Adult Education Teacher Inquiry Projects 1998

The following adult educators are working on these inquiry projects. Reports will be posted upon completion during the summer of 1998; to date, two of those reports are now online.

Debra Blaine - Can I evaluate the effectiveness of classroom lessons and activities based on student perception and is this perception connected to certain student characteristics such as age, gender, nationality and level of education?

Tom Brillat - Two short-term goals of Tom's project were to gain moral and public commitment for the benefits of adult basic education programs and to increase awareness of the Learning Center among elected officials. The long-term goal was to gain financial assistance from the communities the center serves.

Lynn Foley - How can I encourage my pre-GED math students, who are parents, to take the concepts they learn in the classroom and teach their children practical applications of these concepts?

Genesis Center adult ESOL faculty - Will participating in the teaching process provide ESOL learners with a better understanding of the learning process and at the same time improve reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills?

Sarah Gleason- surveyed literature about reading strategies and adult education, spoke informally to adult educators about techniques that work with adult students and explicitly taught selected strategies to learners, seeking feedback about how those strategies worked.

David Hayes - looked at homework, seeking to identify and clarify factors which support or work against students at home, such as time constraints, workspace, family support, study habits and assignment characteristics.

Sandy Jacobi - Would TV watching activities that specifically target grammatical structures improve ESOL learners' listening skills and independent use of TV as a language learning resource?

Maureen Lawlor - Is there a place for Equipped for the Future in a prison literacy program? I hope to be able to investigate the issue of just what citizenship means to incarcerated learners, how that concept might be enhanced or developed through literacy training, and...[to] provide learners the skill of citizenship with its attendant rights and responsibilities...

Peter Mazzei - asked: Can 'hands on' approaches to math improve test scores for individuals who score low on the math pretest? How do manipulatives and other math activities assist learners?

Michelle Montoya, Rebecca Garland - What can teachers do to help students move towards work in meaningful ways? Michelle and Rebecca are working with their agency's Individualized Career Plan (ICP) to see how it supports (or not) learners' progress towards employment.

Doreen Perry - Can mastering basic computer skills increase not only employment opportunities for Project Opportunity students, but also raise their overall self-confidence? Doreen's considering the question not only in terms of her current learners, but also in terms of those who might join the program in the future.

Sandra Petruzzi and Darcy Lynch - Does cooperative learning facilitate the acquisition of computer skills among transitional, economically disadvantaged adult learners, thereby increasing their access to gainful employment?

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