of mature adult students in higher education. Undergraduate students of all ages at a large Canadian research intensive university were recruited to participate in an online survey. Mature and traditional age students were compared on their motivation…

Adult learners comprise a significant portion of current undergraduate populations, and projections indicate steady or growing numbers of adult learners in the future. Previous research has suggested that adult learners possess lower self-confidence than and face barriers not experienced by traditional undergraduate students. These constructs have…