A Narrative Exploration of Adulthood Through the Experiences of Youths Enrolled as Adult Learners: Disrupting and Redefining What it Means to be an Adult

The purpose of this research was to explore the lived experience of adult basic education students, ages 18 to 25, and their construction and performance of adulthood. Findings did not support theories of development based on age-graded normative markers, indicating that traditional development theories should not be packaged as a normative path to understanding

G.E.D in 3 Voices: Reconsidering what we perceive as “deficits”

In this research, I experiment re-presenting particular stories through poetic texts that contextualize and capture rich detail while honoring difference in experience between GED students and instructors. Drawing upon the evocative and consequential nature of performative writing I attempt to weave images through meaning, inviting readers to fill in the gaps, noting places where they are pushed to spaces that are difficult to fully understand or interpret

“It’s the physical versus the emotional”: Using poetics to re-present the power of art in the nursing clinical experience

The purpose of this exploratory qualitative study was to consider how the use of art in the post-clinical experience could broaden nursing students’ perceptions of holistic care, utilizing reflective practice and arts-based resources to increase their awareness of comprehensive patient care. Arts-based education research served as a useful curriculum tool for deep reflection in clinical nursing students’ experiences. Keeping with the tenor of arts-based research, we used poetic re-presentations as a means of maintaining students’ voices in this work. Reflections not only spanned the care provided but looked closely at patient relationships through analysis of their own clinical practice

My Sister, Our Stories: Exploring the Lived Experience of School Leavers through Narrative and Poetics

The purpose of this study was to explore the educational experiences of two adult female siblings who are both school leavers. Through the use of thematic narrative analysis, sibling narratives and poetic re-presentations, their stories were developed. These stories represent the participants’ experiences of prior schooling and their current commitments to education. While each story conveyed a profound similarity in terms of prior schooling, contrasting narratives were illustrated through description of transitional moments and sibling relationship. The analysis also explored the intersections of race, gender,and social class within educative moments of the life experiences of the participants

Forced to Learn: Community-based Correctional Education

Community-based correctional education has received scant attention in adult literacy research yet mandatory education is a growing part of the legal system and is fueled by research that suggests a link between correctional education and lower rates of recidivism. Growth in alternative to prison programs affects local ABE and GED programs. Adults who attend community-based correctional programs as a condition of their probation or parole face many challenges. The purpose of this existential-phenomenological study was to understand the experience of those adults. Findings describe students’ experiences of being forced to attend a GED program. Opening a space for these stories may help adult educators in community-based programs improve their practice by understanding how students experience the GED program

“It’s Like a Prison without Bars”: Experiences in a Mandatory GED Program

The purpose of this phenomenological research study was to describe how adult students experience a legally coerced GED program in a community alternative to prison program. A phenomenological-hermeneutical approach was used to derive common themes that represented essence of the students’ experiences

A Framework of Contextualized Teaching and Learning: Assisting Developmental Education Instructors

Contextualization in Developmental Education (DE) classrooms is often recommended but underutilized. The Framework of Contextualized Teaching and Learning is based upon existing research and theory in the field. It will help instructors create contextualized lessons and provide researchers a framework for categorizing studies on contextualization

“You Can Sort of Feel It”: Exploring Metacognition and the Feeling of Knowing Among Undergraduate Students

Traditional research on the metacognitive practice of calibration has been primarily investigated within the realm of quantitative experimental methodologies. This article expands the research scope of metacognitive calibration by offering a qualitative approach to the growing body of literature. More specifically, the current study investigates the learners’ perspective on the calibration process. Ten undergraduate students were selected to participate in a structured interview on their previous calibration performances (five students low in calibration processing and five proficient in calibration processing). Ultimately nine students (N=9) participated in individual interviews. Participant interviews are qualitatively assessed through the mediums of (1) Serra and Matcalfe’s original work on the “feelings of knowing” and (2) self-regulated learning theory (SRL). Results indicate a difference in feelings of knowing between low and proficient calibrators across a battery of themes: effort, strategies, planning, and evaluation. Implications of the results and direction for future research are explored

Construcción de Identidades de Investigador de Estudiantes Postgrado Explorado a través de Análisis del Discurso

While many research methods courses challenge students to make sense of their own researcher identities as they relate to research paradigms and perspectives, there is a lack of research that examines how students actually go about constructing theses identities, particularly at the level of discourse. In this study, we attended to graduate students’ talk in an introductory research methods course, taking note of how students used particular discursive resources to construct a research identity in online classroom discussions. We analyzed 93 discussion posts students were asked to make in response to a discussion board prompt after completing assigned readings related to research paradigms and researcher identity. We identified two discursive patterns through our analysis: 1) minimizing knowledge, and 2) justifying paradigmatic orientations. Our findings highlight how being asked to talk about one’s research identity is a potentially fragile task, as evidenced by disclaimers of ‘knowing’, and one that evokes justifications and connections to students’ everyday lives. We highlight implications for the teaching of research methodology, particularly qualitative methods courses.Aunque muchos cursos de métodos de investigación retan a los estudiantes a dar sentido a sus propias identidades como investigadores con respecto a paradigmas y perpectivas de investigación, hay una falta de investigaciónes que examinan cómo los estudiantes actualmente construyen esas identidades, en particular a nivel del discurso. En este estudio atendimos a las conversaciónes de los estudiantes de postgrado en cursos de la introducción a métodos de investigación, tomando nota de como los estudiantes utilizan recursos discursivos para construir una identidad de investigador en los debates de clases en línea. Analizamos 93 mensajes que estudiantes completaron en respuesta a un aviso despues de terminar lecturas asignadas relacionadas a paradigmas de investigación y la identidad de investigador. Se identificaron dos modelos discursivos a través del análisis: 1) minimizar el conocimiento, y 2) justificando conclusiones paradigmicas. Nuestros resultados destacan como preguntarle a uno de hablar de su propia identidad de investigador es una tarea potencialmente frágil, como lo demuestran las renuncias de ‘conocimiento’, y que evoca las justificanciones y las conexiones a la vida cotidiana de los estudiantes. Destacamos implicaciones para la enseñanza de metodología de investigación, en particular cursos de métodos cualitativos

Eating our way through the Anthropocene

This paper examines the complex interactions between food systems, diets, and the environment. We discuss the challenges facing the food system as a result of environmental degradation and climate change. We review the state of current diets and their effects on human health outcomes. As we consider paths forward, we examine holistic solutions that align nutrition, health, and environmental goals. Finally, we identify ethical questions relevant to the changing global food system. We consider our moral obligations to other people – both now and in the future – and the planet, and we posit that eating is an ethical act requiring reflection at all scales