Lucy M. Guglielmino

Hall of Fame Class of 2012

Both a scholar and practitioner in adult education, Lucy M. Guglielmino is professor emeritus at Florida Atlantic University. She retired in January 2011 after 32 years on the faculty. Throughout her career, Guglielmino has been recognized with numerous awards for teaching, research, and service and has mentored many graduate students, including two who were finalists for the Phi Delta Kappa and American Educational Research Association dissertation awards.

Guglielmino is author or co-author of more than 100 publications, including two books, one of which was nominated for the Houle Award for Literature in Adult Education. Her major scholarly work is in the area of self-directed learning (SDL); she developed the Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale (SDLRS), the most widely used measure of self-directedness over the past 35 years. She has conducted numerous research studies in this area and worked with many students who have made contributions to SDL. She was instrumental in the creation of the International Society for Self-Directed Learning, co-founded its journal, the International Journal of Self-Directed Learning, serves as its editor, and continues to provide leadership to this group and its annual symposium. 

The SDLRS has been used in numerous research studies, including more than 90 doctoral dissertations. It has been translated into 22 languages and used in more than 40 countries. The adult form of the SDLRS, or the Learning Preference Assessment (LPA), has been used by more than 500 major organizations around the world. Two recent graduate research studies at the University of Tennessee revealed that Guglielmino’s dissertation, where she introduced the SDLRS, was ranked the second most frequently cited publication on self-directed learning in one study and third in the other. In these same studies, Guglielmino was ranked as the second and fourth most frequently cited author in the SDL literature. She has served as a consultant on SDL initiatives to numerous organizations and educational institutions, including the University of Coimbra (Portugal), the University of Paris, and North-West University (South Africa), where she was named Extraordinary Professor for a three-year term (2012-2014).

Guglielmino’s contribution to the knowledge base of self-directed learning through the SDLRS has been profound. Much of what is known about the concept of self-directed learning has been uncovered through studies using this instrument. Today, even as new SDL measures are emerging, the SDLRS continues to be widely used, pushing back the boundaries of knowledge on self-directed learning. Her work on SDL has profoundly altered our understanding of adults as learners. 

During her career, Guglielmino also led numerous grant projects, several of which were named exemplary and chosen for national dissemination, on topics such as: staff development for ESL and GED teachers; curriculum for ABE, GED, and Adult High School; and training for educators working with different at-risk populations. These projects have made practical contributions to the field through development of train-the-trainer programs and other efforts to disseminate information to practitioners.

Guglielmino was the second recipient of the Malcolm Knowles Memorial SDL award and has been recognized for her lifetime contributions by the Commission of Professors of Adult Education, the major national organization of professors in her field.