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Select the letter from the list above to jump to appropriate section of the abstracts index. Abstracts are in alphabetical order by the first letter of the author's last name.
NOTE:
Abstracts contain links to online copies of papers.
Abstracts from Symposia
Abstracts from symposia are listed in the order they appear in the published version of the proceedings.
Published Conference Proceedings -
Northern Illinois University
Information is available regarding the 1999 published version of the conference proceedings compiled by Northern Illinois University.
Andruske, Cynthia Lee, University of
British Columbia
Women's Transitions from Welfare to Paid
Work and Education: Learning to Navigate the Systems
Abstract: The purpose of this research is to highlight women's strategies for navigating their transitions from welfare to paid work and education.
Armstrong, Keith B., DePaul
University
Timm, Susan, Northern Illinois
University
Associative Ethical Dilemmas for Multicultural
Sensitivity Assessment Derived from Adult Educational Theory
Abstract: Adult educators promote non-formal assessment as demonstrated in their writings. Can tools then be developed that will gauge multicultural sensitivity? This paper examines that question, and personal, social, and legal implications of using multicultural sensitivity assessments for screening prospective employees, volunteers, and consultants for socially conscious groups, movements, and institutions.
Armstrong, Paul, University
of London
Sustaining Commitment to Social Responsibility:
Renewing the Ethical Basis of the Quality Agenda in the Education of Adults
Abstract: This paper seeks to extend the notion of quality in higher education by considering the agenda for environmental sustainability and underlying ethical practices. Education institutions should be committed to the extended version of quality, and should not lose sight of the importance of commitment and social responsibility in the drive for a quality kitemark.
Armstrong, Rebecca D.
An Investigation Of How Faculty Learn To Teach At A
Distance With Technology: Their Strategies For Solving The Problem
Abstract: This exploratory, qualitative research study sought to understand--from the faculty members' viewpoint--how they went about learning to teach at a distance with technology when not required to attend training. Findings point toward the importance of institutional context and indicate that some developmental process is occurring.
Baird, Irene C.,
The examined life: A study of
identity formation,agency, self-expression among imprisoned women
Abstract:This study demonstrated the efficacy of a Freirian/humanities-based adult education program on identity formation, agency and empowerment through self-expression within the context of a women's group in a county jail.
Beder, Hal
Medina, Patsy
The Dynamics of Adult Basic Education Instruction
Abstract: This presentation reports the results of a classroom dynamics study of adult literacy education in which twenty adult literacy classes were observed twice in seven states. For each observed class, teachers were interviewed. Students were interviewed when possible. The overriding theme was classroom culture, defined as the socially patterned human thought and behavior that takes place in adult literacy education classrooms.
Mary Beth Bingman
Olga Ebert
"You are activated, proud of it":
A Study of Learner Identified Impacts of Participation in Adult Literacy Programs
Abstract: This study is based on life history interviews with ten adult literacy students. It examines how adults describe the impacts of their participation in adult literacy classes on their lives, and how the impacts they define compare with performance measures in the new Workforce Investment Act.
Boshier, Roger,
University of British Columbia
Superstition as an Impediment to the Education of Commercial
Fishermen: A Psychocultural Investigation Using Video
Abstract: Commercial fishermen are prone to be superstitious and engage in rituals of avoidance designed to resolve anxiety and "diminish" danger. Video interviews with British Columbia fishermen illuminate this problem. The author pleads for a broadening of techno-rational approaches to prevention-education. Psycho-cultural, as well as techno-rational factors (equipment etc) should be considered.
Ann Brooks
Kathleen Edwards
For Adults Only: Queer Theory Meets the Self and Identity
in Adult Education
Abstract: This article brings the perspective of "Queer theory" to the field of Adult Education as a way of examining critically the notions of self, identity, and sexuality as they have been taken for granted within the field. Adult Education, like most fields of practice and research, assumes the Western ideals of the monadic self, clear and undisputed identities, and heterosexuality. However, the intersection of a strong postmodern voice in both academia and the popular culture, the increasing exploration of other-than-hetero-sexualities in the media, and the foregrounding of sexuality in the work of adult education researchers (Brooks & Edwards,1997; Edwards, 1997; Hill,1995; Edwards, Grace, Henson, B., Henson, W., Hill, & Taylor, 1998; Tisdell & Taylor, 1995) forces the question of what relevance Queer theory has for adult educators.
Caffarella, Rosemary S., University
of Northern Colorado
Merriam, Sharan B., University of
Georgia
Perspectives on Adult Learning: Framing Our Research
Abstract:Based on a review of the literature we describe the assumptions and salient concepts of two major perspectives on adult learning: the individual and the contextual. We then argue that although research should continue to be grounded in these two perspectives, we should expand our research efforts in a third paradigm consisting of an integration of these two perspectives.
Carkhuff, Marjorie H.
Enemies or Learning Partners? The Interplay of Power
and Learning in a Cross Boundary Work Group
Abstract:This study investigated power relationships in a cross boundary health care work group. The study found that power within groups is more fluid and flexible than previous studies suggested. Factors that influence power levels and their impact on learning are discussed.
Carter, Vicki K., Howell, Sharon L. and
Schied, Fred M., Pennsylvania State University
Shaping Self-Disciplined Workers: A Study of Silent
Power in HRD
Abstract: The intent of this case study was to examine power theories in a singular HRD context in such a way that problematizes the consequences of power.
Conti,
Gary J., Oklahoma State University
Kolody, Rita C., Medicine Hat College
The Relationship of Learning Strategy Preference and
Personality Type
Abstract: This study investigated the relationship of learning strategy preference to personality type. The findings indicate that while overall personality type is not related to learning strategy preference, three of the four indicators of personality type show a relationship to learning strategy preference.
Easton, Peter and Capacci, Christine,
Florida State University
Grassroots Dissemination of Adult Education Research
in Africa: Results of Recent Experience in Benin and Botswana
Abstract: Adult education research is a very small industry in Africa, one whose products are underutilized in practice. This paper describes an initiative designed to promote "grassroots dissemination", in which African researchers and NGOs help target groups to work through relevant research results and compare them with their own experience.
Fenwick, Tara, University of Alberta
Reflection Plus 4: Classifying Alternate Perspectives
in Experiential Learning
Abstract:This paper presents five theoretical perspectives that can inform experiential learning. A rationale for this typology is outlined briefly, then each perspective is described according to learning dimensions such as view of knowledge, learner, power, and role of educator. A chart summary comparing these perspectives will be distributed at the session.
Gouthro, Patricia, Mount St. Vincent
University
The Homeplace - Not the Marketplace: Developing a
Critical Feminist Approach to Adult Education
Abstract:In this paper I explore the development of a critical feminist theoretical approach that draws upon Habermasian theory and feminist discourses to examine connections between adult education and the homeplace.
Hemphill, David F., San Francisco
State University
The Blues and the Scientific Method: Codified Cultural
Schemas and Understanding Adult Cognition from a Multicultural Perspective
Abstract: Codified cultural schemas are presented as mental structures reflective of a particular culture or language that have been made public, recorded, and disseminated. The Western scientific method and the Blues are contrasted as two examples of codified cultural schemas. Analysis of such schemas that goes beyond Eurocentric structures--and beyond the modalities of language and mathematics--to include the arts and other forms of human intelligence can help us better understand adult cognition across cultures, as well as aid us in the work of adult education in multicultural societies.
Hill, Lilian H. and Moore,
Bernie, University of Georgia
Metaphors in Practice: Theories-in-Use Among
Diverse Community Development Practitioners
Abstract:Findings from this grounded theory research indicate that community development practitioners in both North America and Australia create similar working theories based on their experience in communities.
Jones-Ilsley, Donna, Syracuse
University
Feminist Life Stories: Twelve Journeys Come Together
at a Women's Center
Abstract: This study explores the personal narratives of twelve self-proclaimed feminists who started a women's center in a small conservative mid-west town. Our common "herstories" are not identical but reveal learning experiences imbedded in our social and cultural contexts. These social and cultural contexts, however varied, held common threads of the pedagogies we experienced in formal and informal settings. These pedagogies held traditions that are often passed on without question because we are not always aware of their presence. The stories allowed us to reflect on the traditions in our lives in order to come to terms with our past and present realities. As we each learned to be girls, women and feminists, we accepted the rewards of connection and acknowledged the struggle for self-definition. This research chronicles the learning journeys we each took as we came of age in the 50s, 60s, and 70s.
Kasworm, Carol E., University of
Tennessee-Knoxville
Adult Meaning Making in the Undergraduate Classroom
Abstract:This qualitative study explored adult student meaning making in an undergraduate classroom setting. Five key frames of meaning structures were delineated, suggesting highly complex and differing understandings of expert knowledge and adult learning engagement through classroom learning.
King, Kathleen P., Fordham University
Changing Languages, Cultures,and Self: The Adult ESL
Experience of Perspective Transformation
Abstract: Research was conducted among 208 adult ESL learners enrolled in college-based ESL programs. This study reveals that perspective transformation is frequently experienced in this context, and characterizes its nature. Implications for adult learning theory, education practice, and further research are discussed.
Kittredge, Cindy, Cascade County
Historical Museum and Archives
A Sense of Place and the Rural Adult Learner
Abstract: Confirming the importance of keeping the individual squarely at the center of the learning experience, this qualitative study of Montana ranchers describes how a sense of place, in this case an expansive rural landscape, provides Responsive Learners with a unique way of seeing, of communicating, of knowing, and of doing.
Lawrence, Randee Lipson and
Mealman, Craig A., National-Louis University
Collaborative Ways of Knowing: Storytelling, Metaphor
and the Emergence of the Collaborative Self
Abstract:This study explores collaborative inquiry as a research methodology through an examination of the processes employed by the co-researchers. The paper describes metaphor and storytelling, two heuristics that assisted in the collection and analysis of data and discusses the role of the collaborative relationship in the construction of knowledge.
Lee, Ming-yeh, San Francisco State
University
The Role of Cultural Values in the Interpretation of
Significant Life Experiences
Abstract: Researchers in adult education have investigated the phenomenon of meaning-making for decades. However, majority of studies mainly focus on the psychological process of meaning-making, rather than examining how contextual elements, especially cultural values, affect the process of interpretation. The purpose of this study was to explore the role of cultural values in the interpretation of significant life experiences as perceived by Taiwanese Chinese in the U. S.
Lo, Ya-Fen, Iowa State University
The Journey Continues: Life Transitions and Adult Learning
Among the Older Women in a Continuing Care Retirement Community
Abstract: This study explores older women's experiences of moving and living in a continuing care retirement community. The focus is on adult learning involved in the process of adaptation. The findings suggest that transformative learning theory and continuity theory partially explain the process of successful adaptation.
Malvicini, Peter G., Cornell
University
Constructing "Composite Dialogs" from
Qualitative Data: Towards Representing and Managing Diverse Perspectives
Abstract: During empirical research on adult learning, I developed a technical method of constructing dialogs from many interviews as an approach to qualitative data. Composite Dialogs present diverse perspectives while preserving elements of context and affect often lost through other methods. The approach should be of particular interest to adult educators who desire to link research to social action for democratic change.
Matsuda, Sandra and
Donaldson, Joe F., University of Missouri-Columbia
Information-Seeking Activity of Rural Health Practitioners
Abstract: Qualitative methods were used to identify the information-seeking activity (ISA) of rural health practitioners (non-physicians). Conditions shaping ISA were time, resources, and barriers. The primary strategy used was connecting with resources, particularly people. ISA led to consequences of problem resolution, greater competence, or more questions.
McDonald, Barbara L.
Explaining the Transformation of Ethical Vegans:
Is Mezirow's Theory Adequate?
Abstract: This paper explores the adequacy of Mezirow's transformation theory to describe the transformational learning of ethical vegans. A critical reading of the participants' narratives revealed that a temporal understanding of power is needed. Transformation theory failed to account for the power of normative ideologies to undermine the emancipatory learning and praxis of ethical vegans over time.
Mezirow, Jack, Columbia
University
Transformation Theory - Postmodern Issues
Abstract:This paper briefly comments on selected issues raised by postmodern writers regarding Transformation Theory, as developed by the author. Issues include situated learning, autonomy, teleology, meta-narratives, reason and the self. A brief summary of Transformation Theory will be available at this presentation.
Miller, Nod, University of East
London, UK
Applying Insights from Cultural Studies to Adult Education:
What Seinfeld Says About the AERC
Abstract: The zany adventures of a glamorous British professor who goes to an important international conference but spends most of her time searching for a TV in order to watch her favourite sitcom. Despite her commitment to 'no hugging, no learning', she gains some profound insights into mass culture, adult education, friendship and postmodernity as a result. Parental guidance suggested.
Mott, Vivian Wilson, Ph.D.
Re-created Selves: Longitudinal Case Studies of
Meaning-Making by Women in Retirement
Abstract: The purpose of this second phase of longitudinal research was to continue exploration of women's retirement as a mid and late-life developmental transition, particularly looking at the ways in which the ongoing reflection and learning continued to impact the retirement experience of six women.
Nesbit, Tom,
Simon Fraser University
Educating Labour's Professionals
Abstract:This study examined the nature of education and training for full-time labour union officials in Canada. It was designed to complement similar studies in other countries and more general discussions of labour education.
Noble, Steve, University
of British Columbia
Portraits of Social Strangers
Abstract: This paper discusses the use of art forms, as a way of "teaching and preparing" people experiencing life transitions. The study describes how a gay male graduate student experiences his own recent life shift alongside those explored by two recent immigrant women from Australia and Taiwan to Vancouver, Canada.
Pearce, Carole E.
Informal Learning of Homeless Women: A Feminist Study
of Surviving the Everyday
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine how homeless women learned to survive in their daily lives. Their relationships contributed to many years of unsettling experiences and continuous transitional situations. Each woman followed a progression of sophisticated street smarts, but eventually faced a devastating decision which served as the impetus for a learning experience that resulted in an empowering change.
Pessoa de Carvalho, Maria Eulina and Rabay,
Glória, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, Brazil
Women and Politics in Paraíba, Brazil: Participation,
Learning, and Empowerment
Abstract: Life histories of pioneer female politicians illustrate instances of learning and empowerment within gender cultures and imbalance in private and public life. After transforming their personal and family lives, independent female candidates face greater obstacles located in the political and economic structure.
Peterson, Shari and Cooper, Mary K.,
University of Minnesota
Themes of Adult Learning and Development in Human
Resource Development
Abstract: This hermeneutic study explores the practices and philosophies of Adult Education and Human Resource Development, so that integrated communities of practice maybe created by understanding the ways in which adult education theory informs the field of HRD.
Pierson, Cheri, Wheaton
College
Orem, Richard A., Northern Illinois
University
The Role of Adult Education and English Language
Education in Nation-Building: A Case Study of the Emmanuel Bible Institute of
Oradea, Romania
Abstract: English as a language of theological instruction necessarily includes influential elements of Western Protestant styles of critical thinking. This study focuses on the role and implications of English as a foreign language at the Emmanuel Bible Institute in Oradea, Romania. The influence of English in theological development and subsequent nation building are also addressed.
Pratt, Daniel D., The
University of British Columbia
An Analytical Framework for Cross-Cultural Studies
of Teaching
Abstract:Working cross-culturally, whether defined by discipline, institution, community, or nation-state, inherently means working outside the familiar. The aim of this paper is to present an analytical framework through which to explore and understand different conceptions of teaching. The framework consists of three analytical categories: epistemic beliefs, normative expectations, and pedagogical procedures.
Rodebaugh, Linda S.
Perceptions of Nontraditional African American
Baccalaureate Nursing Students of Their Persistence in or Departure From An
Urban Nursing Program
Abstract: The literature reflects that although more people of color are enrolling in higher education, graduation rates remain dismal. The purpose of this naturalistic qualitative inquiry was to determine perceptions of experiences of nontraditional African American nursing students regarding their persistence in or departure from a baccalaureate degree nursing program.
Rowland, Michael L.
Missing the Beat: Adult Learning Through Religious
Music in an African American Church
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to understand the ways religious music contributes to learning and meaning making for African American adults within American society. Retrospective biographies were used to understand how the religious musical experiences of African American adults affect learning. The findings of the study are discussed.
Sandlin, Jennifer A., The University
of Georgia
The Politics of Consumer Education Materials Used
in Adult Literacy Classrooms
Abstract: This study examined consumer education texts used in adult literacy programs to see how they portray adult literacy students as consumers and the consumer market. It was concluded that the hidden curriculum of the texts promotes reproduction of class inequalities.
Sessions, Kimberly B.
Living Outside the Circle: The Politics of HIV/AIDS
Education and the Disenfranchisement of HIV-Negative Gay Men
Abstract: The purpose of this qualitative study was to use the lens of political planning theory to explore the relationship between how HIV-negative gay men think HIV/AIDS prevention efforts "should" be handled and how they actually are handled.
Slusarski, Susan B., Kansas
State University
Learners' Perspectives of the Train-the-Trainer
Program in Creating the Role of Classroom Trainer
Abstract: Learners in train-the-trainer courses typically are presented with prescriptive content, yet the classroom setting is dynamic. This study examined the meaning participants in three train-the-trainer programs gave to the role of classroom trainer.
Smith, M. Cecil
and Sheehan-Holt, Janet K., Northern Illinois University
Does Basic Skills Education Work? Some Evidence from
the National Adult Literacy Survey
Abstract: This paper reports the study on grassroots Zulu women in the NAWE program. The purpose was to investigate whether the women were empowered. The research question was: Are the women empowered, if so, in what ways and how do they define empowerment? Methods of data collection included interviews, participant observation, and document analysis.
Sparks, Barbara, University of
Nebraska-Lincoln
Poor Women's Education Under Welfare Reform
Abstract: This paper reports the effects welfare reform has on the educational development of 48 single mothers in the Midwest. Findings indicate academic tracking into low skill vocational training programs, the lack of knowledge women have about their rights under Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and factors which contribute to low educational attainment.
Still Smoking, Dorothy M.,
Blackfeet Tribe Head Start Program and Piegan Institute, Inc.
The Role of Language in the Preservation of a Culture
Tett, Lyn, University of Edinburgh,
Scotland
Parents as people. Problematising parental involvement
programmes.
Abstract: This paper describes four case studies of parental involvement programmes and examines: the factors that enable partners to collaborate effectively; how the role of 'parent' is constructed; the contribution that education can make to combating social exclusion.
Thomas Goodfellow, Lynda , Valentine, Thomas and Holt,
Margaret E., University of Georgia
Development and Validation of an Instrument to Measure
Critical Thinking in Respiratory Care
Abstract: Purpose - to establish the reliability and validity of an instrument to measure critical thinking among respiratory therapists. Questions derived from Mishoe's (1995) study, expert therapists and the literature. Content validity established. Pilot instrument tested with reliability = 0.94 (Cronbach's alpha). Instrument can be used to measure critical thinking in respiratory care.
Tisdell, Elizabeth J., National-Louis
University
Women Teaching for Social Change in Adult Education:
The Spiritual and Cultural Dimensions of "Teaching Across Borders"
Abstract: This study is an exploratory look at understanding how spirituality is renegotiated and informs the emancipatory work of a purposeful sample of women activist adult educators.
Roger Boshier
[Convenor]
Mary Wilson, Byron Burnham and
Patricia Reeves
Adult Education Adrift in a Net: Making Waves
or Clutching a Lifering?
Abstract:The Internet and World Wide Web exemplify values advanced by heroic adult education theorists such as Ivan Illich. They have also triggered a deluge of hyperbole and surfeit of false dichotomies (e.g. online versus face-to-face education). But, in the chorus of critics and advocates, adult educators have been noticeably silent. This symposium is designed to rectify this situation by interrogating Internet and Web learning and education from an "adult education" perspective.
Closson, Rosemary B., North
Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University
Mavima, Paul, Florida State University
Siabi-Mensah, Kofi, Worker's College,
Accra, Ghana
The Shifting Development Paradigm from Modernization
to Decentralization: What are the implications for Adult Education?
Abstract: This research explored emerging patterns of providership for nonformal education programs in Ghana, Senegal, and Burkina Faso where each country is in various stages of decentralization and democratization. The study found that, increasingly, multiple actors are responsible for nonformal education activities and that, unfortunately, though this could raise the profile of adult education it actually may further obscure its role.
Courtenay, Bradley C., Merriam, Sharan B., Reeves,
Patricia M., and Baumgartner, Lisa M.
Perspective Transformation Over Time: A Two-year
Follow-up Study of HIV-Positive Adults
Abstract:This study investigated the stability of a perspective transformation over time. The findings confirmed that perspective transformations, at least in our sample, are irreversible; we also discovered that meaning schemes continue to change.
Dirkx, John M., Amey,
Marilyn and Haston, Lisa
Teacher Beliefs and Subject Matter Boundaries:
The Struggle for Curricular Transformation Among Teachers of Adults
Abstract:Teachers of adult learners in formal settings are increasingly exploring more integrated approaches to curriculum and teaching. One location for such work is the community college. Among these teachers, however, who are traditionally content experts, an integrated approach often represents a paradigmatic shift in their understanding of what is most worth knowing. Little is known about how these teachers' beliefs influence, change, and are changed by participation in such curriculum efforts. This study reports on the beliefs and meaning and perspectives of one group of teachers attempting to bring about more curricular coherence and integration within four different disciplines of developmental education.
Durish, Pat, Gorman, Rachel, Mojab,
Shahrzad, Morrell, Amish, Schugurensky, Daniel and Sword, Deborah
Civil Society, Cultural Hegemony, and Citizenship:
Implications for Adult Educators
Abstract: The participants in this symposium provide a panorama of positions about civil society, citizenship and the dynamics of the exercise of power in the world of adult education. Theoretical approaches range from postmodernism to cultural studies to Marxist and critical theoretical positions. Case studies are equally diverse, ranging from North and Latin America to the Middle East.
Hall, Budd, University
of Toronto
McKnight, John, Northwestern University
Pandak, Carol
Why Adult Educators Should be Concerned with Civil
Society
Abstract:The concept of civil society has gained currency over the past twenty-five years. This paper provides a local, national and global perspective of civil society, identifies the types of organizational forms found within it, and explores the role of adult educators and adult education in shaping it.
Hansman, Catherine A., Cleveland
State University
Jackson, Mary H., Grant, Dale F. and Spencer, Leon E., Georgia
Southern University
Adult Graduate Students' Perceptions of Gender
& Race: Implications for Program Development in Rural Communities
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to assess the existing levels of awareness toward issues of race and gender in graduate students. Implications for curriculum planning are that faculty members should encourage sensitivity to diversity in all of their classes through small group discussions, case studies, presentations concerning racial and gender issues, and readings that encourage multiple views of issues.
Howell, Sharon L., Carter,Vicki K. and Schied, Fred M., The
Pennsylvania State University
Irreconcilable Differences: Critical Feminism, Learning
at Work, and HRD
Abstract:This study explored the contradictions among critical feminist theory, Human Resource Development, and the reality of women's experiences. Missing from the HRD literature, with its managerial focus, is the centrality of workers', particularly women's experiences of HRD and the gendered nature of work itself.
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