Higher education is my hottest focus at the moment, not only because it's in crisis mode but because it is the key to our survival as a society. We need all hands on deck for this one!!
I asked Dottie Billington, a fellow consultant from the West Coast, to comment on a couple of issues concerning effective learning. She wrote:

"Right now I can't think of any needed research about adult learning and development, but I still sometimes sit in talks where the speaker doesn't involve the audience at all. I think there's been research about how interaction helps learning, but maybe some more studies on that, as it's a crucial point I think. and more studies may make teachers/speakers more aware of the need.

"On adult development, this is out of the realm a bit, but I'm continually wondering how our genes affect our ongoing development: our openness to new ideas, our positive vs. negative attitudes, our abilities to relate well to others, etc. AND if genes do determine these factors to a large extent, can we overcome our genetic heritage, change it to do better."