560 research outputs found
GENERATIONAL DIFFERENCE AND THE PROBLEM OF IDENTITY IN THE ADULT EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY COLLEGE CLASSROOM
Teachers and learners increasingly attribute classroom tensions and conflicts to sharp age
differences among students. Supported in part by inter-generational research, I suggest that
these tensions and conflicts may also reflect broader struggles for expression of identity and selfauthorship
in an increasingly postmodern context, and a transition in how we think about the
classroom itself
Knowing the Self Through Fantasy: Toward a Mytho-poetic View of Transformative Learning
Research suggests that adult learning can have a profound effect on our sense of self. Emergence of transformational theory provides a framework for understanding these processes of self-knowing. Yet, this research and theory is dominated by an heroic perspective, in which transformation results from hard effort of a rational ego. Relying on a philosophy of imagination and Jungian psychology, transformative learning is re-visioned here as a journey of soul, in which image and fantasy mediate processes of self-knowing
Adults Learning To Reflect: A Study Of The Assessment Of Private Learning
Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) is a process used by many postsecondary institutions to
award academic credit to adult learners for knowledge derived from life experiences. For the most part, PLA has focused on occupational or work-related experiences. A few institutions have extended this assessment process to significant life experiences not related to work, such as divorce, job loss, or drug and alcohol recovery. However, we know relatively little about adult learners’ experiences in these programs. The life events that are often the focus of this process represent powerful, emotional experiences in the learners’ lives. For this reason, we sought to develop a deeper understanding of their
experiences with such a process. In-depth interviews were conducted with six learners enrolled in an accelerated, degree-completion program at Covenant College. The adults’ experiences in the assessment module reflect a preoccupation with meeting its technical and instrumental challenges. While they describe strong emotions and feelings associated with this process, there is less evidence that the process
facilitates a reworking of their prior experiences or greater self-awareness as learners
“Singing to the Choir:” The Struggle for Systemic Organizational Change in Community College Teaching
This study reports the results of a case study of a systemic change process in a community college aimed at fostering improvement of teaching practices. The results suggest that systemic change is limited by an organizational culture that is multiplistic and fragmentary
Lost In Familiar Places: The Struggle For Voice And Belonging In Online Adult Learning Groups
Many adults express a preference for learning in small groups but often find their group
experiences frustrating and dissatisfying. This tension is increasingly evident in online learning, as collaborative methods become more popular within these environments. The purpose of this study was to develop a better understanding of the emotional dynamics and processes reflected in this tension within online collaborative environments. Our findings suggest that online learning groups display behaviors that reflect two powerful, alternating, cyclical fears. On the one hand, the groups act as if they perceive a
definite threat to individual identity. Such actions, however, seem to precipitate a corresponding fear of alienation and disconnectedness among group members. Getting stuck in this cycle of alternating fears
may account for the lingering dissatisfaction adults have with group learning
Learning To See Through The Invisible: The Problem Of Process In Online Collaborative Learning
Educators are increasingly incorporating collaborative and other group methods into the design of online learning. For the most part, however, these efforts reflect technical-rational views of group process. In this paper, we argue that this view of group process understates the
significance of unconscious and invisible processes in online learning. Using psychodynamic
theory, we discuss the role of unconscious processes in online learning and pedagogical
strategies that may be helpful in making these processes more visible.
In The Little Prince we are taught that it is only with the heart that we see rightly and what is essential is invisible to our eyes. We are interested in fostering online learning environments characterized by teaching and learning from the heart. Such an approach, however, requires a richer understanding of the emotional dynamics of online collaborative groups and how deep learning reflects a process essentially invisible to the eye.
Online learning programs are increasing at exponential rates (Bishop and Spake, 2003; Kariya,
2003) and many of their participants are adult learners. The design of learning experiences
within these programs is also evolving. While early online programs focused largely on
transmission and mastery of bodies of information, more emphasis is now being placed on
collaborative methods (Bruffee, 1999; Dirkx & Smith, 2003)), such as case study, problem-based
learning, and the fostering of learning communities in online contexts. For the most part,
these collaborative approaches remain defined within a technical-rational paradigm that
stresses subject matter or skill mastery. More expressive dimensions of adult learning, such as
fostering awareness of and reflecting on the process and dynamics of individual and group
learning remain underdeveloped or ignored by both researchers and practitioners. Yet, adult
learning principles and constructivist approaches stress the centrality of meaning-making to
learning and the dialectical relationship of the self of the learner with the content and context of learning (West, 2001). Process issues, however, are often difficult to discern even in face-to-face groups and can remain largely invisible in virtual, online contexts. The purpose of this paper is to explore the problem of group process in online learning, to
elaborate a deeper understanding of the role of process in fostering deep learning, and to
discuss pedagogical strategies that make more visible unconscious emotional processes and
dynamics associated with these deeper forms of adult learning
What Do We Really Mean By A “Qualitative” Study? An Analysis Of Qualitative Research In Adult And Continuing Education
Current approaches to qualitative research in adult and continuing education reflect widely
differing assumptions about what is meant by qualitative. To foster conversation in our field
around this question, we conducted an exploratory study of qualitative studies published over a
ten-year period in Adult Education Quarterly. Our findings suggest differing understandings of what it means to design, conduct, and report “qualitative research.” These understandings reflect the influence of differing paradigms on what qualitative research means and suggest implications for the field and for the training of future researchers.
From the early, pathbreaking studies in sociology and anthropology, qualitative research has
spread to other social science disciplines, such as social work, communication, and education
(Denzin & Lincoln, 1998a). Characterized by several historical moments, the evolution of
qualitative research in the social sciences reflects differing epistemological perspectives that stress fundamentally different views of what counts as knowledge and how we come to know.
Today, in adult and continuing education qualitative research represents a widely popular
approach to scholarly inquiry, particularly among doctoral students. A typical perusal through
adult education conference proceedings or mainstream journals in the field will clearly
demonstrate its pervasiveness within the scholarship of our field. Within this body of research we encounter many forms of questions, methods of data collection, analytic strategies, and interpretive lenses. With such variation, it is increasingly difficult to fully understand what
constitutes the “qualitative” aspect of the research being reported. To help foster reflection on and conversation around this question, we undertook this exploratory study to examine the paradigmatic assumptions reflected in published empirical studies that claim to be qualitative in nature
The Work, The Worker And The Machine: Learning Through Communities Of Practice In Manufacturing
This study examined the learning process associated with problem solving contexts among
manufacturing workers. Using a modified critical incident method, we interviewed twenty machine operators from three organizations about problems they encountered in work. The findings suggest that learning is mediated through a triadic, dialogical relationship of the worker, the work, and his or her machine. The ongoing process of becoming a machine operator is embedded in these relationships and within a broader community of practice.
Recent changes in the nature of work and the workplace are renewing emphasis on workrelated learning. Many of these changes are being implemented to help organizations remain
competitive. Organizations are using formal training programs to help their workers address this need. As Rowden (1966), suggests, “a literate, educated, inquisitive, problem solving workforce is essential to the survival and competitiveness of business and industry” (p.3). The U.S. industry spends more than $120 billion annually on formal training programs and related costs (Day, 1998). Yet, the effectiveness of such training programs remains in question. Only a small minority of workers regard the knowledge and skills they gained through employers’ training
programs as important (Livingstone, 2001). Furthermore, craftsman, laborers and operators are
not able to use their skills and abilities within their work and are dissatisfied with opportunities to improve their skills (NRC, 1999; Freeman, 1999). Such studies raise questions about the applicability of formal workplace education and training to what it is that workers need to know.
Nowhere is this problem more evident than in the relatively new area of training for problem
solving among front line manufacturing workers. As the limitations of formal training for problem
solving have become increasingly apparent, more attention has turned to informal learning in
the workplace and the role that the work context itself plays in developing requisite knowledge
and skills among manufacturing workers. In this study, we focus on workers’ experiences of
problems within the context of their work and how these contexts foster their learning and development
The Savior Image in Online Collaborative Learning: How Adult Learning Groups Manage Age-related Difference
This qualitative cross-case study examines how age-related differences are manifest and managed within online groups of adult learners. The findings suggest lack of traditional instruction in the PBL groups created a vacuum of authority, which they were unable to satisfactorily resolve
Mediating Meaning-Making: The Process of Symbolic Action in Transformative Pedagogy
Conditions for fostering transformative learning within the formal learning setting were examined. The paper focused on the role of the text and the use of symbols and images in construction of meanings associated with the content being studied
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