Tendencias en investigación sobre el aprendizaje del adulto Conferencia Magistral presentada en la XIV Semana de Educación en el marco del XIX Aniversario de la Facultad de Educación, UADY. Mérida, Yucatán, octubre de 2003

Various tendencies rule the intentions to develop a theory for adult learning and to study and educate the young, the adult and the elderly in the different educational levels and modalities. These different perspectives are presented and analysed herein in order to identify the main postulates and research methods as well as the assumptions that guide the educational methods for adults. Problem-solving conception and situated learning are proposed as the most adequate to study adult learning in natural contexts at work. A balance of the strengths and weaknesses of the different positions is presented, and the paper is a concluded with the role of the educational psychologist and the research needs in the field. Key terms: