Education Commons^™

The Impact Of Digital Technology On Employees' Development Via Informal Learning Approach: A Systematic Review, Ke Ma

Adult Education Research Conference

The objective of this literature study is to assess the feasibility of HRD practitioners incorporating digital technology to support informal learning in enterprises, with the aim of improving employees' professional development.

Understanding The Challenges Of Perspective Transformation In Prison: Biographical Narratives Of Foreign National Students Of A Second Chance School In Greece, Antigoni K. Efstratoglou, George A. Koulaouzides

Journal of Prison Education Research

Education has borne the burden of prisoners’ reform since the early days of modern prison. Several studies attest to its transformative potential, taking a short-term perspective. Rarely the experience of being a student, while incarcerated, is examined in the context of the wider biography. This paper uses perspective transformation theory as a point of departure to study how imprisonment influences adult learning. Building on biographical narratives of ten foreign national students of a Second Chance School at the largest Greek remand establishment, and participant observation of relevant class discussions, we argue that imprisonment impedes perspective transformation, strengthening structural inequalities and …

Professors' Informal Learning In Their Workplace: The Case Of Nepali University, Sabina Baniya Chhetri, Prakash C. Bhattarai

The Qualitative Report

This study explores how Nepali professors engage in informal learning practices in their workplace and identify the potential for creating a conducive learning environment We conducted in-depth interviews with five Nepali professors using a qualitative case study approach to explore their informal learning experiences at their workplace. The study revealed that professors engage in informal learning through various methods, such as enacting job roles, reflecting on work experiences, interacting with colleagues, seeking feedback, and initiating self-learning through reading, online courses, professional networks, and formal training programs. However, organizational constraints hindered their self-initiated learning activities. Future research can examine the organization …

A Comparison Of Student Motivation Between Two Ukulele Curricula In A Multi-Age Classroom, Jill K. Moth

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Motivation is a topic of high interest to music educators as they attempt to understand what makes their students want to continue learning. The use of the ukulele in the music classroom has grown over the last ten years due to its versatility. Despite its popularity and music educators’ support for its use, very little research exists on students’ motivation while playing it in a general music classroom setting. Therefore, the purpose of this current study is to compare the motivation levels of two groups of multi-age fourth through sixth-grade students learning the ukulele via different curricula in the music …

How Informal Stem Learning Opportunities Benefit Diverse Communities, Bridget Musker

Whittier Scholars Program

In today's world, equitable access to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education is imperative. However, minority and underrepresented communities often face barriers to participation in formal educational settings. Informal learning, occurring outside of the classroom, presents an opportunity for these communities to engage with STEM subjects in accessible and inclusive environments. Out of School Time (OST) programs and informal learning play a significant role in providing high quality, hands-on, experiential STEM education focused on skill building, and college and career readiness. Despite the importance of STEM learning, persistent disparities exist, particularly among culturally diverse communities, due to systemic discrimination …

Unsports[Man]Like Outdoor Public Spaces: Exercising Women's Learning To Navigate Violence And Safety During Hours Of Heightened Risk, Mattyna L. Stephens

Adult Education Research Conference

This study aimed to explore the perspectives of women who exercise in outdoor public spaces during hours of heightened risk and to offer insights to other women and organizations.

A Critical Perspective On Supporting Parents In Facilitating Informal Steam Learning On Children's Early Literacy Development, Suzanne G. Alexandre

Theses and Dissertations

Considering that parents/caregivers and home environment play an influential role in a child’s school readiness and future academic success, this study sought to support parents in using facilitation strategies to engage their child in informal learning at home. In order to examine if access to support for parents of preschoolers influenced parents’ confidence in their ability to facilitate informal learning at home, the project used informal STEAM learning, for context. The study also examines the potential impact of informal STEAM learning on children's school readiness and early literacy skills and the intersections of parent involvement, STEAM, and school readiness through …

Indianapolis Gems Club: Engagement In Informal Mathematics And Science Learning., Maria Eloisa Nuguid

Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement

There continues to be a need for the representation of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. To address this need, the Girls Excelling in Mathematics and Science (GEMS) research team at Purdue started a GEMS club at Lew Wallace School in Indianapolis, referred to as Indy GEMS Club. GEMS research assistants Maria Eloisa Nuguid, Yi Zhu, and Grace Gochnauer worked with Professor Elizabeth Suazo-Flores. This article is a description of the first Indy GEMS Club experience that consisted of hands-on activities created by GEMS founder Laura Reasoner Jones. The activities were hidden Legos, cup stacking, building a …

Working Across Boundaries: School Leaders Redefining Communities Of Practice Through Twitter, Jennifer Bailey, Forrest Kaiser, Ron Rhone, Stephanie Atchley

Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

Attrition rates among school leaders have risen in recent years, and scholars cite a lack of meaningful connections and responsive professional learning as leading reasons why they are leaving the field. School leaders are called to navigate unfamiliar and complex challenges, often working in isolation with limited opportunities for collaboration and professional growth. Social media forums, like Twitter, have potential to support a Community of Practice to facilitate learning around school leadership; however, there is a lack of scholarship exploring how school leaders use social media to support their needs. This mixed-methods study used sentiment and content analysis along with …

Informal Learning In An Online Book Club: A Qualitative Case Study, Toni E. Pilcher

Theses and Dissertations

This article examines the online book club called Victober, which is held every October on Youtube and other social media apps. As a qualitive case study, the research uses interviews, observations, and digital documents to explore the interactions and informal learning experiences of four women who participated in Victober 2022. The author identifies five overarching themes that emerged from the data: content creation, community identity, individual identity, rewards, and anticipation. These themes highlight the significance of content creation for YouTube and social media platforms, the sense of community fostered by Victober, the balance between individuality and belonging, the rewards of …

Podcast Listening And Informal Learning, Christopher Shamburg, Veronica O'Neill, Remberto Jimenez, Juan Rodriguez, Kristina Harb

The Qualitative Report

Listening to podcasts is a popular way adults learn outside of formal school settings. Examining podcast listening through the lens of informal learning is an important and underexplored area of inquiry. This is especially important considering the growth of the adult population in the United States and the new opportunities for learning and recreation. In this research, we interviewed 31 adult podcast listeners from across the United States about their experiences listening to and learning from podcasts. We open coded and refined the analysis to three themes. There was a strong connection between listening, learning, and personal growth among the …

Improving Indonesian Seniors’ Digital Resilience And Quality Of Life Through The Digital Academy For Seniors Program, Mite Setiansah, Nuryanti Nuryanti, Edi Santoso, Agus Ganjar Runtiko, Wiwik Novianti

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Digital literacy education is essential for everyone, including seniors to sustain their quality of life. The Digital Academy for Seniors aims to instill digital skills among seniors through a non-formal learning program. This qualitative research aimed to provide a comprehensive description of how the program can develop digital resilience and improve the quality of life of seniors. This study concluded that the program can improve the knowledge and attitudes of seniors in using digital media safely. Both of these are important assets for seniors to develop their digital resilience so that they can take advantage of digital media to support …

Being An Educator: Norwegian Prison Officers’ Conception Of Their Role Regarding Incarcerated Persons’ Education, Helene Marie K. Eide, Kariane Therese Westrheim

Journal of Prison Education and Reentry (2014-2023)

Despite the fact that prison officers are close to the incarcerated persons in everyday life in prison, and therefore will have great impact and influence on the incarcerated persons’ understanding of and motivation for education and training in prison, we still know little about prison officers understanding of their professional role regarding incarcerated persons’ education. This article will investigate how Norwegian prison officers understand their importance as educational actors through the following research question: How do Norwegian prison officers understand their role as actors in incarcerated persons’ education? Building on qualitative interviews with 16 Norwegian prison officers’ the article analyses …

Informal Learning As Opportunity For Competency Development And Broadened Engagement In Engineering, Madeline Polmear, Shannon Chance, Roger Hadgraft, Corrinne Shaw

Books/Book chapters

Informal learning is increasingly being recognized as a way to complement the formal curriculum within engineering and provide additional opportunities for competency development while engaging diverse students. Learning about engineering occurs throughout life, via experiential and spontaneous opportunities that inform our understandings of the world. Learning is not confined to the engineering curriculum and class time but, rather, continues informally and implicitly throughout the daily lives and activities of university students. Often framed in contrast to formal learning, informal learning is more as it represents a significant portion of students’ time and effort and contributes to their persistence, competence development, …

Adult E-Learning Issues In Middle East Educational Organizations Due To Covid-19 Pandemic: Challenges And Recommendations, Omniya Mohamed, Junghwan Kim

Adult Education Research Conference

This article reviews studies on the critical issues and challenges that adult e-learning faces in the educational sector due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The lockdown of educational organizations has forced a shift to distance learning, requiring a radical change in instructional methods. The article examines the post-pandemic learning issues that educational organizations may encounter due to the enforced e-learning process and provides recommendations for Educational Human Resources Development practitioners to overcome these challenges. A systematic literature review was conducted and analyzed to identify factors that affect adult learning during the pandemic, and the article suggests interventions that EHRD practitioners can …

An Analysis Of The Representation Of Organizational Practices In A Tv Drama Of Korea: Implications Of Public Pedagogy For Critical Human Resource Development, Hanbyul Kim

Adult Education Research Conference

This study aims to analyze a Korean TV drama for the purpose of addressing the ideological influences of popular culture on workers' practice in organizations.

President Of Everything: Mothering During Covid, Edith Gnanadass, Alison Happel-Parkins, Katharina Azim, Keishana L. Barnes, Mary Hilgeman Neal

Adult Education Research Conference

This roundtable explores narrative data collected from seven women in the U.S. Midsouth about their mothering experiences during COVID-19. The focus will be on their socio-emotional and informal learning.

Understanding Children's Museums' Approaches To Diversity: A Critical And Socio-Cultural Investigation, Amber Nicole Smith

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Children begin to develop self-awareness and awareness of others at an early age (Marion, 2011). Before they reach kindergarten, children begin to make distinctions about race by noticing similarities and differences between themselves and others (Winkler, 2009). Exposing young children to diversity can help each child embrace their identity, accept and celebrate differences, and be accepting of themselves and others (Cole & Verwayne, 2018).

The purpose of this study is to explore how children’s museums support diversity through their programs and planning. The research of this study focuses on four children’s museums located in the United States. There are many …

Science Café As A Gateway For Adult Learning: A Brief Systematic Literature Review, Chynar Amanova

Adult Education Research Conference

This paper provided a review of the studies on science cafés with the purpose of drawing attention of higher education practitioners to the importance of cafés in educating adult population.

Enhancing Engineering Identity Among Boys Of Color, Jerrod Henderson, Virginia Snodgrass Rangel, James Holly Jr, Rick Greer, Mariam Manuel

Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (J-PEER)

Black and Brown men continue to be underrepresented in engineering. One explanation for the dearth of Black and Latino men in engineering is that engineering (and STEM) identity often is not inclusive of People of Color. As a result, Black and Brown boys may be less likely to become interested in STEM subjects. The purpose of this study, then, was to investigate how the components of one afterschool engineering program tap into engineering identity formation among fourth- and fifth-grade Black and Brown boys. Leveraging research on the STEM and engineering identity, we argue that the program and its key components …

Equity-Oriented Conceptual Framework For K-12 Stem Literacy, Christa Jackson, Margaret J. Mohr-Schroeder, Sarah B. Bush, Cathrine Maiorca, Thomas Roberts, Caitlyn Yost, Abigail Fowler

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education Faculty Publications

We introduce a conceptual framework of K-12 STEM literacy that rightfully and intentionally positions each and every student, particularly minoritized groups, as belonging in STEM. In order to conceptualize the equity-based framework of STEM literacy, we conducted a systematic review of literature related to STEM literacy, which includes empirical studies that contribute to STEM literacy. The literature on the siloed literacies within STEM (i.e., science, technology, engineering, and mathematics literacy) also contributed to formulate the necessity of and what it means to develop STEM literacy. The Equity-Oriented STEM Literacy Framework illuminates the complexities of disrupting the status quo and rightfully …

Formally Trained Musicians’ Perceptions Of Music Performance Anxiety In Informal Contexts: A Phenomenology, Smith R.K. Waylett

Masters Theses, 2020-current

While researchers have explored concepts relating to both Music Performance Anxiety (MPA) and informal music learning, few have related the two subjects to each other. The purpose of this study was to explore formally trained musicians’ experiences with MPA in informal contexts. Specifically, I examined informal musicians’ learning and performing environments, and the relationships they share with musicians’ perceptions of MPA. Primary data included two rounds of recorded interviews. Findings revealed that physical venues, audience size, audience makeup, financial factors, audience reception, interpersonal relationships among bandmates, creative ownership over music they performed, and motivation to prepare for performances all played …

Authentic Stem Research, Practices Of Science, And Interest Development In An Informal Science Education Program, Bobby Habig, Preeti Gupta

Publications and Research

Background: Two critical challenges in science education are how to engage students in the practices of science and how to develop and sustain interest. The goal of this study was to examine the extent to which high school youth, the majority of whom are members of racial and ethnic groups historically underrepresented in STEM, learn the skills and practices of science and in turn develop interest in conducting scientific research as part of their career pursuits. To accomplish this goal, we applied Hidi and Renninger’s well-tested theoretical framework for studying interest development in the context of a museum-based, informal science …

Free Asynchronous Professional Development By, From, And For Instructional Designers: How Informal Learning Opportunities Shape Our Professional Learning And Design Practices, Pauline S. Muljana, Kristen Austion, Kayla Jutzi, Lora B. Pezzell, Malgorzata (Gosia) Pytel

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Instructional designers (IDs) need to maintain an understanding of the current trends and issues within the field. Pursuing professional learning informally supports IDs’ effort to keep up with current trends and issues because it is not restricted by curriculum and time. Professional development (PD) offered by Professional Development for Instructional Designers (PD4IDs) learning group can address issues related to geographical and funding limitations. This application paper presents the coordination of PD based on the conceptual framework (e.g., Community of Practice and Social Network Knowledge Construction) and reflections of several PD4IDs members with various roles. The reflections indicate the benefits of …

Formal And Informal Learning Transfer In The Workplace, Royce Ann Collins, Connie Carpenter

Adult Education Research Conference

Both employees and organizations invest significant amounts of time, energy, and funds while promoting knowledge development as a fulcrum for increasing reflexive transformation, gaining higher cognitive skills, and achieving both organizational and workforce members’ performance goals. Our paper advocates multi-faceted and interactionist adult learning approaches designed to stimulate learners’ motivational dispositions as they transition to and from formal and informal learning environments.

Education And Learning To Support A Just Transition In Central Appalachia, Colleen Unroe

Adult Education Research Conference

This case study explores the learning and education of a community organization involved with multiple Just Transition initiatives in Eastern Kentucky where the economies were formerly dominated by the coal industry. Sixteen semi-structured interviews were conducted of leaders within the organization in addition to exploring the educational materials. Although non-formal learning plays an important part, informal learning, activist exchanges, and communities of practice play a more fundamental role in the activist learning.

How Adult Learners Participate In Collaborative Learning Within A University Environment, Dennis Keechul Awen

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Innovation and creativity are the “competitive edges” needed for businesses, government agencies, universities, communities, and private individuals to “stay and feel alive” and compete in our global world. Collaborative learning allows the birth of new kinds of thinking and new perspectives. Regardless of age, gender, race, and academic background, innovation and creativity through collaborative learning allows any individual, group, and organization to “jump start their batteries” and create something new. For this research study, I discovered what collaborative learning is, how it works, and what allows collaborative learning to occur.

In this qualitative study, I explored how a group of …

Finding The Familiar In The Strange: Transcultural Learning As Rihla رحلة At An Australian University, T. Dobinson, Maggie Mcalinden, P. Mercieca, T. Bogachenko

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

© 2020, © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Diverse university campuses present an ideal context for fostering transcultural learning. Despite the potential that this diversity presents, universities in Australia have yet to make use of this opportunity. The pilot study described here investigates an informal learning experience created by the hosting of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) funded Arab Film Festival Australia (AFFA) on an Australian university campus. By imagining and exploring new ways in which universities can encourage transcultural learning and bring students and academics together, this …

Instructional Strategies To Prepare Students For Success In Informal Learning Environments: Leveraging Metacognition And Critical Thinking To Develop Self-Regulated Learning Skills, Carolyn P. Commiso

Instructional Design Capstones Collection

This paper looks at how learning is evolving in the 21st century and what skills learners need to be successful in that environment. Based on existing research into the topic, this paper focuses on how learning is increasingly taking place in informal settings, through the lens of the Social Cognitive Learning and Cognitive Constructivism theories. The hypothesis is that students can be successful in these settings by mastering self-regulated learning strategies which can be developed through critical thinking and meta-cognitive skills. It assesses what instructional strategies can be used to develop these skills and enable continued learner success. In addition, …

Developing A Creative Learning Format For Street Children, Shazina Masud

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

Developing a Creative Learning Format for Street Children

As the number of street children grow globally, governments and UN agencies are looking at solutions to cater to their needs of shelter, health and safety. Efforts to provide formal education to street children are not always successful. This project hypothesizes that equipping these children with essential knowledge in an informal but creative learning environment will allow them to live safe and productive lives. The prototype of the creative learning format is based on approaches and tools that have worked with children in other settings and has been modified for street children. …