ERIC Number: EJ1102549
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016-Jun
Pages: 19
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0020-8566
EISSN: N/A
How to Motivate Adults with Low Literacy and Numeracy Skills to Engage and Persist in Learning: A Literature Review of Policy Interventions
Windisch, Hendrickje Catriona
International Review of Education, v62 n3 p279-297 Jun 2016
Low basic skills levels of adults are a complex policy problem which has neither straightforward causes nor solutions, and successful interventions are still relatively rare. Tackling serious literacy and numeracy weaknesses among adults is challenging, partly because the task itself is difficult, and partly because even if accomplished successfully, the returns on the investment (of expertise, time and money) are uncertain. The Survey of Adult Skills, an international investigation conducted in 22 member and two partner countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) as part of the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), has revealed that a considerable number of adults possess only limited literacy and numeracy skills. Governments now recognise the need to upskill these adults in order to maintain national prosperity. This literature review examines current evidence on policy interventions for adults with low literacy and numeracy proficiencies to pinpoint what has so far proven to motivate adults to join and persist in basic literacy and numeracy learning. The author identifies three approaches which seem promising in helping to address individual learners' needs: (1) adapting instruction to learners' needs by means of regular assessment (formative assessment); (2) complementary e-learning (blended learning); and (3) contextualisation of basic skills provision both at work and at home (workplace learning and family literacy). The central challenge is to put the evidence to work.
Descriptors: Numeracy, Literacy, Literature Reviews, Intervention, Educational Policy, Adult Students, Adult Learning, Learning Motivation, Basic Skills, Academic Persistence, Student Needs, Student Centered Learning, Formative Evaluation, Blended Learning, Family Literacy, Workplace Learning
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Information Analyses; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Adult Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A