DOCUMBNT RBSUMII ED 028 371 AC 004 170 By-Davis, James A. A Study of Participants in the Great Books Program1957. Studies in Adult Croup Learning in the Loberal Ar ts. National Opinion Research Center, Chicago, 111. Spons Agency-Fund for Adult Education, White Plains, N.Y. Pub Date 60 Note-167p. Available from-Library of Continuing Education, 107 Roney Lane,Syracuse, N.Y. 13210 ($.35) EDRS Price MF -S0.75 HC-S8.45 Descriptors-Adult Dropouts, *Adult Reading Programs, Adults, CitizenParticipation, Educational Background Evaluation, Knowledge Level, Motivation. Participant Characteristics,Participant Satisfaction, F'olitical Attitudes, Questionnaires, Reading Materials, Religion, SocialStatus, Statistical Data, *Surveys, Young Adults The statistical report of 172 Great Books groups is based on oneof a series of studies of participants, leaders, and educationaleffectiveness of study discussion programs sponsored by theFund for Adult Education. During 1957, interviewers administered questionnaires to 1909 participants in"primary sampling units." It was found that participants tended to be well educated.of high status, socially active, and young. /1 combination of social and intellectual motivations wereattributed to participation. Great satisfaction was expressed. sincedissatisfied persons dropped out of the program. The strongesteffect of continued participation was an increased knowledge oftheliberalartsand humanities,while members also became broader-minded religiously and politically. There was noeffect in esthetic areas nor in serious reading outside the program.Greater interest was expressed in national and world affairs , than in the community; but thelatter tended to increase with participation in the Great Books program.Participants were active in community organizations and programs to change or improvethe community. A supplemental report, included in the appendix, reports on studiesof dropouts and retention among inciividuals of varying characteristics. A list ofGreat Books readings and the questionnaire are also included in the appendix. (pt) U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION & WELFARE N- OFFICE OF EDUCATION 1411 CO THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRODUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGINATING IT.POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONS C) STATEDDO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT OFFICIAL OFFICE OF EDUCATION CD POSITIONOR POLICY. Learning in the "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED -Liberal Arts Bye-311:411,4; TO ERIC AND ORGANIZATIONS OPERATING UNDER AGREEMENTS WITH THE U.S. OFFICE OF EDUCATION. FURTHER REPRODUCTION OUTSIDE THE ERIC SYSTEM REQUIRES PERMISSION OF THE COPYRIGHT OWNER." 6.1 BY James A. Davis THE FUND FOR ADULT EDUCATION A Study ofParticipants in the Great BooksProgram 1957 By National Opinion Research Center JAMES A. DAVIS with the assistance of LATHROP VICKERY BEALE Senior Study Director RUTH URSULA GEBHARD Preface BY C. SCOTT FLETCHER PRESIDENT THE FUND FOR ADULT EDUCATION This book represents one of four"Studies in Adult Group Learning in the Liberal Arts" being publishedin 1960 by The Fund for Adult Education. Tlie first one was an analyticalhistory of the study-discussion programs developedby the Fund's Experimental DiscussionProject: Accent on Learning, bythe Director of the Project, Dr. GlenBurch. The other three are research studies, resultingfrom independent investigations con- ducted by highly competent research groupsin the social sciences. Together they represent the first serious attempt toapply the methods of social science research to the evaluationof adult education programs: inthis case, programsof reading and discussion insmall groups led by non- professional students of the subject matterrather than by experts in it. Established in 1951 by The FordFoundation, the Fund was assigned a concern with"that part of the educational processwhich begins when formal schooling is finished." TheFund's Board of Directors definedtheir purpose as thatof "supporting programs ofliberal adult education which will contribute to the developmentof mature, wise, and responsiblecitizens III who can participate intelligently in a free society. To these ends, the Fund has laid particular emphasis upon study-discussion programs in the liberal arts. It has done so not only through its own Project, but also by giving substantial financial assistance to universities, liberal arts centers, and national organizations which sponsored and promoted such programs, developed program materials, and trained leaders. In 1959-60, the Great Books Foundation enrolled 50,000 participants in 2,700 g.oups in more than a thousand communities, in the United States and abroad. The American Foundation for Continuing Education had more than 10,000 group participants in nearly five hundred communities. Universities, colleges, public libraries, public evening schools, and a host of local social and civic agencies and educational groups, including private persons and their friends, have organized and sponsored the group study of these materials. In 1959, more than 15,000 men and women were en- gaged in the study and discussion programs brought into being by the Fund. While these were, for an experimental period, confined to ten "Test Cen- ters" (mentioned in Burch's study, and described more fully in the Fund's biennial Report for 1955-57 and in a document to be issued later this year), by 1958 a rapidly growing list of other educational organizations, national and local, and of private groups, were using these programs. At the present time, twelve of the programs are being published or prepared for publi- cation by commercial publishers; and the audio-visual components of the programs are being distributed by the Audio-Visual Center at the Univer- sity of Indiana. With the spread of study-discussion programs in the liberal arts came recognition of the need for careful study of the values and the effects of this method for the people who took part. As more colleges and univer- sities moved to set up programs of this type, concern was felt by many faculty members over the maintenance of high educational standards, par- ticularly where the group leadership was in the hands of those who were not professional educatnrs. The Fund, therefore, as early as 1955,began a series of research grants for studiesof the participants, the leaders, and the educational effectiveness of study-discussion programs, the studies being made by independent investigators not themselves connected with the pro- gram. Three major studies were madebetween 1955 and 1959. The first study, made in 1956 by members of the faculties of the Uni- versity of California at Los Angeles, the California Institute of Tech- nology, and Whittier College, was directed by Abbott Kaplan, then As- sistant Director of Extension at UCLA. The field of the studies consisted of 118 liberal arts groups, in four content areas: World Affairs, World IV 7-4Wat.....1$1,.4.3r4SMArtitgc714,' Politics, Ways of Mankind, and Introduction to the Humanities. The spe- cific sample included 150 individuals who were members of groups in Los Angeles, Pasadena, and Whittier, and fifty of the group leaders: the method was based on 325 interviews, before, during, and after the ten-week pro- gram, and observation of 52 group sessions. The second study was made in 1957 by the National Opinion Research Center of Chicago, using some 1900 participants in 172 Great Books groups, ranging from first-year to fifth-year status within that program. Interviewers visited the groups and administered detailed questionnaires; and the re- sponses were coded on IBM cards and subjected to elaborate statistical analysis. The director of this study was Dr. James A. Davis. The third major study, in 1958, was designed to compare learning effects of the same content, Ways of Mankind, with two methods: university lecture and lay-led group discussion. The sample studied consisted of three lecture classes, enrolling 283 adults, and twelve discussion groups with 293 participants, all within the liberal arts program of UCLA. Again, use was made of questionnaires, interviews, and direct observation. The direc- tor of this study was Dr. Richard J. Hill,* Department of Anthropology and Sociology, UCLA. The publication of these studies, which were separately conceived and independently carried out, is not intended as a plea for one method over others. It is intended as a contribution to the discussion, among educators and interested adult students, of the appropriate place and use and pur- pose of one of the many methods of learningthat appeal to men and women, and as an aid to educators andadministrators in their choices of program methods and student "publics". Here, forthe first time, are pre- sentedthough in admittedly preliminary formresponsible research data and statistical interpretation on adults in liberal arts programs. The studies themselves make it clear that the reading-discussion method attracts a par- ticular kind of audience, and that the larger population from which it is drawn has many other tastes and proclivities. The question, therefore, is not, "Which method is best?" but, "What is the best type of programand method for given sorts of people, and what ends are best served by which educational means?" If this broader question were studied for many types of education and many kinds of educational publics, ourskill and effectiveness in adult education would be immeasurably advanced. It is to this greatly needed research effort that we hope to contribute by offering these studies to the