Adult Education Classes Research Articles

Profitability and Resource Use Efficiency of Poultry Egg Production in Yobe State, Nigeria

<div><p><em>The study was carried out to determine the profitability and resource use efficiency of poultry-egg production in Yobe State. A sample of 200 poultry-egg farmers was selected by multistage sampling technique and data were collected by using a structured questionnaire. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, budgetary analysis, and Stochastic Frontier Analysis techniques. The study revealed that poultry-egg production enterprise is profitable in the study area. Maximum Likelihood Estimate of coefficients of the stochastic frontier model for poultry-egg production were all positive and the parameters estimates of farm size, veterinary services, feed intake and labour were statistically significant, indicating that they contributed incrementally to the total value of poultry-egg output in the study area. Analysis of inefficiency model shows that factors influencing technical efficiency were years of experience, access to credit, cooperative membership and extension contact. Recommendations include the establishment of feed producer cooperative society, provision of adequate and timely veterinary services, and access to credit, frequent extension contacts and adult education classes for the farmers.</em></p></div>

Proxies and perplexities: What is the current state of adult (il)literacy in South Africa?

This article provides a detailed analysis of the data from a range of official sources that have been used to enumerate the number of people who can be described as totally or functionally illiterate and estimates whether illiteracy in South Africa can be reduced in the foreseeable future. The study examines the use of years of schooling (conventionally now set at Grade 7) as the proxy indicator of a person being functionally literate by the main sources, the General Population Censuses of 1996, 2001, and 2011 and the annual General Household Surveys and shows that these sources give somewhat contradictory and discordant estimates of the rate at which there is gradual decline of illiteracy in South Africa. Other indicators based on self reporting, also used in the Census and General Housing Surveys, show that a large number of adult South Africans have difficulty in reading, writing and calculating with numbers. The study also shows that the data presented by these surveys about participation in literacy and adult basic education and training classes is inaccurate. Note is made that currently South Africa does not make use of any means of direct testing of adult literacy. The article concludes with an exploration on whether South Africa is able to reach the goal of halving illiteracy by 2015. The target of such a reduction is necessarily based on what the baseline number of illiterates is as well as decision on whether full function literacy must be obtained or a merely a basic level of alphabetisation. Through a detailed estimation of the results of the Kha Ri Gude adult literacy campaign since 2008 a finding is made that the halving of illiteracy will be made, but only at the most basic level, and that attaining full functional literacy for all South Africans remains a major task.

Friendliness to Animals and Verbal Aggressiveness to People: Using Prison Inmates Education Networks as an Illustration

Goal of this research is to detect possible relations between animal-related attitudes and verbal aggressiveness as well as types combining such parameters. The sample collected in 2015 contains two adult education classes equivalent to secondary school level (class A = 23 inmates and B = 12 inmates, all male) at a correctional facility. Questionnaires were used. Network analysis software (Visone) and conventional statistics (SPSS) are used for calculating network variables (indegree, outdegree, katz, pageranketc) and implementing Spearman test and Principal Component Analysis. Inmates who have adopted an animal-friendly value system and are too coward to react against torture of animals, maintain a repressed emotion. If they do not intervene and provoke, then they are also not targeted by others. No reaction against torture is also connected with a deep-rooted aggressiveness. Concerning superficial aggressiveness, a profile, whose characterize is multiple verbal aggressiveness, can be attributed to repressed emotions. A type is torturing and indifferently restricts his aggressiveness, as he can satisfy his need of dominance by being aggressive towards animals. A type of inmate who loves animals and reacts against their torture, presents the most restricted and relatively smooth aggressiveness, as he discharges his repressed emotions to this reaction. Under condition of indifference, keeping pets is not evidence of loving but of a need of companionship. As for the deep-rooted aggressiveness (over-extroversion), it does not seem to be triggered by any repression.

Negotiating contradictions: educación among Dominican transnational mothers in New York City

ABSTRACTThis paper examines how a transnational orientation shapes Dominican mothers’ contradictory attitudes towards education in New York City. Through this ethnographic study, which draws on 36 interviews, community walkabouts, and participant observations in community-led adult education classes, we show how Dominican mothers struggle with conflicting values; on the one hand, they embrace the idea of schooling for individual advancement, integration in the US, and critical thinking, while on the other hand, they regret the diminution of a collective, family orientation and respect for parents. Overall, this study shows that contradictions are not a sign of confusion or denial, but rather a struggle to transform cultural practices that satisfy multiple worlds. A deeper understanding of these contradictions could help educators and educational institutions consider how these transnational tensions motivate parent engagement and their hopes for their children’s education.

Tuning in to others: Exploring relational and collective bonding in singing and non-singing groups over time

Although it has been shown that singing together encourages faster social bonding to a group compared with other activities, it is unknown whether this group-level “collective” bonding is associated with differences in the ties formed between individual singers and individuals engaging in other activities (“relational” bonding). Here we present self-report questionnaire data collected at three time points over the course of seven months from weekly singing and non-singing (creative writing and crafts) adult education classes. We compare the proportion of classmates with whom participants were connected and the social network structure between the singing and non-singing classes. Both singers and creative writers show a steeper increase over time in relational bonding measured by social network density and the proportion of their classmates that they could name, felt connected with, and talked to during class compared to crafters, but only the singers show rapid collective bonding to the class-group as a whole. Together, these findings indicate that the process of creating a unitary social group does not necessarily rely on the creation of personal relationships between its individual members. We discuss these findings in the light of social cohesion theory and social identity theory.

Is group singing special? Health, well-being and social bonds in community-based adult education classes.

Evidence demonstrates that group singing improves health and well-being, but the precise mechanisms remain unknown. Given that cohesive social networks also positively influence health, we focus on the social aspects of singing, exploring whether improvements in health and well-being are mediated by stronger social bonds, both to the group as a whole (collective-bonding) and to individual classmates (relational-bonding). To do so, seven newly-formed community-based adult education classes (four singing, N=84, and three comparison classes studying creative writing or crafts, N=51) were followed over seven months. Self-report questionnaire data on mental and physical health, well-being, and social bonding were collected at Months 1, 3 and 7. We demonstrate that physical and mental health and satisfaction with life significantly improved over time in both conditions. Path analysis did not show any indirect effects via social bonding of Condition on health and well-being. However, higher collective-bonding at timepoint 3 significantly predicted increased flourishing, reduced anxiety and improved physical health independently of baseline levels. In contrast, relational-bonding showed no such effects, suggesting that it is feeling part of a group that particularly yields health and well-being benefits. Moreover, these results indicate that singing may not improve health and well-being more than other types of activities. Nonetheless, these findings encourage further work to refine our understanding of the social aspects of community-based adult education classes in promoting health, well-being and community cohesion.

Participants’ perspectives on the social bonding and well-being effects of creative arts adult education classes

Background: Evidence suggests that adult education classes have a positive impact on well-being, but whether this is true for all course activities is unknown.Methods: A UK adult education charity ran four singing classes, two craft classes and a creative writing class for the purpose of this study. Written responses to open questions about health, well-being and social lives were collected from participants at the end of the 7-month courses.Results: The classes enhanced well-being by improving mood and providing a sense of belonging. The classes helped participants develop self-confidence, create and strengthen relationships, and encouraged more active lives. Participants valued meeting people from their community and used these ties to access information about local opportunities. However, some participants reported negative experiences linked to unfavourable self–other comparison.Conclusions: These results highlight how regular adult education classes involving creativity can enhance well-being and help community integration regardless of the subject studied.

Suggesting Indicators of Superficiality and Purity in Verbal Aggressiveness: An Application in Adult Education Class Networks of Prison Inmates

Aim of this research is to suggest indicators, based on social network analysis, that distinguish superficial, idiosyncratic and strategic verbal aggressiveness. Two classes of an adult education school (at secondary level) in a prison have been selected as network samples (A class = 23 and B class = 12 prisoners). Complete network analysis has been applied, using standardized questionnaires. The network variables have further processed through Pearson correlation. Indicators of superficial and pure roles, particularly incremental and proportional behavior, have been applied in two forms of verbal aggressiveness (criticism and threatening). The superficial behavior (SB: outdegree of verbal aggressiveness) seems to be a quite sensitive indicator, as it presents correlations with various other relational forms of familiarity, aggressiveness and appreciation/socialization. The incremental behavior (IB: difference of received from outgoing actions) is also a sensitive indicator, revealing, however, different results. Pure aggressiveness (in terms of difference) seems to be related with quite different causes and/or occasions than the superficial aggressiveness. Incremental behavior is likely to be at first place driven by the idiosyncrasy rather than by exogenous factors and seems to constitute a completely different notion than the SB. The proportional behavior (PB: ration of outgoing to the received actions) of aggression is a quite insensitive indicator, as it depends only on a few behavioral variables. It seems to reveal a rational strategy of adaptability. Thus, it characteristically differs from the indicators of superficiality (expressing reciprocity patterns) and of the incremental aggressiveness (expressing individualism).

The ice-breaker effect: singing mediates fast social bonding.

It has been proposed that singing evolved to facilitate social cohesion. However, it remains unclear whether bonding arises out of properties intrinsic to singing or whether any social engagement can have a similar effect. Furthermore, previous research has used one-off singing sessions without exploring the emergence of social bonding over time. In this semi-naturalistic study, we followed newly formed singing and non-singing (crafts or creative writing) adult education classes over seven months. Participants rated their closeness to their group and their affect, and were given a proxy measure of endorphin release, before and after their class, at three timepoints (months 1, 3 and 7). We show that although singers and non-singers felt equally connected by timepoint 3, singers experienced much faster bonding: singers demonstrated a significantly greater increase in closeness at timepoint 1, but the more gradual increase shown by non-singers caught up over time. This represents the first evidence for an ‘ice-breaker effect’ of singing in promoting fast cohesion between unfamiliar individuals, which bypasses the need for personal knowledge of group members gained through prolonged interaction. We argue that singing may have evolved to quickly bond large human groups of relative strangers, potentially through encouraging willingness to coordinate by enhancing positive affect.

The Influence of Green Restaurant Decision Formation Using the VAB Model: The Effect of Environmental Concerns upon Intent to Visit

The study investigates consumers’ intent to patron green restaurants by application of the Value-Attitude-Behavior model. The present study examines the interrelationships among consumers’ values, attitudes, and environmental concerns, and explores how they relate to their intentions to visit green restaurants in Taiwan. Data were gathered by face-to-face surveys, conducted by trained interviewers in a variety of locations, including at train stations, supermarkets, department stores, shopping malls, and adult education classes to obtain data from a representative demographic profile. The findings of this study suggest that the personal values and general attitudes positively affect consumers’ intentions to visit a green restaurant. Additionally, the results found personal values and environmental concern have significant influence on the attitude toward green restaurants. Managerial implications and future directions of these findings were also discussed.

Teaching art where art should not exist: Women’s empowerment in Saudi Arabia

Abstract Saudi Arabia is perhaps the most conservative country in the Middle East. The display of art is not allowed, or extremely limited, under Sharia law. This article explores a three-week adult art education class taught to women at the Al Baylasan Art Center in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia. With the goal of empowering women, it challenged two American art educators to develop and present a curriculum that was respectful of the culture but allowed the students to push the limits of their thinking about what might be possible in their changing cultural context.

The Multiple Influences on Nonformal Instructional Practices in Rural Mozambique: Exploring the Limits of World Culture Theory

This article presents findings from 12 months of ethnographic observations of nonformal adult education classes offered by an internationally funded nonprofit, referred to in this article as Comunidades de Poder (CDP). The primary objective of this article is to examine the various contextual factors that influenced CDP teachers’ instruction and to explore the applicability of world culture theory as a framework that can explain these phenomena. This article finds that CDP teachers’ classroom practice was more heavily influenced by teachers’ personal experiences in teacher-centered formal classrooms than by their training in Freirean pedagogy. It also finds that world culture theory has limited applicability in explaining these phenomena, as it fails to account for changes in world culture over time and the role of power in its dissemination. This article argues that a modified version of the theoretical construct of the educational project accounts for these areas in which world culture theory is insufficient.

Social reproduction in non-formal adult education: the case of rural Mozambique

Using fieldnotes from the non-formal adult education classes run by a non-profit international education with ground operations in rural Mozambique, this article documents how the comments made by class facilitators and class participants in those classes reflect inherent power inequalities between non-profit staff and local participants. These findings are framed within Bourdieu's theory of social reproduction.

INVESTIGATING THE USE OF THE MEDIA IN DISSEMINATING INFORMATION ON CLIMATE CHANGE IN NORTH CENTRAL NIGERIA

Information dissemination through the use of media technology is important to understanding the threat, impact and adaptation options that climate change poses regarding the livelihood of farmers in Nigeria specifically and the entire world generally. This study investigates the use of media in disseminating information on climate change and the constraints limiting climate change adaptation in north central Nigeria. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to obtain data from 411 farmers in the study area. A multi-stage sampling technique was used in selecting the respondents, and the data collected was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistical tools. The mean age of the farmers was 52 years.The mean years of farming experience was 33 years.51.3% of the farmers were females. Their literacy level was low (30.6% had secondary education). The most common household appliances among the respondents were radio sets (77.6%), motor cycles (55%) and mobile telephones (30.6%). 59.4% received information from extension agentsbetween 2008 and 2011; only about half of them received information (temperature and rainfall) on climate change from this source. Extension agents and battery-operated radios were ranked as the leading sources of information on climate change. Inadequate information due to inadequate media coverage of climate change in Nigeria in particular and the low literacy level were the principal constraints on climate change adaptation. It was recommended that the literacy level of the respondents be improved through the establishment of adult education or literacy classes in the study area so that they can benefit from print media.It was further recommended that timely and adequate information to rural farmers on climate change should be given via media technologies available to them (such as battery-powered radiosand mobile phones among others.) and that extension agents should be properly equipped to give information on climate change to the farmers.

The Future of Adult Education

It is an interesting assignment to think about the future of adult education. In fact, it is an assignment I have the graduate students in my Introduction to Adult Education class at East Carolina University consider during one of our course units. In that unit, which occurs after examining the history of adult education, we consider where our field is heading. Not surprisingly, responses to this question are as diverse as the students in the class and as diverse as the field of adult education itself. Most students are excited about the future and interested in considering how their interests, education, and particular skill sets might best serve them in the field of adult education. Many who work in the field of adult education bemoan the lack of resources, institutional ambivalence, and other obstacles. Almost all students discuss their interest in working with adult learners and underlying motivation for helping adults learn and grow. Some comment on the diversity of the field, as represented by the many different jobs held by the members of the class. Despite the differences in backgrounds, career goals, and interests within the field, in the end, some common themes emerge. We agree that passion for helping adults learn and being present when light bulb moments occur is what drives us to do what we do. It is what motivates us and keeps us going as adult educators. We are also optimistic about the future and enjoy speculating about what the future of adult education holds for us. As a member of the Board of Directors for the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education (AAACE), and now as incoming President-Elect, I have also been considering the future of our discipline. AAACE recently completed a strategic planning process and evaluated where the organization stands and where it is headed. Through a member survey and self-assessment, AAACE examined how the board can best serve the needs of members and promote the organization and the discipline. As a result of these discussions and my own contemplation, several themes emerged that may hold the keys for future success for AAACE and the field of adult education. The Future Means Being Flexible We can look at the concept of flexibility in several different ways. Technology, for example, provides adult educators and learners flexibility in program delivery methods and access to formal education. This does not mean traditional face-to-face teaching will become obsolete. It simply means we can be more innovative in the options we offer learners. Flexibility also allows us to be more responsive to learner needs. Gone are the days when adults stayed in one job for their entire lives. Now, people change jobs and entire career paths on a regular basis. Often, they need education as part of these transitions. Furthermore, demographic shifts mean retiring baby boomers are looking for leisure-time learning activities. Social justice issues in our world continue to evolve. The demand for adult basic skills education continues to increase. As adult educators, we need to be flexible in response to the changing needs of adult learners and ready to provide the educational opportunities they need, when they are needed. Flexibility means we at AAACE must continually evaluate the products and services we offer our members and make changes when appropriate. The recent additions of the Special Interest Group on Sustainability and Environmental Adult Education and the Special Interest Group for Labor/Workforce Education are good examples of responsiveness to the changing field of adult education and new needs of our members. We must be open to the opportunities that present themselves as the field of adult education evolves. The Future Means Using Technology Wisely As noted above, technology has changed the way we educate adults. It has also changed the way we communicate. We at AAACE are always looking for better ways to communicate with members and now use Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn and continuously work to improve the AAACE website. …

Second Chances: The Value of Adult Education and the GED

Adult education classes are filled with people trying to catch up on their education and change the course of their lives. We owe them more than just amping up the GED exam.

Can Mobile Phones Improve Learning? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Niger

The returns to educational investments hinge on whether such investments can improve the quality and persistence of educational gains. We report the results from a randomized evaluation of an adult education program in Niger, in which some students learned how to use simple mobile phones (Project ABC). Students in ABC villages achieved test scores that were 0.19–0.26 standard deviations higher than those in standard adult education classes, and standardized math test scores remained higher seven months after the end of classes. These results suggest that simple information technology can be harnessed to improve educational outcomes among rural populations. (JEL D83, I21, O15, O33)

Informal, incidental and ad hoc: the information-seeking and learning strategies of health care patients

When people are ill, they want to know what is happening to them and how they can get better. Current health policies support patients’ access to health information and encourage them to take part in decisions regarding their health. But little is known about how patients learn and the difficulties they may encounter in the process. This paper discusses the information-searching and learning strategies of 45 adults living in the north-west of England. At the time of participating in the research, all but two of them were students in adult basic education or English classes. The qualitative interviews revealed a variety of strategies for learning about health and disease, including using the Internet and health books and asking others for support. Learning that was reported was informal and incidental. It was always embedded in the wider activities of dealing with ill-health and treatment. Learning could be constrained by various factors, including the severity of the illness, the hierarchical nature of the health care context and fear. Learning included gaining medical knowledge and learning to engage with specific texts, such as websites. The paper concludes with some comments on the role of adult education classes in supporting learning about health.

Empowering Women Through Education and Influence: An Evaluation of the Indian Mahila Samakhya Program

This paper shows that participation in a community-level female empowerment program in India significantly increases participants' physical mobility, political participation, and access to employment. The program provides support groups, literacy camps, adult education classes, and vocational training. We use truncation-corrected matching and instrumental variables on primary data to disentangle the program's mechanisms, separately considering its effect on women who work, and those who do not work but whose reservation wage is increased by participation. We also find significant spillover effects on non-participants relative to women in untreated districts.

The Influence of Graphic Display Format on the Interpretations of Quantitative Risk Information among Adults with Lower Education and Literacy

To test optimal graphic risk communication formats for presenting small probabilities using graphics with a denominator of 1000 to adults with lower education and literacy. A randomized experimental study, which took place in adult basic education classes in Sydney, Australia. The participants were 120 adults with lower education and literacy. An experimental computer-based manipulation compared 1) pictographs in 2 forms, shaded "blocks" and unshaded "dots"; and 2) bar charts across different orientations (horizontal/vertical) and numerator size (small <100, medium 100-499, large 500-999). Accuracy (size of error) and ease of processing (reaction time) were assessed on a gist task (estimating the larger chance of survival) and a verbatim task (estimating the size of difference). Preferences for different graph types were also assessed. Accuracy on the gist task was very high across all conditions (>95%) and not tested further. For the verbatim task, optimal graph type depended on the numerator size. For small numerators, pictographs resulted in fewer errors than bar charts (blocks: odds ratio [OR] = 0.047, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.023-0.098; dots: OR = 0.049, 95% CI = 0.024-0.099). For medium and large numerators, bar charts were more accurate (e.g., medium dots: OR = 4.29, 95% CI = 2.9-6.35). Pictographs were generally processed faster for small numerators (e.g., blocks: 14.9 seconds v. bars: 16.2 seconds) and bar charts for medium or large numerators (e.g., large blocks: 41.6 seconds v. 26.7 seconds). Vertical formats were processed slightly faster than horizontal graphs with no difference in accuracy. Most participants preferred bar charts (64%); however, there was no relationship with performance. For adults with low education and literacy, pictographs are likely to be the best format to use when displaying small numerators (<100/1000) and bar charts for larger numerators (>100/1000).