Conversations About Adult Learning In Our Complex World

We recognize that our society and demands for lifelong learning changes rapidly, and needs to continue to be rapidly effectively infused in changing forms into the teaching and learning process. Conversations about Adult Learning in Our Complex World focuses the study of adult learning to address the issues of living and learning within a complex world- the epitome of the 21st century. Readers will find that this book is valuable for a wide variety of professors, researchers, practitioners, and students in fields related to adult learning and adult education as it reveals emerging research and trends relevant for today and tomorrow. Moreover, this publication represents some of the most innovative and thoughtful scholarship resulting from the work of the Adult Higher Education Alliance and, arguably, the field of adult education. The book is arranged thematically in five sections, each one dealing with a domain where intercultural competence and other fundamental skills may improve the learning experiences for adult learners. The sections include, The Learning Environment and Authentic Teaching, Interculturally Competent Classroom Practices, Programming for Adults—Redesigning University to Serve Adult Learners, Professional Development, Teacher Training, and Leadership Development, and Meaningful Assessment of Programs for Adults.

This volume was first published by Inter-Disciplinary Press in 2014. Building Barriers and Bridges: Interculturalism in the 21st Century is a compilation of perspectives on the theme of Interculturalism and Identity by nineteen authors from thirteen countries on four continents. It represents a broad panorama of views on pivotal issues of identity, trans-and intercultural concepts, and cross-cultural community building. Presented in three parts: Culture and Identity; Constructing and Deconstructing Barriers; and Experienced-based Transformations, Building Barriers and Bridges moves from formal definitions to strategies to success stories in daily life around our globe. The book encompasses a broad array of perspectives in the social, the economic, the political, and the personal realm through more than scholarly evidence: One is invited to join a journey over the topography of identity and models for trans-cultural, intercultural, and cross-cultural community building by way of research, narrative, analyses of laws and structures, anecdotes, and first-person perspective historical accounts. Building Barriers and Bridges lets the reader arrive at common ground: one where Interculturalism is the crossing point for the individual, local groups, societies, and cultures. The forms of interactions and models, detailed by the authors, guide the contextualizing of approaches for identity and community building.

Andragogy may be defined as a scientific discipline for study of the research, theory, processes, technology, practice, and anything else of value and benefit including learning, teaching, instructing, guiding, leading, and modeling/exemplifying a way of life that would help to facilitate and bring adults to their full degree of humaneness. Andragogy is one part of the broader international field of adult education, human resource development, and lifelong learning, thus serving the advancement and connection needs of adult learners, organizational development, and lifelong learning in areas such as higher education, business, military, corporate training, healthcare, executive leadership, courtroom practice, religious life, and human resource development. Facilitating Adult and Organizational Learning Through Andragogy: A History, Philosophy, and Major Themes investigates the history, philosophy, and major themes of andragogy and how they may contribute to helping practitioners to design and facilitate adult and organizational learning. The book presents more than 500 documents that are examined through two different lenses. The first lens is the history and philosophy (or a chronological approach) of andragogy while the second lens takes a look at the major themes as categories of what the documents express. While encompassing the background, uses, and future of andragogy, this book is ideally intended for teachers, administrators, practitioners, stakeholders, researchers, academicians, and students.

Developing and Sustaining Adult Learners is the second volume in a series of scholarly publications associated with the annual Adult Higher Education Alliance (AHEA, The Alliance) conference. The title of this volume, derived from the theme of the 2012 conference co-sponsored by American Association of Adult and Continuing Education (AAACE) in Las Vegas, NV, encompasses significant issues and questions at the forefront of the field of adult education. At the conference, scholars, practitioners, and adult educators gave presentations and received feedback on some of the most significant and timely issues in their praxis. The Alliance, which values collaboration, transformative dialogue, and collegiality among professionals, considers this volume a continuation of those conversations as the presentations were expanded into chapters. We are glad that you are joining the conversation. This volume confirms not only that adult learning, higher education, and both fields of research have many contexts, but also that there is so much more to learn about different perspectives and opportunities for research and practice. Opportunities for symbiotic relationship abound. We hope that Developing and Sustaining Adult Learners will be a book that you pull off your bookshelf, or open in your e-reader, often. We know that as we engage in program and course planning, design and teaching, this book will provide needed refreshment and new vision. When research ideas seem too similar, this volume will also provide many seeds for new opportunities.

Building Sustainable Futures for Adult Learners is an edited and refereed collection of papers published in conjunction with the joint Adult Higher Educational Alliance (AHEA) and American Association of Adult and Continuing Education Conferences (AAACE). This book is the third in a series of scholarly publications associated with the annual AHEA conference. The book is arranged thematically according to the topics of submissions. Building Sustainable Futures is important because it fills a unique niche in the field of adult education, extends the scope of AHEA to a larger audience, and offers a current volume for scholars and practitioners based on both research and practice-based research.

The book, Teaching and Learning for Adult Skill Acquisition: Applying the Dreyfus and Dreyfus Model in Different Fields, will fill a unique niche in the field of adult, higher, and workforce education. It offers a current volume for scholars and practitioners based on both empirical studies and practice-based research on adult skill acquisition and development. Dreyfus and Dreyfus (1980, 1988, 2004, 2008) developed the novice to expert model of skill acquisition that illustrates growth over the course of a person’s career in a particular domain. The skill model highlights a learner’s movement across six levels of skill development: novice, advanced beginner, competent, proficient, expert, and mastery. This book will present examples of the application of the Dreyfus and Dreyfus model in different fields (i.e., health care, education, law enforcement, business, serious gaming, military, ethics training, etc.) providing insight into how practitioners can develop their skills in their particular domains and how educators can promote this development. This collection will be appropriate for a wide variety of professors, researchers, practitioners, and students in the field of adult, higher, and workforce education.

For faculty to advance their careers in higher education, publishing is essential. A competitive marketplace, strict research standards, and scrupulous tenure committees are all challenges academicians face in publishing their research and achieving tenure at their institutions. The Handbook of Research on Scholarly Publishing and Research Methods assists researchers in navigating the field of scholarly publishing through a careful analysis of multidisciplinary research topics and recent trends in the industry. With its broad, practical focus, this handbook is of particular use to researchers, scholars, professors, graduate students, and librarians.

Today’s ever-changing learning environment is characterized by the fast pace of technology that drives our society to move forward, and causes our knowledge to increase at an exponential rate. The need for in-depth research that is bound to generate new knowledge about curriculum and program development is becoming ever more relevant. Andragogical and Pedagogical Methods for Curriculum and Program Development offers an in-depth description of key terms and concepts related to curriculum and program development for both faculty and students, as well as program designers, instructional program developers, trainers, and librarians.