James, I agree we need to have the adult learners accept the responsibility for their own learning. Sympathy for them is not a productive response, in fact it can significantly negative consequences. Sometimes the students who come to our institutions haven't had the encouragement or understanding to pursue the correct avenues and they have only been 'punished' for not getting it right. As I stated, I agree with you that sympathy is a poor response to many of the issues. What are some of your more successful avenues of response? Thank you for sharing your expertise. Dr. S. David Vaillancourt