Staying Engaged After Retirement: History as a Focal Point

The author uses his long interest in history to serve as a foundation for an active and fulfilling retirement after completing a career as a professor of adult education

Pictorial Life Review of Roger Hiemstra

This is a life review of Professor Roger Hiemstra as shown through photos during his seven decades. Included within is a link to written biographical information

Are young professionals engaging in self-planned learning projects? Twenty-first century implications for self-directed learning among post-four-year undergraduate students

The combination of 21st century technological advancements and globalization has dramatically increased the rate at which information is available to the individual adult learner. Furthermore, the “knowledge society” in which we currently live demands that adults participate in lifelong learning in order to survive professionally, personally, and socially. Recent research has identified self-directed learning as a feasible vehicle for navigating 21st century complexities; however, there is limited data on the specific population that includes the post-four-year undergraduate student. The purpose of this study is to determine if young professionals are taking a self-directed approach towards identifying their learning needs, planning learning goals, and following through with learning initiatives to enhance their personal and/or professional development. The qualitative study surveys a group of 11 post-four-year undergraduate students who have obtained bachelor degrees. The study was conducted using Allen Tough’s (1971) Learning Project Interview Protocol which includes probing questions that help the participant think across the span of a 12 month period about a variety of projects that could be deemed as learning projects. Accompanying the protocol is a survey that further assesses the attitudes that young professionals have toward the value of self-directed learning in the 21st century. The culminating study provides implications for encouraging and improving self-directed learning among the researched population in undergraduate programs and organizational environments

Reframing the Meaning of Self-Directed Learning: An Updated Modeltt

Over the past several decades, self-directed learning (SDL) has been one of the most active areas of inquiry within adult education and learning. Several studies have identified trends in this body of knowledge (e.g., Brockett, Stockdale, Fogerson, Cox, Canipe, Chuprina, Donaghy, & Chadwell, 2001; Conner, Carter, Dieffenderfer, & Brockett, 2009; Kirk, Shih, Holt, Smeltzer, & Brockett, 2012). Since 1987, an international symposium has been held annually to share the latest thinking about SDL theory, research, and practice. In 2002 the International Journal of Self-Directed Learning also began publication

Can They Teach? A Look at How Professors Learn To Educate

The purpose of this research project was to examine ways in which higher education professors are trained to teach. Eight professors from a small, liberal arts college in the northeast, who were also recipients of the college’s annual Teacher of the Year award, were observed in the classroom and interviewed about their educational training and background. By following the strategies of inductive reasoning and synthesizing these professors’ experiences and reflections, The author determined that many professors do not receive formal teaching training. The majority of the professors claimed to have learned to teach by trial and error and by emulating their favorite teachers’ approaches and tactics. Even so, it took years of trial and error for many to learn the logistics of teaching at the college level. Given the characteristics of the current millennial college student and the increasing cost of higher education, it is more necessary than ever for professors to engage in some form of educational training to increase the students’ value of education. By examining the ethics of these professors and their classroom approaches, the author recommends that the most effective way to train college professors how to teach is to design a training program or orientation experience grounded in adult education theory. Because research suggests most college students are developmentally adults and the fact that the successful professors observed in this study already use some adult education theory in their classrooms, it seems only logical to incorporate adult education theory into a training program for future professors

Barrier Tissue Macrophages: Functional Adaptation to Environmental Challenges

Macrophages are found throughout the body, where they have crucial roles in tissue development, homeostasis and remodeling, as well as being sentinels of the innate immune system that can contribute to protective immunity and inflammation. Barrier tissues, such as the intestine, lung, skin and liver, are exposed constantly to the outside world, which places special demands on resident cell populations such as macrophages. Here we review the mounting evidence that although macrophages in different barrier tissues may be derived from distinct progenitors, their highly specific properties are shaped by the local environment, which allows them to adapt precisely to the needs of their anatomical niche. We discuss the properties of macrophages in steady-state barrier tissues, outline the factors that shape their differentiation and behavior and describe how macrophages change during protective immunity and inflammation

Andragogy: A discussion about a new concept in adult education

A 30 minutes television program in which Dr. Hiemstra interviews Dr. Malcolm Knowles about the theory of Andragogy that served as the basis for his book The Modern Practice of Adult Education

Interview of Roger Hiemstra by Patricia Maher

This is an interview of Dr. Roger Hiemstra by Dr. Patricia Maher as part of her 2002 dissertation entitled, An analysis of the academic field of adult education: An emic perspective based on dialogue with senior adult educators