We use quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate the links between participation in adult learning and self-efficacy, particularly for the subgroup of adults who had low levels of achievement at school. We focus on self-efficacy because it translates into a range of wider benefits and because it may afford protection from depression and…

A study investigated (1) whether Japanese learners of a second language have the same learning strategies as other groups previously studied, and (2) whether the experience of studying or living abroad affects learning strategy use. Subjects were 24 Japanese third-year college students, learners of English as a second language who were studying in…

During the past 10 years, the community college student population and its needs have changed, calling for community college professors to develop a better understanding of their students and to provide the appropriate classroom environment and content for this population. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, postsecondary…

Based on a long-term comparative ethnographic study in two Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) public schools, the study reported here describes what two teachers do to create successful learning contexts for the biliterate development of linguistic minority children in their classes. Two classrooms situated in contrasting community, program, and language…

If schools are to respond effectively to the problems of youth at risk, they must build "reclaiming" environments that recover alienated youths by addressing both the students' needs and the needs of society. In the first of three sections, this document examines the alienation of children in a frequently inhospitable society. Destructive…

Although the existence of small Catholic elementary schools (enrollment: 300 or less) is precarious, these institutions enable students to succeed academically beyond national norms, due to the special learning environment that they provide. The recent Small Schools Survey of Catholic elementary schools indicated that classes in small Catholic…

The classroom practice of promoting glib recitation, on cue, of the surface structures of a foreign language is criticized. This practice has been based on the belief that it equates with, or leads to, communicative performance but the author claims that the attempt to simplify language learning into a sequence of skills beginning with listening…

This paper presents the results of a study designed to provide an empirical test of a learning theory proposed by McKenzie and Staaf in which the student effort enters as an argument in the learning achievement function. The model states that final achievement in economics is equal to the initial stock of knowledge plus improvement, where…

TEACHING MACHINES HAVE SEVERAL ADVANTAGES--TIME IS SAVED, CORRECT RESPONSE IS REINFORCED IMMEDIATELY, AND STUDENTS ARE NOT PUBLICLY CONFRONTED WITH FAILURE. THERE ARE TWO APPROACHES TO THE PROGRAMED INSTRUCTION INTRINSIC TO THEIR USE--ONE (THE SKINNER METHOD) IS BASED ON FILLING IN BLANK SPACES, THE OTHER (THE CROWDER METHOD) EMPLOYS…

The Webster College Veterans' Accelerated Urban Learning for Teaching (VAULT) program, initiated in 1968-69, is designed to train the disadvantaged (primarily Negro veterans who would not normally attend college) to teach in ghetto elementary schools. Its purpose is to serve veterans and to control the following deficiencies in higher education:…

Having used the apperception-interception method (AIM) of adult basic education (ABE) successfully abroad, World Education, with Office of Education funding and working at several American sites, developed a model of innovative ABE methods and materials for the United States, based on addressing learners' motivational problems. By using…

A landmark document, the out-of-print volume prepared for the first session of the UNESCO general conference, provides a preliminary outline of the proposed plan for fundamental education. Fundamental education is used to indicate a global field of activity that includes and goes beyond mass education, adult literacy, popular education, and…

Exploring psycholinguistic factors which bear directly on student achievement in language instruction in college, this article concludes that programed language instruction has no negative influence on student attitudes. The author directly links learning rate to the learner's attitudes while focusing discussion on results of an attitudinal…

Selected institute addresses, group reports, and other material useful for teaching or administering public programs in adult basic education (ABE) are included in this report. Address topics include: Adult Basic Education; The Role of the ABE Teacher; Group Methods for Teaching in ABE; Training Teachers for Teaching Writing Skills in Adult Basic…

This collection of articles about the contemporary urban school situation is designed primarily as a textbook for courses in educational administration, urban education, and urban sociology. The volume emphasizes the need for a close relationship between metropolitan school systems and the large city university. Included are chapters on the…