Adult Education Programs Research Articles

The Senior Sex Education Experience Study: Qualitative Data From Developing an Adult Sex Education Program

Older adults (OAs) account for an unprecedented proportion of STDs but receive limited sex education. We present preliminary data from the SEXEE study developing a sex education intervention for OAs 50+. The sample consisted of 17 OAs, ages 53 to 77, (M = 65, SD = 7.6; 64.7% female; 94.1% Caucasian) and seven primary care physicians, geriatricians, and other specialists (e.g. gynecologists), sampled purposively. Physicians completed a semi-structured interview to describe their experiences discussing sexual health with OAs, identify barriers to those discussions, and elicit recommendations for an educational curriculum. OAs participated in three separate focus groups to determine their interest in and suggestions for the intervention. Qualitative data underwent thematic coding separately by two researchers, with a third researcher resolving any discrepancy. One physician (14%) reported routinely assessing adults’ sexual health; others only in the context of a specific presenting concern (e.g. ED). Though the physicians considered sexuality important component of QoL, many reported barriers to assessment and treatment, including insufficient time, training, and knowledge; concerns about personal and patient discomfort; and patient complexity. Of the OAs interviewed, 15 (88%) endorsed high interest in attending a sex education program. The most commonly recommended educational topics among physicians and OAs included: sexual changes with aging and management strategies; STDs and risk factors; tools for enlarging the sexual repertoire, myths about late life-sexuality; masturbation, and dating. Findings extend previous observations about clinical barriers to sexual health discussions and provide new insights for developing a sex ed intervention for this population.

We, too, are America: The Erasure of Faculty of Color in Higher Education

This article explores whiteness/white supremacy in adult education programs in higher education and the ways in which faculty of color get erased in the process. Using my own context as a racialized faculty member in a graduate adult education program at the public State University of New York (SUNY) in NYC, I discuss how racialized faculty in higher education get erased. I focus mainly on how student evaluations negatively harm faculty of color but I also discuss tenure, curricula, and the culture of whiteness within the academy.

The Power of ePortfolio Development to Foster Reflective and Deeper Learning in an Online Graduate Adult Education Program

The current study addressed two problems in adult education: the lack of published research on the use of ePortfolios in graduate adult education, and more specifically, how can graduate adult educators utilize ePortfolios to foster reflective and deeper learning in a graduate adult education program? This was a 3-year qualitative study of 36 master’s students in their final capstone course in an online graduate adult education program. The primary research question was Can developing ePortfolios foster reflective and deeper learning in an online graduate adult education program? Researchers analyzed student responses to three guideline questions for the development of their ePortfolios: (a) What story did your ePortfolio tell?, (b) What surprised you?, and (c) What did you learn about yourself? These questions were designed to stimulate students’ thinking about their learning from the ePortfolio process, artifacts, and experience in the degree program. Through thematic analysis of student responses to these questions, three predominant themes emerged that provided evidence for reflective and deeper learning. The three themes were as follows: (a) Students became more reflective learners who frequently experienced deeper transformative learning, (b) Students were surprised by greater self-discovery and significant personal growth exceeding their expectations, and (c) Students found new personal strengths. Specific recommendations were provided about how to use ePortfolios in graduate adult education programs to foster reflective and deeper learning.

A SUGGESTED FRAMEWORK OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL COST SYSTEM IN ADULT EDUCATION PROGRAMS-AN APPLIED STUDY IN THE PUBLIC AGENCY FOR ADULT EDUCATION

Organizations’ interest on environmental issues when evaluating advanced programs and strategic plans has become a matter of urgency and essential. There is increasing interest lately environmental costs and how they are measured and shown in the financial statements, as well as incorporating them in decision-making and performance evaluation process. This is by designing a system to manage the environmental costs of adult education programs, where measurement of environmental costs helps organizations to increase profits and to use resources more efficiently and also improve the environmental performance. The reports on the direct and indirect environmental costs are prepared and produced as well as environmental costs from exercising many and varied activities and programs within institutions and beyond. The study depended on inductive deductive approach which is based on the collection and analysis of data and the use of appropriate to the nature of the data relating to the study of the problem of statistical and mathematical methods have been relying on data collection methods through: Financial-reporting direct and indirect issued by the General Authority for Adult Education costs , The final accounts for the fiscal year 2010 to 2014 issued by the General Authority for Adult Education, Studying references of Arab and foreign periodicals in the field of adult education, accounting and environmental costs. The study sample applied on the General Authority for Adult Education and its branches nationwide, which includes 27 prefecture-level branches in the governorates under study Results of the study concluded that a relationship exists between the cost of the educational process for the student and the cost of direct and indirect for adult education programs, through the need for a system of environmental costs of the General Authority for Adult Education. The researcher recommended in this study the application of the proposed framework for a system of environmental cost management of the adult education program of the General Authority for Adult Education, where this system accurately shows the direct costs of third-party costs directly to the educational process of the education program Akabarozlk and through the development of financial and environmental reports, and a list of financial and environmental status of the process educational programs for adult education.

Dementia knowledge among older Chinese adults: A cross‐national comparison between Melbourne and Beijing

AbstractBackgroundImproving dementia knowledge among older populations has the potential to reduce risk factors or enable early diagnosis and timely treatment. This study compared dementia knowledge between older Chinese adults in Melbourne, Australia, and Beijing, China, and explored similarities and differences in relation to dementia knowledge between these two groups. Ultimately, this study aims to inform the development of tailored dementia education programs for older Chinese adults.MethodA cross‐sectional design was employed in this study. In total, 379 participants (153 from Melbourne, and 226 from Beijing) completed the questionnaire. Dementia knowledge was assessed with the Alzheimer's Disease Knowledge Scale (ADKS). Demographic characteristics, dementia‐related experience, and mental health status of study participants were also collected.ResultIn general, older Chinese adults in Melbourne and Beijing present a fair level of dementia knowledge (Mean±SD: 17.2±2.9 versus 17.5±2.9, P=0.179) and patterns of scores of dementia knowledge sub‐domains with highest scores in life impact and lowest scores in caregiving. In these seven domains, the correct response rates of life impact were 77% in Melbourne versus 78% in Beijing (P=0.812), treatment and management were 70% versus 72% (P=0.497), course were 66% versus 70% (P=0.096), assessment and diagnosis were 61% versus 62% (P=0.517), symptoms were 60% versus 59% (P=0.744), risk factors were 47% versus 48% (P=0.604), caregiving were both 36% (P=0.647). Multiple linear regression analysis found that younger age (B=‐0.059, P=0.025) and positive self‐report dementia impact (B=2.955, P=0.042) were significantly associated with a higher level of dementia knowledge in Melbourne, whereas the positive family history of dementia (B=1.415, P=0.040) was significantly associated with a higher level of dementia knowledge in Beijing.ConclusionOlder Chinese adults living in Melbourne and Beijing only had a fair knowledge about dementia, especially about the sub‐domains of risk factors and caregiving information. Different factors associated with dementia knowledge in these two groups. These findings suggest that dementia education programs for older Chinese adults need to focus on risk factors and caregiving.

Faculty Perspectives on Context, Benefits, and Challenges in Fully Online Graduate Adult Education Programs

The purpose of this study was to explore the perspectives of adult education faculty toward developing and teaching online adult education courses in their master’s programs to assist in our own transition to online adult education and to offer insight to others who may be interested in doing the same. Ten participants who work in fully online programs agreed to take part in this interpretive interview research. We coded and analyzed the data using the constant comparison and thematic analysis methods. Community of Inquiry was the framework guiding this study. Data analysis led to themes describing the contexts of these programs, meaningful benefits, noteworthy challenges, and insights and recommendations for instructors new to online adult education graduate programs. Implications and conclusions drawn from the study’s findings are presented.

In-Between: Late-Arriving Teens in Adult Education Programs Navigating Child and Adult Immigrant Narratives

We report on a grounded theory study of late-arriving immigrant youth (LIY) who arrived in the United States at 16–18 years of age and were referred to daytime General Education Diploma (D-GED) programs. These programs provide an alternate path to a high school diploma for youth with insufficient knowledge of English to complete graduation requirements before turning 19 years. Based on interviews with 38 youth from Latin America, we propose the core category of our grounded theory to be students Navigating Child and Adult Immigrant Narratives while making educational and career decisions. This process begins before immigration when youth imagine ambitious alternate selves—ideal educational and career selves in the United States, consistent with the American Dream and immigrant child narrative. The D-GED programs represent a compromise between a child and adult educational pathway. Students in these programs felt excluded from the regular high school but received social and emotional support while on a faster track to graduation and self-sufficiency as adults. However, students lacked concrete information and roadmaps for how to attain their ambitious goals. The study highlights the unique challenges faced by LIY as they develop ambitious and realistic education and career goals.

Persistent and transient inefficiency in adult education

This paper evaluates the inefficiency of adult education programs. Using an advanced four-component stochastic frontier model on Belgian adult education data, we distinguish between persistent and transient inefficiency of adult education programs. Whereas persistent inefficiency is structural and difficult to tackle because of its time-invariant nature, transient inefficiency can be eliminated somewhat easily without a major structural change. Thus, reduction in different inefficiency components may require different policy measures. Our results indicate that despite the presence of persistent inefficiency, the overall inefficiency is mainly driven by the transient component, and hence, at the control of the adult education management. The findings suggest that social interaction is relevant in adult education as both more sessions and more learners per program increase educational efficiency. Moreover, adult education programs seem to be particularly useful for young less-educated learners.

Building Resilience and Fortitude Among Victims of School Bullying: Lessons from a Customized Yoga Education Program by Older Adult Volunteers

This article reports a study on the effectiveness of yoga to build resilience and fortitude among victims of school bullying. A cohort of children who underwent an older adult volunteer taught yoga education programme (OAVYEP) were compared with a cohort who underwent a young volunteer taught yoga education programme (YVYEP). The OAVYEP and YVYEP had a common repertoire of face-to-face yoga lessons. The OAVYEP had additional components of home practice or do-it-yourself exercises and additional session time comprising experience and anecdotal sharing by older adults. Results indicated that participants who underwent the OAVYEP reported greater resilience and fortitude post-test. Outcome scores were higher for intervention group girls, middle class, with mother as primary caregiver, and living in standard family arrangements. Attendance at OAVYEP lessons and home practice mediated the relationship between demographic predictors and outcomes. The OAVYEP is an effective intervention to address concerns of bullying victims in US schools.

Integrating Creativity in the Facilitation of Adult Learning through Analytic and Synthetic Methods: Study of Adult Basic Literacy Education Program in Enugu State, Nigeria

Adult basic literacy education program requires the integration of creativity into learning activities to increase the rate of adult learning in adult basic literacy education program. The study assessed the extent of integrating creativity in facilitating adult learners in adult basic literacy education program. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. The instrument titled, Integrating Creativity in the Facilitation of Adult Learning through Analytic and Synthetic Methods Questionnaire was administered to 880 adult education administrators, adult literacy facilitators and adult learners. Data were presented through the use of mean, standard deviation and ANOVA. The results of the study revealed that integrating analytic and synthetic methods to a moderate extent facilitated the learning of adults in an adult basic literacy education program. The study recommended that state agency for mass literacy, adult and non-formal education should encourage adult literacy facilitators to create personalized programs of instruction and lesson plans that are based on the adult learners’ skill level and learning styles.

The Role of Adult Education in Sustaining Cities and Communities in Nigeria: Impact of Fourth Industrial Revolution

This is an era of technological advancement. New things are springing up daily that needs to be supported with innovative ideas and creativity. Any state that is contented with the status quo is not bound to develop. For rapid development to take place in cities and communities, there is need for a level of disruption. This is the basis and core of the fourth industrial revolution. This paper is based on the fact that every country of the world needs to imbibe the idea of the newest technology with a view to attending to the various challenges facing development especially in Nigerian cities and communities. The challenge of not moving along the newest technological innovations had always led to difficulties in fixing socio-economic problems which eventually inhibit the rate of development in cities and communities and individuals within them. The fourth industrial revolution is not limited to just a group of young people but also adults. Adults should be carried along in the newest technological evolvement through all the laudable programmes of adult education. Technology stimulates creativity which brings about innovation. The fourth industrial revolution which is a combination of earlier technological inventions and revolutions would lead to stimulation of better creativity for sustainable development of cities and communities and of the people. This paper, thus, focused on how integrating technological innovation of the 21st century into adult education programmes would stimulate creativity in community people thereby leading to creativity, innovations and subsequently sustainability of cities and communities. The authors recommend among others that the Federal Government of Nigeria should focus more on adult education which has immediate relevance to the growth of persons, cities and communities in Nigeria. It is also recommended that technological education should be introduced into all programmes of adult education and efforts should be made to remove every hindrance to technical education from every adult learner and education should be made accessible to all while the curriculum of both the formal and adult education programmes should be replete with elements of the fourth industrial revolution so that none will be left out of the new development agenda.

A lesson in teaching English while White

AbstractThis article offers a close analysis of a 90‐minute teaching sequence in an English as a foreign language classroom of an adult basic education program for refugee‐background learners in a Finnish community college. The White European‐heritage teacher, the author of the article, researcher on‐site, and substitute teacher at that point, taught a lesson with a focus on ownership of English to a group of about 15 adult learners of color from mostly Middle Eastern and African backgrounds. She used peer‐supported discourse analysis of the lesson transcript to better understand the processes of Whiteness that interfered with students’ learning and engagement during the lesson. This revealed that the researcher‐teacher’s discourses and practices erased racial differences between her and the learners, perpetuated Eurocentric ideologies of argumentation, and positioned her as “white listening subject” (Flores & Rosa, 2015a) vis‐à‐vis the students. A theoretical lens of critical Whiteness pedagogy (e.g., Matias & Mackey, 2016) helps understand these findings within larger racist and Eurocentric structures of educational systems and socialization. Each finding feeds into recommendations for teachers and teacher educators, particularly those who received their education in predominantly White institutions but work in racially and culturally diverse contexts.

A physical activity program versus usual care in the management of quality of life for pre-frail older adults with chronic pain: randomized controlled trial

BackgroundExercise has shown being effective for managing chronic pain and preventing frailty status in older adults but the effect of an exercise program in the quality of life of pre-frail older adults with chronic pain remains unclear. Our objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of multicomponent structured physical exercise program for pre-frail adults aged 65 years or more with chronic pain to improve their perceived health related quality of life, compared with usual care.MethodsOpen label randomized controlled trial. Participants were community-dwelling pre-frail older adults aged 65 years or older with chronic pain and non-dependent for basic activities of daily living attending a Primary Healthcare Centre. Forty-four participants were randomly allocated to a control group (n = 20) that received usual care or an intervention group (n = 24) that received an 8-week physical activity and education program. Frailty status (SHARE Frailty Index), quality of life (EuroQol-5D-5L), pain intensity (Visual Analogue Scale), physical performance (Short Physical Performance Battery) and depression (Yessavage) were assessed at baseline, after the intervention and after 3 months follow-up. The effect of the intervention was analysed by mean differences between the intervention and control groups.ResultsThe follow-up period (3 months) was completed by 32 patients (73%), 17 in the control group and 15 in the intervention group. Most participants were women (78.1%) with a mean age (standard deviation) of 77.2 (5.9) years and a mean pain intensity of 48.1 (24.4) mm. No relevant differences were found between groups at baseline. After the intervention, mean differences in the EuroQol Index Value between control and intervention groups were significant (− 0.19 95% CI(− 0.33- -0.04)) and remained after 3 months follow-up (− 0.21 95% CI(− 0.37- -0.05)). Participants in the exercise group showed better results in pain intensity and frailty after the intervention, and an improvement in physical performance after the intervention and after 3 months.ConclusionsAn eight-week physical activity and education program for pre-frail older adults with chronic pain, compared with usual care, could be effective to improve quality of life after the intervention and after three-months follow-up.Study registration detailsThis study was retrospectively registered in ClinicalTrials.gov with the identifier NCT04045535.

A Framework for Capacity Building in Adult and Workforce Education Programming

A Framework for Capacity Building in Adult and Workforce Education Programming

Collaboration and Networking in Adult Education and Training. A Case Study

AbstractThe article discusses the analysis of the available resources in thePro Educatione Network of Adult Education and Training. The study unveils the provided human resources, economic potential, organizational capacities and relationships as well as the surplus by the network of the 15 adult education organizations. The results show that networking brings access to different resources for network members. Half of the network member organizations affirm intense relationships, i.e. they often call for the collaboration of network member organizations for their adult education and training programmes, and significant co-creation activities are taking place. Despite the fact that several network member organizations have limited resources for the operation of adult education, they achieve significant efficiency; in other words, they can reach out to a considerable number of adult learners through their education and training programmes. The analysis identified passive, moderately active, and very active network members. It also identified areas with deficits in networking.

Perception of Adult Learners and Challenges of Integrated Functional Adult Literacy Programme Implementation in Shashemene City Administration, Oromia Region

The Purpose of this study was to assess the perception of adult learners and Challenges of integrated functional adult literacy programme implementation in Shashemene City Administration. To achieve the purpose; Mixed method of research design was employed; both quantitative and qualitative data were gathered through questionnaire, interviews and focus group discussion. The questionnaires were distributed to 130 respondents. Out of these questionnaires 120 (92.3%) were correctly filled and returned. In addition, twenty four experts were interviewed. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics(percentage, frequency, mean and independent t-test). Qualitative data were analyzed using narrative and thematic description. The major findings revealed that since the introduction of adult education programs with an integrated manner the learners positive perception, positive attitudes towards the program, satisfaction of learners with teaching-learning process in the IFAL center, adult learners have understanding on the advantage (importance) of to be literate, their confidence when participating through IFALP and they are direct beneficiaries of IFALP. The major challenges identified, poor integration and coordination among the sectors, lack of financial package, trained personnel and lack of interest and motivation of facilitators, low commitments among political leaders to sustain the IFAL program, lack of connecting the program with primary education program in curricula and low payment of facilitators and coordinators were the major bottlenecks in the practice of IFAL program implementation. Therefore, to alleviate these problems, allocation of necessary budget, encouraging IFAL Stakeholders participation building their capacity, training of facilitators and improving the amount of their payments, developing relevant IFAL curriculum, equipping IFAL centers with the necessary educational materials and facilities, developing commitment leaders to sustain the literacy campaign, developing learners attitudes and interest towards the program were suggested. Keywords: Functionality, Integrated functional adult literacy programme, Adult education, Challenges DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-28-04 Publication date: October 31 st 2020

Effects of a dementia partner education program for older adults

본 연구는 노인 대상 치매파트너교육프로그램의 효과를 평가하기 위하여 실시한 비동등성 대조군 전후설계 유사 실험연구이다. 자료수집은 2019년 4월 01일부터 7월 31일까지 P지역의 노인종합복지관 이용자인 노인 33명을 대상으로 하였다. 수집된 자료는 SPSS WIN 23.0 프로그램을 이용하여 t-test, 반복측정 이원배치분산분석을 하였다. 연구결과는 치매파트너교육프로그램에 참여한 실험군의 치매지식 점수는 유의하게 높아졌고(t=6.86, p=.013), 대조군은 유의한 변화가 없었다(t=.229, p=.636). 시간과 집단 간의 상호작용에서는 유의한 차이가 있었다(F=5.096, p=.031). 치매태도 점수는 실험군에서 유의하게 높아졌고(t=6.223, p=.018), 대조군은 유의한 변화가 없었다(t=.372, p=.546). 시간과 집단 간의 상호작용에서도 유의한 차이가 없었다(F=2.048, p=1.62). 치매예방 및 대처활동 점수는 실험군에서 유의하게 높아졌고(t=6.995, p=.013), 대조군은 유의한 차이가 없었다(t=.127, p=.724). 시간과 집단 간의 상호작용에서는 유의한 차이가 있었다(F=4.822, p=.036). 본 연구결과를 바탕으로 지역사회를 중심으로 한 노인여가복지시설, 경로당, 노인회 및 보건소 내 치매안심센터를 연계하여 치매지식, 태도 및 예방 및 대처활동을 증진시키기 위한 치매파트너교육프로그램이 적절하게 이루어졌으면 한다. 이로서 노인들은 지속적으로 치매파트너의 역할을 수행하는 토대가 될 것으로 사료된다. 제언으로는 치매파트너교육프로그램 적용 후 노인들의 치매지식, 태도 및 예방 및 대처활동의 효과성 유지정도를 분석하고, 반복교육의 필요성 연구와 노인 치매파트너의 추후 활동에 대한 후속 연구가 이루어졌으면 한다.

Escolaridad básica en personas adultas en México

El propósito de esta investigación es analizar la situación de escolaridad básica de las personas adultas en México en los últimos años y los programas para su atención, para determinar si hay avances en la reducción del rezago educativo. El enfoque utilizado parte de las obligaciones del Estado mexicano en derechos humanos, especialmente sobre el derecho a la educación; asimismo, se examina la evidencia empírica relacionada con las carencias en educación básica proveniente de distintas fuentes, entre otras, de la Encuesta Nacional de los Hogares (ENH) del Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía (INEGI, 2018), así como el presupuesto destinado a los programas de educación para adultos entre los años 2010 y 2018. Se evidencian avances sustanciales solamente en la alfabetización, pero no en la reducción del rezago educativo en la escolaridad básica en su conjunto, lo que podría estar asociado a la ineficaz distribución de los recursos económicos.

A Case Study of the Use of Newsela PRO Among Adult, Emergent Bi/Multilingual Learners in a Precollege Program

Adult literacy and English as an Additional Language (EAL) programs are often challenged to find suitable and authentic reading texts and instructional materials for their students. Newsela PRO, an entirely online resource, provides high-interest fiction, timely news articles, and other nonfiction texts in both English and Spanish that focus on developing reading and critical thinking skills by providing students with five levels of reading difficulty. Although originally designed for younger learners, the use of Newsela PRO has recently expanded into adult literacy programs. This convergent mixed-methods study investigated the usability and instructional use of this educational technology in an intensive, precollege EAL program in a community college in the northeastern United States. This case study found that instructors felt the detailed reports provided by Newsela PRO enhanced their instruction and feedback and enabled them to differentiate instruction more effectively. Regardless of language-proficiency level, students found Newsela “easy to very-easy-to-use.” They were motivated to read more extensively and developed more confidence in their academic skills and English-language proficiency. These preliminary findings justify the additional cost of Newsela PRO as well as exploring its expanded use in other adult education, EAL, and literacy programs, especially Spanish-language literacy programs, both in the United States and internationally. As many adult and higher education programs were mandated to transition to distance learning exclusively during the recent COVID-19 pandemic, the effective instructional use of educational technology has become critical.

Systematic review on the contents and parameters of self-management education programs in older adults with knee osteoarthritis.

The aim of this review was to determine the contents and parameters of self-management education programs (SMEPs) for older adults with knee osteoarthritis (KOA). A systematic electronic literature search (Scopus, MEDLINE, ProQuest, CINAHL, Cochrane and a grey literature specific site through Google Scholar) was undertaken between March and May 2018 (search updated in June 2019). Studies were selected based on predetermined criteria. Data relating to the contents and parameters of the SMEP were extracted and collated. A total of 11 experimental studies met the inclusion criteria. Overall quality of the selected studies was good. The contents used for SMEP in older adults with KOA were information and management of KOA, healthy lifestyle and additional management strategies for KOA. The parameters used were face-to-face sessions led by health professionals and were chiefly group-based. This review comprehensively summarises the structure of multifaceted SMEP for people with KOA, which could be used to inform clinical practice and future research.