Major Learning Efforts: Recent Research and Future Directions

Adults spend a remarkable amount of time each year at their major ef forts to learn. In fact, a typical learning effort requires 100 hours. And the typical adult conducts five of them a year: 500 hours altogether. Some of these learning projects rely on instructors and classes, but over 70 percent are self-planned and others rely on friends and peer groups. This picture of the adult's major learning efforts has emerged in just the past seven years. Many basic surveys and several in-depth studies have con tributed to our understanding. This paper presents a review of that research and some high-priority directions for the future.