Abstract:
As a result of social change over the past 20 years, there has been an economyinduced population movement in Turkey from eastern locales and rural areas to
western regions and city centres. The effects of this domestic migration exemplify
the problems of “integration faced by a migrating population”. In Turkey the role
of Public Education Centres is primarily to provide pre-vocational training to adult
learners. The aim of this research is focused upon the following five research
questions: a) What are the motivating factors for adults attending courses? b) Are
the syllabi consistent with contemporary adult education theories? c) Which media
are being used in the courses? d) Are adult learners being taken on excursions
outside of the classroom to workshops and factories? e) What methods exist for
measuring learning outcomes? The researchers developed a questionnaire to
collect data. The questionnaire was composed within a framework of questions to
provide insight to the following: i) Characteristics of adult learners, ii) The
constructivism principles used in adult education, iii) Teaching techniques suitable
for adults, and iv) Motivations behind course enrollment of adult learners. The
content validity of the questionnaire was provided by expert opinions. Students
attending Turkey-Mersin Public Education Centres between 2007-2008 were
chosen as the subject population, with the questionnaires being distributed to 60
adult learners in this research. The findings can be summarized by the following:
In the study it was found that students within the same course possessed
educational backgrounds ranging from university graduates to those who had
never attended a day of school in their lives. The motives behind course
attendendance exhibits a diversity of viewpoints among the adult learners. Most of
the learners stated that they were learning the subject material for the first time.
