How Race Impacts Teaching Returning Adult Students

Face-to-face, hybrid, blended, and online learning have all provided adult students flexibility in how they participate. However, these courses are constructed in a manner where the instructor dictates the mode of instruction. Student choice and flexibility are important for adult students. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand the experiences of adult learners in a HyFlex (flexible) learning environment. HyFlex learning provides students with choice on how they attend class through face-to-face, synchronous, and asynchronous technology. The theoretical framework for this study was andragogy, adult learning theory. Eight students taking three HyFlex graduate courses were interviewed for this study. The research questions from this study are (1) How do adult graduate students participating in a HyFlex course describe the benefits and drawbacks of a HyFlex model? (2) How do adult students engage in a HyFlex learning course? (3) How do adult graduate students self-direct and involve themselves in their learning in a HyFlex course environment? (4) How does the course design help or hinder adult graduate students in a HyFlex course? The research from this study found that participants found the flexibility of the format to be the main benefit of HyFlex. They also preferred HyFlex courses in comparison to online or hybrid course formats. The main drawback of HyFlex was difficulty in communicating with students that were not physically present. Most students preferred coming to class. This preference is informed by their negative experiences when taking an online course. Recommendations for practice include the suggestion that institutions should offer flexible learning opportunities that also offer face-to-face interactions. HyFlex courses should also be developed entirely as an online course and with classroom community in mind.

IntroductionSince the mid-20th century, the number of adult students enrolled in formal higher education (HE) programs has significantly increased. The profile of non-traditional students differs significantly from that of traditional students in terms of their characteristics, learning methods, obstacles and challenges, motivations for learning, and conditions for effective learning. Unlike traditional students, adult students often balance family, work, and educational responsibilities, necessitating a more nuanced approach to support and guidance. However, most HE institutions primarily serve the needs of traditional student populations, which results in limited support available to adult students. This scoping review aimed to explore and map the existing literature on the role of adult (or non-traditional) students counseling in the context of formal HE.MethodsWe focused on literature related to academic advising for non-traditional students in formal HE, restricting our search to both empirical and non-empirical articles published in peer-reviewed journals between 2010 and 2022. Employing Arksey and O’Malley’s scoping review method and the PRISMA-ScR Checklist, we searched four databases (EBSCOhost, Crossref, Semantic Scholar, and ERIC), supplemented by a manual search.ResultsOf the 1,330 articles identified and screened, 25 studies met the eligibility criteria. Our review included 17 empirical and eight non-empirical studies, with the majority conducted in the USA (21 of 25). Thematic analysis revealed five key research areas (or themes): academic advising practices, perceptions of advising, technology, and advising, advising models, and academic success. The most common research theme, advising practices for adult (undergraduate and doctoral) students, constituted 52% of the studies (n= 13).DiscussionDrawing from our analysis, we discuss current trends and future development in advising non-traditional students within formal HE settings. The added value of academic advising for adult students is explored, and any potential gaps in research literature knowledge are identified.

There is limited evidence about how culturally responsive teaching and learning (CRTL) is implemented in adult education. Departing from this gap, this study aimed to reveal culturally responsive adult education practices in a public education centre in Türkiye by investigating the perspectives of adult educators and students. This study was designed as a case study. Seven adult educators with experience teaching culturally and linguistically diverse adult learners and six of their students participated in this study. The data were gathered through semi-structured interviews and analysed through content analysis. Six themes emerged during the study: adult educators’ conceptualisation of culturally responsive education, adult students’ needs and ideas, educators’ role and expectations, CRTL practices implemented by adult educators, changes conducted implementing training modules, and problems encountered. The findings revealed that adult educators’ conceptualisation of CRTL was restricted to considering all students equal. The cultural background of the adult students was rarely integrated into the teaching strategies of adult educators. In addition, adult educators depicted several problems such as language problems, lack of training and teaching material, and national policies. Turkish adult educators and students’ perspectives may offer valuable guidelines for planning and conducting CRTL.

This paper reports a pilot project at Harvard Medical School (HMS) that taught medical students the importance of plain language communication by collaborating with adult literacy students. Classes provided students with patient-doctor communication experience and health information. After a lecture on health literacy and cross-cultural care, a librarian taught students where to find high-quality, easy-to-read, and non-English health information. Adult learners identified health topics of interest. Medical students then created presentations on these topics and received critical feedback from the adult students. HMS students improved their use of plain language communication and their understanding of health disparities. Everyone expressed a desire to learn more. The project demonstrated that health literacy competencies can be integrated into medical school instruction using a combination of didactic and experiential methods. Medical schools and their librarians are in a unique position to work with future providers to ameliorate the problem of low health literacy. The profound consequences of poor health literacy have been well documented and indicate that vast amounts of health information are incomprehensible to millions of people [1–4]. People with low functional health literacy have more difficulty navigating the health care system and obtaining services. They are less likely to comprehend the written and oral information given to them by providers. They are also more likely to suffer higher health care costs and disproportionately have poorer health outcomes than those with high levels of health literacy. Older people, nonwhites, immigrants, and low-income people constitute a large segment of people with low health literacy [3]. Issues of culture, language, and learning are interrelated, and to be effective, health information must be provided in both culturally and linguistically appropriate formats to address the increasingly diverse multicultural and multilingual population [4]. The Liaison Committee on Medical Education of the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC), the American Medical Association (AMA), and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) all emphasize the need to address these issues in medical education [5–8]. While other medical education efforts focused on health literacy are described in the literature, their methodology relies on role-playing between medical students and faculty [8,9]. To the authors' knowledge, this class was different because it offered an opportunity to work with adult literacy students. The creation and implementation of this educational opportunity by the coauthors, a community service program manager and a librarian, illustrates a novel pathway for medical librarians to share their knowledge of health literacy with both adult learners and medical students. Medical librarians are active in the health literacy movement, participating as both consumer health information specialists and educators for health care professionals. The Medical Library Association's Health Information Literacy (HIL) web page—with links to projects, presentations, and information sources created by librarians—provides evidence of this involvement [10]. The Countway Library at HMS has hosted displays to raise awareness of health literacy issues both at the library and in the medical education building.

The purpose of this study was to explore the structural relationship between educational service satisfaction, self-directed learning, learning flow, and academic happiness of adult university students in China. In order to achieve this aim, the following problems were addressed: First, what is the structural relationship between educational service satisfaction, self-directed learning, learning flow, and academic happiness of adult students? Second, how do self-directed learning and learning flow mediated in the relationship between educational service satisfaction and academic happiness of adult students? The data from 800 adult college students in China were tested using the SPSS 25.0 and AMOS 24.0 statistical packages to analyze the structural relationships among variables. The specific results are as follows: First, the research results on this showed that the satisfaction of educational services recognized by adult university students in China had a significant effect on both self-directed learning, learning flow, and academic happiness. Second, it was found that self-directed learning and learning flow recognized by adult university students in China significantly mediated the relationship between educational service satisfaction and academic happiness. According to the above results, it can be seen that adult students with high satisfaction with educational services in the degree course of lifelong education institutions in Chinese universities increase their academic happiness through self-directed learning and learning flow. In this regard, Chinese university lifelong education institutions suggest that efforts and measures to encourage adult learners' self-directed learning and learning flow as well as educational services are important to improve adult learners' academic happiness.

Recentry, adult, and nontraditional students attending classes at off-campus sites have special needs and situations that require responsive programming. The average student attending classes at Mercer University's Extended Education Centers is female and 33 years-old. Many students have full-time jobs and child care responsibilities. Fear of failure, lack of confidence, commitments to family and job, lack of technological knowledge and geographical barriers all contribute to the high anxiety level of many off-campus adult students. This paper presents demographic data on adult students, describes the andragogy model of adult education, summarizes library literature on serving adult students, and outlines responsive library programs for off-campus adult and nontraditional students.

The primary purposes of this study were to identify the best teaching practices for adult baccalaureate (BSN) nursing students and to examine if adult students' teaching preferences differed from those of traditional BSN students. The sample consisted of 206 adult and traditional students in four BSN programs. The adult nursing student sample was further subdivided into two groups: adults with no prior nursing education (adult non-nurses) and adults with prior nursing education (RN's). Using a two-part, self-administered questionnaire, respondents were asked to rate the frequency with which 41 teaching strategies were used in their best and in their worst classroom learning experiences in nursing. In most cases, adult non-nurses' teaching preferences did not vary significantly from the preferences of traditional students. However, adults with no prior nursing education did show a preference for knowledgeable and organized instructors. In contrast RNs' preferred classroom situations wer where time on task was emphasized, cooperative learning was encouraged, and expectations for learning were high. Results indicate that classroom teaching preferences vary as a function of prior experience with the subject matter and are not attributable to age itself. Findings suggest that prior experience with course content is a more important consideration in planning programs than generalized adult experience.

Adult students are critical to addressing the college completion crisis. Retention and completion for adults lags behind students who enter college directly from high school. However, higher education has largely been built around service to younger high school graduates, and institutions are slow to change. A shift in focus to accommodate the needs and interests of adult learners will require additional research regarding the enrollment patterns and behaviours of adult students. This study uses quantitative methods and the Beginning Postsecondary Students 12/14 dataset to consider the role of transfer in the experience of the adult learner, with specific attention to the characteristics, demographics and experiences of adult transfer students as well as the predictors of reverse and lateral transfer behaviour in adult student populations.

Previous literature has documented the high attrition rates for community college students. Beyond raw data, research has demonstrated that predictors of higher education persistence may include a student's background characteristics, a student's external commitments, institutional influences, and a combination thereof. However, empirical research on the persistence of community college students is scarce, and even fewer studies address the differential predictors of persistence between adult and traditional-aged students. The present study examined the predictors of institutional persistence among adult and traditional-aged degree-seeking, first-time enrollees at a public, multi-campus two-year community college in southeast Virginia. A random sample comprised of 350 traditional-aged and 350 adult students were encouraged to complete a survey questionnaire to measure the following major constructs under study: individual attributes; student enrollment characteristics; external commitments; goal support; intent and commitments; academic integration; and, social integration. The following semester, the previous semester's fall grade-point average was extracted. The enrollment status of each participant was also extracted to determine who had persisted at the institution. Using descriptive discriminant function analysis and Independent-Samples t Tests, the predictors of persistence were examined to determine if there are identifiable predictors of institutional persistence for first-time, degree-seeking community college students. These statistical tests were also used to assess if there are differential predictors of institutional persistence between traditional-aged and adult first-time, degree-seeking community college students. This study found that there are identifiable predictors of institutional persistence for first-time, degree-seeking community college students. Encouragement and support from friends and family in attending the college discriminated most powerfully between persisters and withdrawers, although social integration, degree utility, academic integration, and institutional commitment also contributed significantly to differentiating the two groups. The current study also found differential predictors of institutional persistence between the traditional-aged and adult students. For traditional-aged students, encouragement and support, academic integration, fall grade-point average, and an expressed intent to leave were most predictive of institutional persistence or withdrawal. Chief among the predictors of persistence for adult students were social integration, institutional commitment, degree utility, encouragement and support, finances, an expressed intent to leave, and academic integration.

BackgroundHypertension is a global health issue and is currently increasing at rapid pace in South Asian countries including Bangladesh. Although, some studies on hypertension have been conducted in Bangladesh, there is a lack of scientific evidence in the adult student population that was missing from the previous and recent national cross-sectional studies. Moreover, the specific risk factors of hypertension in the Bangladeshi adults still need to be investigated. This study was conducted to estimate hypertension prevalence among adult students in Bangladesh and to test the hypothesis of Luke et al. (Hypertension 43:555–560, 2004) that basal metabolic rate (BMR) and blood pressure are positively associated independent of body size.MethodThe data was collected on 184 adult university students (118 female and 66 male) in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Anthropometric, BMR details and an average of at least two blood pressure measurements were obtained. Hypertension was defined by a systolic blood pressure (SBP) ≥ 140 mmHg and/or, diastolic blood pressure (DBP) ≥ 90 mmHg.ResultsOverall, 6.5% of participants had hypertension with significantly (p < 0.001) higher prevalence in male (12.1%) than in the female (3.4%) students. Age and BMI showed positive and significant correlation with hypertension among the students. When adjusted for body mass index (BMI), as well as other potentially confounding variables such as age, sex, smoking status and degree of urbanization, BMR was positively correlated with SBP and DBP (p < 0.001). Thus, higher BMR is associated with SBP and DBP; this is opposite the well documented inverse relationship between physical activity and blood pressure. If the influence of BMR on blood pressure is confirmed, the systematically elevated BMR might be an important predictor that can explain relatively high blood pressure and hypertension in humans.ConclusionThis study reports the prevalence and associated risk factors of hypertension in the Bangladeshi adult students. The study also showed a positive association between BMR and blood pressure among the participants. A large scale longitudinal study across the country is needed to find out the underlying causes of hypertension in the Bangladeshi adults. In addition, comprehensive and integrated intervention programs focusing on modifiable risk factors are recommended to make awareness and prevent hypertension.

The history of the community college reflects an almost continuous effort to increase access to higher education; women, members of non-dominant groups in society, older learners, learners with disabilities, and now younger students have often accessed higher education through the community college. For over 60 years, the community college has utilized inter-institutional collaboration to expand access and play a vital role in meeting the needs of both traditional and adult students (Bragg, 2006; Koos, 1946). These partnerships have allowed the community colleges to serve students with great diversity in terms of age, professional background, academic ability, and educational goals. By leveraging their resources through collaboration, community colleges have expanded access to higher education and helped increase economic and educational opportunities. As a result of this history of increasing access and inter-institutional collaboration, the community college has become known as the access point to higher education for adult learners, particularly adult learners from nondominant groups within our society (Keene, 2008; Cohen & Brawer, 2008). Adult learners have been a primary constituency for the community college in both degree-seeking curricula and in non-credit programming for occupational and recreation purposes. As the American population ages, there has been an increase in the number of older students at the community college (Krakauer, 2005). A new form of collaboration is developing in several states, which allows greater access and brings a new group of students to the community college. This partnership is, however, threatening some of the dynamics between the community college and its primary constituency: adult students. Early Colleges are small schools designed so students can earn both a high school diploma and an Associate's degree or up to two years of credit toward a Bachelor's degree. For some students, it effectively blends two institutions into one, although it creates a variety of new challenges for community college leaders. These schools have the potential to improve graduation rates and better prepare students for entry into high-skill careers by engaging students in a rigorous curriculum and compressing the number of years to a college degree (Wolk, 2005). Located primarily on community college campuses, Early Colleges allow high school students, beginning as early as the 9th grade, to concurrently earn a high school diploma and an associate's degree with little or no cost to the student. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the presence of high school students, some as young as 14 or 15, has an effect on the learning environment of adult students at the community college. The research examined the perceptions of community college chief academic officers in North Carolina regarding the effect Early College Programs have on adult students. Thirty-eight Early Colleges existed in North Carolina at the time of this study, representing about one-quarter of all Early Colleges in the United States. Several states were watching the aggressive implementation of Early Colleges in North Carolina as they considered similar programs. Adult learners are an important and historically notable constituency for community colleges, and the education of adults is an important part of the community college mission. Therefore, community college leaders would want to be aware of any changes in the adult learning environment created by Early College students on their campus. As with any new program, there may be unintended consequences which result from Early College efforts. The current study investigated whether the presence of Early College students (aged 14-18) had any unplanned effects on the learning experiences of adult students at the community college. Methodology The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of chief academic officers regarding the effect Early College programs have on adult community college students. …

Describes a study applying the concepts and philosophy of total quality management (TQM) in an engineering technology classroom. The objective is to develop a process using TQM to improve teaching effectiveness and the classroom environment, resulting in increased learning by adult engineering technology students. An initial pilot study is conducted in an applied thermodynamics course. Adult students have been chosen for this study because of the additional stresses of life they face that usually interfere with the process of learning. The study is conducted using a series of student questionnaires to define both general and specific areas of teaching and the classroom environment that need improvement. From the results of the student questionnaires, the instructor develops solutions to the selected problem areas. At the conclusion of the course, the success of the process in meeting the objective is by a final student-measured questionnaire, an instructor evaluation and a comparison of present to past student performance in the course. After the initial pilot study is completed, the process is reviewed and refined. It is planned to expand the process voluntarily to other courses in the Department of Engineering Technology at the authors' institute. It is further planned that the process would be further refined and expanded in successive semesters. It is expected that this process could be used to improve the learning of adult engineering technology students at other colleges and universities through the improvement of teaching effectiveness and the classroom environment.

Students who are over 24 years – older than the age deemed “traditional” for higher education – account for about one in every three students enrolled in community colleges. Unfortunately, their educational outcomes lag behind their younger peers. A greater understanding of what it means to be an adult student in higher education is a crucial step toward determining how postsecondary institutions, particularly community colleges, can improve adults’ experiences and chances of achieving their goals. With the overriding objective of providing guidance to stakeholders about how to strengthen adult students’ success and increase college completion, we draw from extant literature to develop a Multidimensional Conceptualization of Adult Students (MCAS). We propose a corresponding set of measures to identify adult students in a community college’s student population and to differentiate the gradations of experience, responsibility, and subject sense of adulthood that constitute adult status. We review evidence on adult students’ participation in higher education, how their approaches to college tend to differ from younger students, and community college programs and initiatives that aim to improve adult students’ outcomes. Finally, we discuss the alignment of the programs and initiatives with adult students’ learning needs and with the dimensions of the MCAS.

Students who are over 24 years – older than the age deemed “traditional” for higher education – account for about one in every three students enrolled in community colleges. Unfortunately, their educational outcomes lag behind their younger peers. A greater understanding of what it means to be an adult student in higher education is a crucial step toward determining how postsecondary institutions, particularly community colleges, can improve adults’ experiences and chances of achieving their goals. With the overriding objective of providing guidance to stakeholders about how to strengthen adult students’ success and increase college completion, we draw from extant literature to develop a Multidimensional Conceptualization of Adult Students (MCAS). We propose a corresponding set of measures to identify adult students in a community college’s student population and to differentiate the gradations of experience, responsibility, and subject sense of adulthood that constitute adult status. We review evidence on adult students’ participation in higher education, how their approaches to college tend to differ from younger students, and community college programs and initiatives that aim to improve adult students’ outcomes. Finally, we discuss the alignment of the programs and initiatives with adult students’ learning needs and with the dimensions of the MCAS.

Students who are over 24 years – older than the age deemed “traditional” for higher education – account for about one in every three students enrolled in community colleges. Unfortunately, their educational outcomes lag behind their younger peers. A greater understanding of what it means to be an adult student in higher education is a crucial step toward determining how postsecondary institutions, particularly community colleges, can improve adults’ experiences and chances of achieving their goals. With the overriding objective of providing guidance to stakeholders about how to strengthen adult students’ success and increase college completion, we draw from extant literature to develop a Multidimensional Conceptualization of Adult Students (MCAS). We propose a corresponding set of measures to identify adult students in a community college’s student population and to differentiate the gradations of experience, responsibility, and subject sense of adulthood that constitute adult status. We review evidence on adult students’ participation in higher education, how their approaches to college tend to differ from younger students, and community college programs and initiatives that aim to improve adult students’ outcomes. Finally, we discuss the alignment of the programs and initiatives with adult students’ learning needs and with the dimensions of the MCAS.