A student of self-directed learning provides a perspective commentary on the use of fiction to foster discussion of themes, studies, and theories related to self-directed learning. The novel used is Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451," set in a future dystopian society where books are outlawed and any that are found are burned by government…

Biography can be a valuable tool in understanding historical perspectives on adult learning. The purpose of this study was to look at three examples of times throughout Abraham Lincoln's life when he demonstrated a high level of self-directedness in learning in order to solve problems that he faced. Specifically, we examined (a) Lincoln's youth,…

In the hours following the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent shutdown, educators across the nation were suddenly tasked with teaching online. As Jen Vanek describes in "Supporting Quality Instruction: Building Teacher Capacity as Instructional Designers (Part 1 of 3)" (EJ1344704), the majority of educators had to quickly learn and…

The aim of this paper is to introduce a correction into the notion of self-directed adult learning by way of conjoining it with philosophically elaborated notions of autonomy, self-reflectiveness, and maturity. The basic premise of this intervention is that in andragogical theorizing, learners' self-directedness ought not to be thought as obvious…

Fostering adult learners' competence to adapt appropriately to our ever-changing world is a primary concern of adult education. The purpose of the present article is novel and examines whether the consideration of "modes of learning" (instruction, performance, and inquiry) could assist in the design of adult education that facilitates…

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) are a relatively new form of education, offered by some of the best-known universities and attracting many hundreds of thousands of students. The authors describe MOOCs and the claims made about them and analyze two major impacts of these programs based on the first MOOC offered by McGill University. The first…

Although Westerners have used over 200 terms to describe self-directed learning (SDL), it is educators in Confucius heritage cultures (CHC) that have successfully promoted and implemented SDL. This article argues that for learners in the Western cultures, especially in the United States to catch up with learners in other industrialized nations…

Self-directed learning (SDL) has numerous implications for understanding adult learners and for improving their museum experiences. Through a review of the conceptual and empirical literature, the relationship between SDL and education within a museum setting is explored in this article. Discussion includes an overview of SDL, inquiry into two…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to determine how docents developed expertise within the context of their work with history museums. Twelve expert docents from four history-themed museums were interviewed to discover how expertise is developed by volunteers working in nonformal settings. Interpretation of the data revealed two primary…

GED (General Educational Development) testing candidates have many options available to them to prepare for the GED Test, including adult education (AE) classes, practice tests, and self-study. This study focused on candidates who voluntarily took the GED Test and could choose freely among preparation activities. We examined GED Test preparation…

This empirical study uses auto-ethnography to describe a higher education pedagogical process that facilitated largely doctoral students in preparing their candidacy proposals through the use of specific adult learning principles. Students' experiences and points of view of such a learning environment were explored, including: (1) how they…

In 1957, 12 years after the end of World War II, the Ministry of Education issued Circular 323 to promote the development of an element of "liberal studies" in courses offered by technical and further education (FE) colleges in England. This was perceived to be in some ways a peculiar or uncharacteristic development. However, it lasted…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the blended learning preferences under which adult students study mathematics, electronics and industry certificate examinations like project management and e-SAP (systems, applications and products). Design/methodology/approach: The study is based on four case studies in mathematics,…

Personal responsibility has long been considered an important component in self-directed learning. And yet, a theoretical understanding of personal responsibility that could lead to meaningful instrumentation has eluded the field. The present study considers the merits of the Triangle Model of Responsibility (TMR) (Schlenker, Britt, Pennington,…

This paper comprises a summary of research into the teaching of higher education (HE) courses in further education (FE) learning environments. A comprehensive study of college management and teaching staff attitudes together with teaching practices, pedagogy and research was carried out with six partner colleges of the University of Plymouth where…