To determine why some persons leave the university while others remain in the student role, a study compared a group of 44 university students aged 60 and over with a group of 50 ex-students of the same age. The two groups were comparable in age, education, sex, and income. The ex-students stayed at the university a significantly shorter time (2.5…

This paper presents a codification of theory-based approaches that are applicable to adult learning situations. It also lists some general guidelines that can be used when selecting a particular approach or theory as a basis for planning instruction. Adult education's emphasis on practicality and the relationship between theory and practice is…

Online delivery is becoming more widely used to enhance face-to-face provision within the higher education sector. What is the value of such supplementation in the learning process? This notion of value is explored through examination of the responses and online output of over 50 students involved in two third year units, each of which used online…

In America, a dichotomy of teaching philosophies which acknowledge the individual needs of children have produced approaches that are used in public school classrooms. The methods exemplify the dichotomous poles and combinations of both. These dichotomous teaching approaches are often referred to as the traditional methods or parts-specific…

Many project teams in organizations are highly structured, members have clearly defined roles, and they possess knowledge about how to effectively manage their projects and meetings. On the other hand, students in educational environments lack significant experience working in teams. Therefore, student teams are often poorly structured, members…

Online learning is a relatively young field that is still being defined as a discipline. As faculty members wrestle with decisions about how to structure online courses for collaborative, connected learning, student perspectives of successful courses can provide valuable insights for decision-making. This paper presents general research findings…

The quality of multimedia-based interaction is more the product of the way instruction is designed, and less the result of the system on which it is delivered. To fully exploit the capabilities of more powerful instructional technologies, designers must also reexamine the assumptions and expand the strategies employed in instructional design.…

Faculty and students face new challenges and questions regarding their roles in the emerging learning paradigm brought on by educational technology. This paper discusses six shifts from traditional educational institutions to a learner-centered university. Changes and developments include: (1) the teacher: from instructional deliverer to learning…

The Training Team of the Information Resources unit at Gettysburg College (Pennsylvania) is not only responsible for answering faculty members' technology questions, but also charged with instructing the entire community in the basics of using a wide variety of applications. The Training Team is a combination of software specialists and…

This study examined the perceptions of a cohort of students, faculty, staff, and administrators concerning the vertical and horizontal flow of information at a selected university. Seventeen students, six faculty, five staff, and six administrators participated in the study. Q-methodology served as the data analytic procedure and Q-sorts were…

Learner-centered principles espoused by the American Psychological Association (APA) built on research of the last three decades suggest that learning does not simply entail coordinated cognitive processes. These 12 principles portray factors associated with learning as essential parts of the portrayal of learners as active creators of their own…

While teams in the business environment are highly structured with clearly defined roles, unstructured project teams in the educational environment suffer from communication and coordination problems. This study at East Carolina University (North Carolina) demonstrated the impact of this lack of structure by providing distinct roles and…

The ways in which second language learners and teachers together can develop learners' ability to carry on conversation in the target language are examined. The discussion is based on the idea that practicing language skills, therefore creating opportunities to gain additional knowledge, is essential to continued learning, whereas using such…

This study examined the impact of work and family roles on the probability of students in early adulthood completing the associate or baccalaureate degree. It also looked at the effect of gender on degree completion and differences between adult associate and baccalaureate degree seekers. The study used data from the National Longitudinal Study of…

This study examined two models of stress in early adolescence during the transition from elementary to middle school. One model suggested that role strain would predict self-esteem, with perceived competence and social support serving as moderators of strain. The second model predicted that self-esteem, perceived competence, and social support…