Many key concerns require engagement with science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) knowledge. Consider the complexity and nuance of climate change, energy policy, health and medicine, and data security. Informed voting or decision-making on such issues is no easy task; effective participation in our society requires considerable STEM capabilities. Education of all age groups is essential for a scientifically knowledgeable population involved in making democratic decisions about the future. Lindeman argued for adult education learning processes hand-in-hand with democratic processes, yet, once adults leave formal education, there are woefully few opportunities for the general public to learn or engage with STEM content. Adult education as a field has an important obligation to continue to support adults’ STEM learning. This obligation includes helping scientists and STEM educators better connect to adult learners in informal and nonformal settings. This paper explores adult STEM education for democratic participation. We begin with an overview of adult STEM education, followed by STEM knowledge and skills, with a focus on the utility and value of scientific processes and ways of thinking. We then continue with the function of STEM learning in democratic processes followed by frameworks of adult STEM, specifically scientific literacy and place-based education, and conclude with implications and recommendations for adult education practice.
Literature reviews map the research landscape in a topic area, identify gaps that new research can address, or frame a future research project. Literature reviews inform research and are integral to developing evidence-based policies. In adult education, systematic, critical, integrative, and historical reviews have been conducted. Scoping reviews, however, have yet to be widely adopted, although they can provide adult educators with a systematic process for reviewing a heterogeneous body of literature in adult education. This article explores why scoping reviews are a good fit for adult education and presents a systematic approach to conducting scoping reviews. The paper presents an expanded nine-step scoping review process that begins with the conception of an idea and ends with writing a manuscript for publication. The article discusses best practices, highlights challenges, and provides suggestions to help adult education researchers avoid common pitfalls when conducting scoping reviews.
This qualitative study examines student learning experiences toward a student-developed case study activity for online discussion guided by a three-tier case method model. Forty-five students were recruited from four online adult education courses. Analysis of students’ feedback shows that this activity leads to students’ positive learning experiences, including provoking critical thinking towards the discussion topic and providing unique resources for adult educators. The student-developed case study activity also helps establish a supportive peer relationship and engages students through analyzing a variety of student-developed cases, as well as interacting with the instructor and exchanging ideas with peers. This study furthermore indicates the potential usefulness of the proposed model as a guide for case study activities in the field of adult education and beyond.
Practitioners of adult education have a long history of teaching for social change. They may, however, be uncomfortable using quantitative methods to assess the impact of their learning activities, or they might lack access to statistical analysis software. Quantitative methods help the practitioner determine whether behavioral or attitudinal change among participants is more likely linked to their learning intervention than to chance. This is crucial information for practitioners to secure support or funding for their learning programs. We, therefore, created this guide to try and make quantitative methodologies for measuring social change accessible to practitioners through provision of instruction and resources and by using Microsoft Excel to conduct the analyses.
For over a century, community colleges have represented a crucial component of the American higher education system. In The Community’s College: The Pursuit of Democracy, Economic Development, and Success, Robert Pura and Tara Parker seek to refute any historically reductive conceptualizations of community colleges by providing an anecdotally driven rebranding of their subject as a consequential resource on numerous contemporaneous fronts. Pura, a former community college president, and Parker, a university educator and researcher, posit community colleges as fundamentally structured to aid against the throes of modern economic instability. The authors also envision community colleges as critical touchpoints for civic engagement and as the bastions of American democracy. Pura and Parker promptly outline their central themes in the book’s introductory section: community colleges are expected to engage a broad population of students with various vocational intentions, and yet these institutions remain comparatively underfunded and are unable to increase revenue through the mechanisms employed by four-year universities. Despite the challenges presented to these institutions, the authors assert that community colleges, particularly when fiscally solvent, are inherently positioned to promote educational equity to an even greater degree than their fouryear counterparts. Pura and Parker ultimately conclude that mission-driven leadership from an administrative level can be the catalyst for maximizing the potential of community colleges. The authors frame their narrative structure in each chapter through Pura’s experiential lens and Parker’s corresponding critical reflections. Parker’s sections add a particularly valuable contextualization of current disparities that exist in the higher education continuum. Every chapter concludes with provocative questions which are intended to generate discourse among community college personnel. The first four chapters provide readers with an overview of the philosophical framework and operational mechanics of community colleges. In these sections, Pura weaves personal anecdotes with seminal works from philosopher John Dewey to frame community colleges as entities that are inextricably linked with an idealized fulfillment of American democracy. Pura’s own leadership philosophy is most evident in Chapter 4, which
This reflexive autoethnography explores my experience of learning about myself as I experienced painting with watercolors. The focus of this research is understanding the interaction of identity, emotion, and belonging within the context of my own adult learning experience. The central emphasis seeks to offer contributing factors to adult learning in a context outside of formal learning opportunities, such as in university or school-based learning. I employed the reflexive process of autoethnography through journal entries, photographic documentation, and recalling to examine my own experience of learning in a non-academic setting. Various theories of self-identity, participation, and learning were explored to frame my own learning experience. This methodological approach allowed the pursuit of adult learning to emerge as something deeply intertwined with an individual's understanding of their identity, affective experiences, and sense of belonging. These considerations have capacity to further current conceptualizations of the process of adult learning experiences. Implications for facilitators of adult learning are offered.
Given changes in the 21st century workplace and expectations of employers, the notion that a bachelor's degree is the sole pathway to sustainable employment and a middle-class life in the United States has become obsolete. Many (e.g., Fleming, 2016) have argued that employers are now seeking employees with technical skills, digital literacy, and the ability to analyze and think critically, capabilities that do not necessarily require a postsecondary degree. Because of the lingering economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, including rising inflation globally, many adults, including English-language learners, are seeking short-term certificate or credentialing programs because their financial realities necessitate entering the workplace and earning a living wage as quickly as possible. The need for effective credentialing programs that are connected to market sector demands in the local community can foster productive partnerships among educational programs/institutions, local businesses, and governmental agencies on the municipal, state, and federal levels. Such partnerships often occur in the adult and continuing education areas of community colleges, and this case study focuses on the timely and financially responsive programming and practices at one community college (4C) in the northeastern United States. Key components of their programming that have produced successful outcomes have been highlighted as well as how they might be modified to address the marketplace and educational needs of adult learners in other areas of the United States and internationally.
A gap often exists between adult leadership learning and development practice. This gap seems particularly pronounced when considering training through a collective, practice, and constructionist theoretical lens. Leadership developers need to address this gap in their teaching methods if they are to support learning capable of responding to Complex Adaptive System (CAS) challenges. Drawing from a case-in-point (CIP) train-the-trainer experience hosted by the Kansas Leadership Center (KLC) this study will help trainers understand how primary and keying frames can be used to analyze how facilitators train trainers to use collective sensemaking for adult leadership learning. The case-in-point leadership development method is capable of moving adult leadership learners to make more systemic interpretations of leadership challenges and collectively interrogate cultural assumptions and identity.
Adult education has historically played a role in modern democracies in support of civic participation and democratic engagement. In the context of a relatively stable and unchanging society, learning "about" and participating "in" the democratic process allow for tweaking the mechanisms of democracy. In present times, taken for granted democratic practices inadequately address the spirit of democracy as social and environmental changes undergo rapid and unanticipated changes. In the context of a past, present, and futures, democracy's future/s is a vast, complex system that offers practical and inspirational hope to communal living. Anticipatory futures perspectives explore our relationships with the future beyond that of prediction to understand and develop human capacities to enact necessary and important changes for unknown and unanticipated futures. This paper explores the role of adult education in supporting a deep democracy approach for creating more sustainable, ecological, and just futures by developing our relationship with the broad spectrum of anticipatory futures.
This article reviews LGBTQ literature in US-based adult education journals and proceedings. Categories focused on workplace issues, identity, health, learning climate, educational methods, and research. Key themes included (1) harassment, isolation, and discrimination, (2) meaning-making in a heteronormative society, (3) a call for inclusion, and (4) education, training, and inclusive policies and acts. Based on the findings, implications for research and practice will be provided.
This special issue of Adult Learning emerges amid global trends of dedemocratization, corruption, fragmenting political order, and aggressive social and political polarization. It proposes frameworks, concepts, and approaches for imagining the role of Adult education in this challenging context. Historically, Adult education research and practice has interpreted itself as a beacon of principled democratic process, guided by the spirit of openness, access, and personal and social progress. As the recent Summit for Democracy called for participants to renew democracy at home and confront autocracy abroad, the editors and authors of this issue apply this framework of renewal to the research and practice of our field in this uncertain context (See (https://www.state. gov/summit-for-democracy/). Adult education for democracy is crucial (Lima, 2022). John Dewey (1916/1944) characterized democracy as “more than a form of government; it is primarily a mode of associated living, of conjoint communicated experience” (p. 87). He described the ideal conditions of democracy as requiring “a type of education which gives individuals a personal interest in social relationships and control, and the habits of mind which secure social changes without introducing disorder” (p. 99). Eduard Lindeman (1987), for example, stressed, that Adult education should be prepared, amongst other things, to “reveal to people the nature of those democratic disciplines which describe the thought and conduct of persons living within
Using structural regression analyses, data from the U.S. 2017 Program on International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) background survey were examined to test the effect of informal learning (observed through everyday activities, such as reading the newspaper or using the Internet to find information about issues) on civic engagement (observed through volunteerism, political self-efficacy, and social trust). Results showed a positive relationship between informal learning and civic engagement with ICT-related activities having the strongest effect. This effect was mediated by presence of a lifelong learning mindset (LLM) observed through traits related to learning motivation and persistence. Although a majority of respondents indicated agreement with LLM attitudes and behaviors, they also reported low frequencies of volunteerism and less agreement with political self-efficacy and social trust statements. The need for governments to provide meaningful opportunities for citizens to contribute their knowledge to the community, thus enabling a learning democracy, is discussed in light of these findings.
Democracy is not only a system of government, but also an overarching way of living together. It is through the social structures we live in and the resulting social relations, behaviors, and norms emanating from those structures, that we learn how to live together, democratically or otherwise. Adult education can promote the learning of democracy by helping people develop social structures that are democratic in form and function. Drawing on examples from Europe and the U.S., this article presents two such structures: (1) the system of voluntary associations in Germany; and (2) sociocracy as a form of democratic institutional governance. This article discusses how these structures can promote processes through which participants practice living democratically. Six principles for adult civic learning are thus derived: Inclusivity, Horizontal Relationships, Polycentricity, Confluence of Expert and Amateur, Interdependence between Specific Situations and Larger Contexts, and the Reciprocal Nature of Civic Learning and Solidarity.
This review study aims to understand the concept of adults' digital health literacy (DHL), a recently emerging significant concept but still confused. For this, we seek to find the core competencies of digital health literacy by comparing those of existing relevant literacy concepts (i.e., health literacy and digital literacy). We identified seven core competencies of DHL across analytical, context-specific, and socioecological aspects: (a) traditional literacy, (b) information literacy, (c) media literacy, (d) health-related literacy, (e) technology literacy, (f) scientific literacy, and (g) socioecological nature. We also found the shared core aspects among DHL and digital and health literacies. The findings of this study contributed not only to grasping the concept of digital health literacy better but also to providing a fundamental basis for programs to enhance the DHL of adults. This article concludes with discussions about the findings and practical and academic implications.
This paper reflects on Freire's discourse on liberating education and adult educators' educational roles with community groups in transforming communities. Mineral-rich communities in Ghana are in danger of losing water bodies, rich arable lands, and forest vegetation cover through "galamsey," which refers to the gathering of rich mineral resources illegally for sale. Yet the fourth Industrial Revolution Age positions adult educators strategically in making learning the needed skill among community groups to improve communities. This qualitative study adopted a convenience sampling procedure to select and interview eight graduate students in a higher education institution (HEI) in Ghana. Data were analyzed using thematic and narrative approaches. The results indicate that adult educators' educational roles are empowering, yet they should employ more dialogical, story-telling, and conversational approaches; and must listen to community members' views on community development programs. The study concludes that adult educators drive community development programs via inclusiveness and networks to make communities sustainable.
This study explores the potential of ChatGPT as a virtual tutor to facilitate self-directed learning (SDL) among adult learners in asynchronous online contexts. Although SDL has been identified as a critical skill, factors such as the lack of skills to find resources and the absence of a supportive learning environment could impede adult learners' ability to engage in SDL. By harnessing the power of AI, ChatGPT can assist adult learners in setting learning goals, locating available resources, designing personalized learning plans, monitoring their performance, and reflecting on their learning experiences, ultimately leading to the effective completion of SDL. This study also discusses several existing limitations and challenges, including the need for instructors to provide guidance on creating prompts to use ChatGPT effectively, the possibility of learners becoming reliant on ChatGPT, the significance of institutions to provide policies of proper use of ChatGPT, and the necessary for AI developers to continuously improve the algorithms and data used by the system to minimize the likelihood of providing incorrect and irrelevant information. Additionally, some questions are raised regarding the balance between the use of ChatGPT and engagement with human instructors to ensure optimal learning outcomes. This study aims to enlighten adult educators and practitioners towards the integration of ChatGPT in asynchronous online learning to facilitate adult learning.
Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) is a simulated global exchange experience that utilizes technology to bridge the gap between classrooms worldwide. Past research suggests that COIL may be useful in facilitating intercultural communication effectiveness and cultural humility for adult learners. As such, this quantitative study sought to examine the effects of a COIL experience that connected adult learners in the United States and Brazil on their intercultural effectiveness and cultural humility. Two instruments were used to collect data, including the Cultural Humility Scale and Intercultural Effectiveness Scale before and after the COIL experience. Data analyses revealed statistically significant increases in participants' intercultural effectiveness and cultural humility following the COIL experience. These findings provided insights into the effects of COIL on the intercultural effectiveness and cultural humility of adult learners. They also informed andragogical practices for cultivating attitudes, skills, and behaviors for intercultural interactions among adult learners in educational and other professional settings. However, further research on the outcomes of COIL is beneficial.
