Education Commons^™

A Shift Towards Culturally Responsive Teaching Practices In Workplace Education, Nancy M. Thompson

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) focuses on a nonprofit organization resolving a problem of practice (PoP) that was identified following the withdrawal of its funder’s support. The problem is an absence of culturally responsive teaching practices (CRTP) in the pedagogy knowledge of subject matter experts (SMEs) who are hired to instruct capacity-building programs within community partner organizations. These organizations are working to instil a culture of equity, diversity, inclusion, and decolonization. This OIP unpacks this PoP and creates a pathway forward to implement a change initiative based on a triad model solution: policy, beliefs, and practice. This multifaceted approach results …

Standalone, Supplemental, And Embedded Microlearning Development Alternatives For Federal Programs During A Pandemic, Tod M. Hebenton

Instructional Design Capstones Collection

Microlearning has been studied since the early 2000’s. Comparisons of microlearning and eLearning are found throughout the research. Some research has presented developing microlearning as an alternative to developing eLearning courses. However, this action research paper is written in support of developing microlearning to be implemented alongside or as a component of eLearning. Microlearning benefits learners because it can be developed as standalone, supplemental, or embedded course content. A literature review and close examination of a series of microlearning videos developed for a federal program will highlight how microlearning can be developed as standalone or supplemental course content that can …

The Effects Of Using Adult Learning Principles In Sermons, David Pierre

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

The purpose of this quantitative, non-experimental study was to assess the effects of adult learning principles (ALP) in sermons on parishioners’ spiritual growth. Sermons have been central to the spread of Christianity. Given the significant role sermons play in parishioners’ spiritual formation and growth, examining sermons’ effectiveness is crucial. One-hundred-and-twenty participants responded to the researcher-created research instrument. An initial screening was first conducted with the study's data; as a result, 13 participants were removed from the data set for complete non-response to the 15 survey items. Three research questions and hypotheses were formally stated to address the study’s topic. Over …

A Model For Becoming An Inclusive Adult Educator: Designing For Disability, Tulare W. Park, Kayla D. Mohney, Erica R. Moore, Carol Rogers-Shaw

Adult Education Research Conference

This evidence-based model of inclusive teaching offers knowledge and practical applications for adult educators. It provides strategies for equitably addressing all student needs, particularly those with disabilities.

“You’Re Almost In This Place That Doesn’T Exist”: The Impact Of College In Prison As Understood By Formerly Incarcerated Students From The Northeastern United States, Hilary Binda, Jill D. Weinberg, Nora Maetzener, Carolyn Rubin

Journal of Prison Education and Reentry (2014-2023)

This qualitative study examines the immediate and lasting impact of liberal arts higher education in prison from the perspective of former college-in-prison students from the Northeastern United States. Findings obtained through semi-structured interviews with formerly incarcerated people are presented in the following three areas: self-confidence and agency, interpersonal relationships, and capacity for civic leadership. This study further examines former students’ reflections on the relationship between education and human transformation and begins to benchmark college programming with attention to the potential for such transformation. The authors identify four characteristics critical to a program’s success: academic rigor, the professor's respect for students, …

Self-Directed Learning Practices In Esl: How Beginning Adult Latinx English Language Learners Can Increase Learning Outcomes, Jessica Parisi

Master's Projects and Capstones

This field project investigates the self-directed learning (SDL) practices that could increase learner outcomes in English language acquisition for beginning adult English language learners (ELLs), and presents on a website designed for the learner, the practices and local resources to engage them. Non-credit English as a second language (ESL) courses in community colleges in the San Francisco Bay Area have high enrollment and low levels of advancement, especially beginning levels. Latinx adult ELLs face unique challenges that contribute to their low rates of advancement, including linguistic isolation, and work and home duties that often prevent learners from attending classes the …

Promoting Learner Agency Through Critical Pedagogy In The English Language Classroom, Susan Zyphur

School of Leadership and Education Sciences: Student Scholarship

In this self-study action research project, I explored how students exercised agency and how it may be affected by a critical pedagogy approach in a community college English as a Second Language (ESL) setting. The participants were adults enrolled in an advanced ESL course in a community college in the greater San Diego area. Students engaged in three dialogic circles as part of a needs assessment dialogue and two successive critical pedagogy dialogues. Data were collected using a classroom observation protocol (supported by audio recordings of the dialogues), student writings in response to journal prompts, and an analytic journal which …

The Impact Of Teacher Methodology Training For Higher Education Faculty Members, Nicole R. Baker

Scholar Week 2016 - present

Many college programs are designed to graduate individuals who are experts in their field of study, but not necessarily individuals who are trained in how to teach. This quantitative, quasi-experiment study examined college faculty member’s level of training in the area of teaching practices and methodology. The relation to student satisfaction, current course performance, attendance, the belief in the need for training, and faculty member’s sense of efficacy in teaching was explored. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to organize the data using a one-way ANCOVA to analyze the impact the level of training had on …

Identifying Reasons For Attrition At The Clemente Course In The Humanities, Worcester, Ma, Mollie Rayner-Haselkorn

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

This paper identifies reasons for attrition and possible solutions to higher retention at the Clemente Course in the Humanities, Worcester (Clemente). Over the last four years, since the re-launch of the Clemente, the retention rate of students completing the program has remained around 50%. Clemente is an alternative, adult education program that provides college level humanities classes to majority low-income, minority adults. In this paper qualitative research methods are used to interview students, professors and an administrator at Clemente. Based upon qualitative research, supported by retention theory, three main reasons for attrition are identified: student academic self-esteem, diversity of student …

Public Schools, And Health Care: A Strategy To Promote Social Inclusion, Jana Sladkova, Anahi Viladrich, Nicholas Freudenberg

Occasional Paper Series

Sladkova, Viladrich, and Freudenberg refer to “social inclusion” as the process through which the newly arrived find their voice in an already complex, cacophonous society. They describe an approach to social inclusion for adult immigrants that melds learning English at the same time as learning to negotiate our often-Byzantine health care system. They highlight programs that work and a new perspective on how to maximize the effectiveness of limited adult education opportunities.

Jackson Creek Arts And Trails, Llc: Museum Travel Immersion Programs, Else C. Trygstad-Burke

Master's Projects and Capstones

Museums have become increasingly oriented towards reaching new audiences, encouraging visitor loyalty, and informing the public about their overall relevance. Innovation in programming is a centerpiece of this effort, including a provision of programs for all age groups and demographics. At the same time that this transformation occurs in the museum world, similar changes are taking place in the leisure, travel and tourism industries. A continuously rapid increase in globalism and cultural access contributes to an atmosphere in which travelers can expand their goals and purposes within the context of a travel experience. This report will demonstrate that these trends …

Adult Education In A Museum Setting Requires Reinforcement, Judy Ann Lowman

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This thesis addresses adult education in a museum setting and measures adult learning during and after a museum visit. While a number of studies have investigated the impact of museum visits on children’s learning, there are few studies on adult learners. This thesis is an initial effort to fill that gap. Qualitative data were gathered through interviews with 24 adult visitors at the Victor Valley Museum in Apple Valley, California. The objective was to determine which exhibits were found to be of greatest interest to the visitor. Follow-up interviews were conducted four weeks later to measure retention. The qualitative data …

Surveys As Praxis: A Pilot Study On Transformative Learning Assessment With The Laboratory Experience Of The Theatre Of The Oppressed, Paolo Vittoria, Maria Rosaria Strollo, Sabra Brock, Alessandra Romano

Graduate School of Business Publications and Research

Transformative learning has been important in the development of college and adult education since Jack Mezirow proposed it more than 40 years ago as a theoretical description of the steps learners undergo in changing their worldviews. From the educator’s perspective, transformative learning is when a learner is struck by a new concept or way of thinking and then follows through to make a life change; it supplements more common types of learning such as acquiring facts or learning new skills (Cranton, 2006) [1]. Little quantitative study has been made of the incidence of transformative learning or the ten steps predicted …

A Program Evaluation Of A Christian College Baccalaureate Program Utilizing Stufflebeam's Cipp Model, Victoria F. Hanchell

Education Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation was a program evaluation of an undergraduate program of study at a Christian institution of higher education. The college had not received a formal evaluation since the institution of their strategic planning in 2008. The program evaluation of this baccalaureate program was reviewed through the lens of the CIPP Evaluation Model (Stufflebeam, 2002). Through the CIPP Evaluation Model, the Context (C), Inputs (I), Processes (P), and Product (P) of this institution were evaluated.

Four research questions were developed to coincide with the four thematic areas of CIPP model. The four research questions were (1) Context: How were the …

Preventing Graduate Student Heroic Suicide In Community-Based Research: A Tale Of Two Committees, Nancy K. Franz Dr.

Nancy K. Franz

Graduate students are increasingly interested in community-based research and public scholarship. However, they often struggle to find faculty research mentors who fully understand or have been personally involved with this type of research and related scholarship. In fact, some graduate students are advised by graduate committee members to refrain from working with communities and community stakeholders. Graduate students also experience few opportunities to develop skills and knowledge for community-based scholarship. It is clear that graduate students interested in community-based research need tools to navigate these dynamics. This article proposes a research stakeholder advisory committee as a successful tool for graduate …

A Holy Curiosity: Transformative Self-Directed Learning To Breakthrough New Knowledge In The Case Of Einstein, Deanna Lynn Vogt

Dissertations

The case of Einstein’s discovery of the relativity theory, explored with grounded theory methodology, illustrates a type of self-directed learning characterized by personal and non-personal, or technical, transformative learning, the result of which is iconic original, breakthrough learning. This dissertation explores three aspects of adult learning which are novel in adult education.

First, this study of breakthrough process, for which there is only one apparent precedent in adult education, considers how an individual goes about a self-directed learning project that revolutionizes a field. In this regard, the concept of original learning, as opposed to transmitted learning, presents itself as a …

Academic Development Perspectives Of Blended Learning, Roisin Donnelly, Claire Macavinney

Books/Book Chapters

Technological advances in every aspect of today’s higher education environment create a forum for academic developers to re-examine existing delivery methods for professional development. Within the context of this case study, the term ‘academic developer’ is taken to encompass the role of learning technologist. In order to be responsive and accommodate the changes, traditional instruction methods are being extended to encompass the range of Web 2.0 tools available. Debate is ongoing in the area of blended learning as to the ultimate effectiveness of technology integration. Through exploration of the experiences of two academic developers involved in the design and delivery …