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…

Writing is a critical skill that is considered important for employment, further education, civic participation, health, and personal fulfillment. For example, a substantial percentage of nearly all jobs that non-college graduates possess, require some type of writing. Workers are increasingly required to use their writing skills for memos,…

Writing is a critical skill that is considered important for employment, further education, civic participation, health, and personal fulfillment. For example, a substantial percent of nearly all jobs that non-college graduates possess require some type of writing. Workers are increasingly required to use their writing skills for memos, reports,…

This dissertation examined how adult learners who took developmental mathematics in a community college and passed the courses, viewed their self-efficacy and the roles they felt self-efficacy had on their successful completion of mathematics. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 adult learners in two U.S. community colleges.…

Purpose: In distinguishing the education of adults from the education of children, a gray area lies on where to classify gifted and honors students. The purpose of this study was to determine if the attitudes of students at an honors STEM summer camp paralleled the educational needs of adults, namely self-directed learning.…

This research was created in order to detect the indirect, direct and total effects of some factors affecting the academic success of secondary school students in Turkish courses. Concordantly, in the research, the explanatory and predictive relationships between students' individual verbal expression self-efficacy perceptions, group verbal…

Adult learners with low literacy skills compose a highly heterogeneous population in terms of demographic variables, educational backgrounds, knowledge and skills in reading, self-efficacy, motivation etc. They also face various difficulties in consistently attending offline literacy programs, such as unstable worktime, transportation…

Middle school students experience decreased academic motivation and declining achievement without proper classroom strategies and academic support. This single case study explores the parallels between child and adult education theories to identify a practical approach to adolescent learning and teaching by identifying effective educational…

This phenomenological study explored the success of women undergraduate adult learners at a predominantly traditional-aged, mid-size, public master's comprehensive institution in the Midwest. Five women undergraduate adult learners participated in two intensive individual interviews, focusing on how their experiences have facilitated or hindered…

The global economy has evolved in recent decades, resulting in increased demand for credentialed, skilled workers in a variety of industries. To meet this need, the U.S. higher education industry continues its pursuit of producing qualified graduates. Colleges and universities historically focused on serving traditional-aged students,…

The present study seeks to examine the relationship between the motivation of adult ESL learners, their willingness to communicate, their perceived competence, and the frequency of L2 use. Three research questions motivate this study: (1) Is there a relationship between the motivation of L2 learners and their willingness to communicate? (2) Is…

Academic success is contingent on multiple factors not the least of which is literacy and comprehension. However, research demonstrates that literacy and comprehension levels for traditional aged high secondary school students, as well as non-traditional adult college students threaten the academic success of these demographics. Identifying…

This study assesses the reasons behind learner dropout in adult EFL environments. Differences between two groups -- dropouts (N=154) and persistent learners (N=106) -- are examined using a questionnaire with qualitative and quantitative components. The study focussed on three areas: characteristics of the two groups (such as age and proficiency),…

This study seeks to put forward a justified definition for the concept of Teacher Ownership, and establishes levels of science teacher ownership, based on a hierarchy of categories, using phenomenographic analysis. Such ownership is based on a meaningful science teacher internalisation of a motivational context-based teacher approach, established…

In the field of psychology, what motivates a person to achieve their goals has been vastly researched, particularly in looking at internal versus external factors. In education, using internal or intrinsic factors that can predict motivation is helpful as they facilitate goal attainment, such as earning a degree. Two factors (online self-efficacy…