Showing papers in "Adult Education Quarterly in 1981"
TL;DR: In this paper, the nature of three generic domains of adult learning is discussed, each with its own interpretive categories, ways of determining which knowledge claims a person can make about a knowledge claim.
Abstract: Interpreting the ideas of Jurgen Habermas, the nature of three generic domains of adult learning is posited, each with its own interpretive categories, ways of determining which knowledge claims ar...
2,237 citations
TL;DR: This article investigated the relative associations of curiosity evoked by surprising information and found that curiosity can be expressed by the desire to gain knowledge, rather than the need to discover new information itself.
Abstract: Berlyne (6) has proposed that epistemic curiosity, the desire to gain knowledge, can be evoked by "surprising information." This study investigated the relative associations of curiosity evoked by ...
41 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the differences and similarities in the demographic characteristics of adult learners and non-learners were studied in terms of the following questions: What are the difference and similarities between adults and nonlearners?
Abstract: The problem to be studied was stated in terms of the following questions: What are the dif ferences and similarities in the demographic characteristics of adult learners and non-learners? Is there ...
18 citations
TL;DR: Can educational decisions be made on a rational basis? Educational practice is based on theoretical knowledge as discussed by the authors. Choice of means, therefore, reduces to choice among competing theories, and such choice in...
Abstract: Can educational decisions be made on a rational basis? Educational practice is based on theoretical knowledge. Choice of means, therefore, reduces to choice among competing theories. Such choice in...
16 citations
TL;DR: For instance, this article found that while the tasks were considered important by most of the subgroups within the sample, women ranked the tasks as signifi cantly more important than did men.
Abstract: Robert Havighurst has delineated developmental tasks for various stages of life from infancy through older adulthood. Although Havighurst's study is widely acknowledged by educators as a basis for planned learning experiences, apparently no studies exist which have assessed the saliency of his adulthood tasks for today's men and women. In this study, 540 adults representing three income levels (lower, middle, upper) and three age groups (young, middle-aged, older) were asked to rank, on a five point Likert-type scale, how important each of the adulthood tasks was for them. Means and standard deviations for each task were calculated for each sample subcategory, i.e., for males and females, three income levels, and three age groups. The means were rank ordered and the Kruskal-Wallis "Analysis of Var iance" by Ranks statistical test used. Findings suggest that while the tasks were considered important by most of the subgroups within the sample, women ranked the tasks as signifi cantly more important than did...
13 citations
TL;DR: The Educational Description Questionnaire (EDQ) as mentioned in this paper was developed to test the hypothesis that students perceive these behaviors as a dimension of teacher behavior and found that student involvement behavior is a significant factor in teacher behavior.
Abstract: Although several studies of the student-perceived teaching behavior of postsecondary educators have recognized student participation as a dimension of teacher behavior, few, if any, of these studies specifically describe the instructor's involvement of students in the design and operation of an educational program. The Educational Description Questionnaire, which con tains items describing student involvement behaviors, was developed for this study to test the hypothesis that students perceive these behaviors as a dimension of teacher behavior. It was ad ministered to 961 students by seventy-four instructors in four two-year colleges. Factor analysis of each of the sixty items on the questionnaires identified student-involvement behavior as a significant factor. Further research on the student-perceived behavior of postsecondary educators should include items that describe student involvement behaviors.
11 citations
TL;DR: The Chautauqua Assembly was distinguished not only for its contribution to adult education programs but also for their contribution to educational thought: learning should be lifelong as discussed by the authors, and education for adults as both a right and duty.
Abstract: The Chautauqua Assembly was distinguished not only for its contribution to adult education programs but also for its contribution to educational thought: learning should be lifelong. The Chautauqua founders regarded education for adults as both a right and duty. This belief derived from three sources: (1) a religious basis, (2) a theory of self-culture, and (3) the right of each per son to have access to knowledge. To this ideological bases was coupled a theory of adult educa tion, namely, adulthood is a unique time for learning. Among the elements of this theory of adult education were these: (1) adults can learn, (2) education should be extended beyond formal school years, (3) life is a school, (4) agencies should cooperate in promoting adult learning, and (5) education should bring adults into contact with current thought on scientific and social issues. This article concludes that Chautauqua, more than many of the other popular education move ments for adults between 1865 and 1914, addressed concerns ...
10 citations
TL;DR: The authors found that there is a high positive relationship between total scores on the Adult Performance Level (APL) Survey and the General Educational Development (GED) test (r =.81, p <.00001).
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine how the approach to assessing outcomes in ABE exemplified by the Adult Performance Level (APL) Survey compares with the most widely used approach exemplified by the General Educational Development (GED) test. The APL Survey was administered to 269 adults at the time they were taking the new forms of the GED test. It was found that there is a high positive relationship between total scores on the APL Survey and the GED test (r = .81, p < .00001). Factor analyses of scores on the two tests suggest that one mental trait, reading ability, significantly affects performance on both tests. It was concluded that these results from the factor analyses account for the high positive relationship between scores on the APL and GED tests.
9 citations
TL;DR: This paper explored and described the relationship between formal organizational structures and extent of participation of clients, faculty and program administrators in planning continuing professional education programs in six Southern land-grant universities.
Abstract: This study explored and described the relationship between formal organizational structures and extent of participation of clients, faculty and program administrators in planning continuing professional education programs in six Southern land-grant universities. Each university was treated as a case study. Data were collected by interviews and content analysis of policy documents.The study found that the extent of structural integration/differentiation of the formal organization of continuing education is described by the extent to which responsibility for the delivery of continuing professional education is located in a university-wide continuing education delivery system as opposed to numerous college-based delivery systems. In addition, extent of par ticipation of clients increased when planning occurred in the context of campus-wide continuing education delivery systems and decreased in college-based delivery systems. Program ad ministrators participated most in planning which occurred in the context ...
8 citations
TL;DR: One approach states that instruction should be personalized to fit the learner as mentioned in this paper, and this approach develops out of a Skinnerian philosophy that instruction requires the development of a set of specific behavioral objectives.
Abstract: One approach states that instruction should be personalized to fit the learner. This approach develops out of a Skinnerian philosophy. Activities are often pre-programmed and unitized. Instruction requires the development of a set of specific behavioral objectives. Students learn to meet specified outcomes with certain levels of competency. Mager (21) presents the technical knowledge required to produce learning programs of this type. Strengths of this approach include that what is to be learned is clear and that evaluation is based on measurement of expected outcomes. The approach has proven effective for learning of specifiable skills and efficient for Adult Basic Education programs. But significant weaknesses do exist. Objectives and learning resources must be established before the student begins to learn. It is difficult to allow for spontaneity and change as the learning proceeds. Often the enthusiasm has all gone into the development of the objectives and little remains for helping to guide the learners. Another difficulty is that learners can not easily have input into the content (subject-matter) or process (presentation) of the learning event. Knowles’ work (18) on andragogy represents a second approach. This approach begins with the identification of needs and resources by learners. Then objectives and individual or group projects (or contracts) for meeting the learning needs are developed. The stress is on the activities and behaviors that are appropriate for meeting learning needs (19). These plans, activities and behaviors are important in learning. Knowles has ignited the enthusiasm of many learners and educators. But a major difficulty may be that the learner as the starting point for learning may be lost and the activities associated with fulfilling the contract may become the focus of learning. A third approach is that of the personal learning project, as described by Tough (30) and others (31). Tough found that individuals spend many hours carrying out personal learning projects-sustained efforts to learn something that is fairly clear to the learner. These studies provide fascinating insights into how adults plan their own learning and the difficulties they encounter in
7 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a three-dimensional reference grid is proposed as a framework for decision-making in planning for optimal participation in participatory evaluation in adult and non-formal education programs.
Abstract: This article examines the usefulness of participatory evaluation in program development. The emphasis is on formative evaluation undertaken primarily by practitioners for purposes of planning and improving programs. After a brief discussion of rationale, dimensions and needs in respect to participatory evaluation, approaches are suggested for planning participa tion in evaluation and adapting methods to facilitate the use of participatory evaluation in adult and nonformal education programs. A three-dimensional reference grid is proposed as a framework for decision making in planning for optimal participation.
TL;DR: The policy making culture includes both the power elite and the counter-elite (policy makers out of power or dissidents) with their separate social visions and their own schemes of distributions of social and economic goods.
Abstract: create preferred social outcomes. New policy, to be so called, must seek to bring about new distributions of power, of social statuses, and of economic and educational goods. Thus, if new distributions of power, statuses, income and education are not involved, we are not really dealing with policy and policy making. We may be dealing perhaps with rules, regulations, plans or procedures (3). Since policy making involves new distributions, it is predominantly a political process. The policy making culture includes both the power elite (policy makers in power) and the counter-elite (policy makers out of power or dissidents) with their separate social visions and their own schemes of distributions of social and economic goods. Planning stands between policy making and program action. It is a design process, involving the articulation of means to achieve policy intentions, within a particular time frame. Planning is by no means immune to political pressures, but it is predominantly a research-based activity.
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors developed systems theory to enable the researcher to study and systematically analyze the intermediate-level political system represented by the political parties and their representatives in the United States.
Abstract: Is systems theory, as developed by political scientist David Easton, functional in enabling the researcher to study and systematically analyze the intermediate-level political system represented by...