ADLC: Adult Learning (Graduate)

ADLC 6005  Rethinking Experience & Learning in Adulthood  (3 Credits)  

Course readings and assignments bring students' experiential learning and professional practice into dialogue with academic and scholarly approaches to adult learning. Students engage with theories of experiential learning, explore the multiple social locations within which adult education is practiced, and analyze debates concerning the relationship between experiential and formal learning. Students read broadly in the field, hone graduate level skills of academic and digital literacy, and work via cohort learning and e-portfolios. This course was previously ADL-680100.

ADLC 6010  Learning & Development in Contemporary Adulthood  (3 Credits)  

This course, taken in the first year in the Master of Arts in Adult Learning program, explores the role of adult development in adult learning. Students will consider questions about whether, and how, different stages of the adult life cycle affect learning and whether, and how, learning impacts development. They will also search the library and develop an empirical research proposal that, if implemented, tests a hypothesis about adult learning and development. This course was previously ADL-680101.

ADLC 6015  Strategies for Effective Adult Learning  (3 Credits)  

Grounded in theoretical underpinnings of learning and development, students acquire an understanding of the principles and theories of effective design, pedagogy, and curriculum for face-to-face, technology mediated and blended learning environments. Student’s projects within the course are based on individual goals and will focus on various pedagogical approaches and learning design methodologies, with multiple opportunities to investigate a range of information and communication technologies.

ADLC 6020  Approaches to Critical Inquiry & Research  (3 Credits)  

This course focuses on understanding critical and practical connections between research and practice in the field of adult education. Through readings and mini research activities, students will unpack how understanding different types of research can help to ground one’s practice and move it forward. Students will understand their practice through the lens of a researcher, conduct a mini research project, write up results and possibly use this proposal as the basis of their final project. In this course, students identify topics for research, conduct literature reviews, and identify research methods relevant to their topics, and produce a research proposal. They then draw on the insights gained in the previous three core courses to articulate the focus of their degree. They draft a degree program rationale that identify their elective studies and submit at the end of the course for approval. Students will also submit their degree rationale which will provide them a roadmap of their courses in this program. This course was previously ADL-680103.

ADLC 6025  Activist Learning & Social Movements in Adult Education  (3 Credits)  

This course will explore the field’s relationship to emancipatory education and social movements. The course will also examine the history that connects adult education to social justice. Finally, the course will look at contemporary social movements (both international and national) and the important impact of popular education within those movements. In this course we will examine what activism has meant historically in this country and elsewhere in the world. We will also look at some historical and current examples of social movements and their implications. We will define activism through examples as well as case studies and explore how people can collectively accomplish social change in society. The course will use mainly a sociological lens to grapple with intersectionalities around theories grounded in social movements. This course was previously ADL-680115.

ADLC 6030  Issues in Contemporary Higher Education  (3 Credits)  

This course explores the changing nature and function of higher education institutions in a world where the majority of students are adult learners, and as high school graduating classes shrink, institutions will need to increasingly attract adult learners to maintain their enrollments. This course will also focus on critiques of contemporary high education as well as the changing demands on post-secondary graduates. The course will also explore the internal higher education struggle between mission driven versus market driven. This course was previously ADL-680111.

ADLC 6031  Administration and Leadership in Higher Education  (3 Credits)  

This course is designed to examine organizational theory, models, polices, governance and management processes, leadership perspectives and leadership theory. A review of research and new conceptual perspectives are included. This course serves as an introduction to the academic study of leadership on university campuses. It assumes some general exposure either to the theoretical concepts and/or the actual practice of leadership. It is not intended for leadership development

ADLC 6032  Economics and Finance in Higher Education  (3 Credits)  

The purpose of this course is to understand the concepts related to higher education finance and its impact upon the higher education system in the United States. Students will be introduced to financial, economic, and budgetary issues within higher education. The primary focus is on post-secondary education where the primary political, economic, and social issues influencing higher education finance are examined. Students will examine revenue streams and expenditure patterns, survey tuition and financial aid policies, develop the ability to examine and analyze financial information, and assess the budget as an instrument of strategic planning, resource allocation, and control. This course is grounded in literature, theories, and examples specific to higher education.

ADLC 6034  History and Philosophy of Higher Education  (3 Credits)  

This course is designed for current and prospective faculty, administrators, staff, and community members seeking to learn about the American higher education system. The topics addressed include the history, recent developments, and strategies for future management and administration, finance, organization, governance, and the mission and role of higher education in American society.

ADLC 6035  Administering Adult Learning Programs: Decision Making Evaluation & Financing  (3 Credits)  

Education and training professionals are introduced to the process of making decisions about developing programs for adults in a variety of settings of practice. Making good decisions about the design of programs involves most importantly understanding the needs and motivations of the learners, but also means making data informed decisions, including critiquing and evaluating assessment and research findings, choosing effective instructional strategies and technologies, making credible arguments for the need and projecting a formal approach for project planning, evaluation and financing. Administrators also effectively manage the human resources of the organization. Current practices will be reviewed, including the use of technology applications for management of these processes. Educators will review best practices and will initiate a proposal for a new program or propose a revision to a program. This course was previously ADL 680116.

ADLC 6036  Student Affairs Theory and Practice  (3 Credits)  

In this course students explore the theory and practice of college student affairs, covering the role, scope, structures, and functions within American higher education, along with the roles and responsibilities of the practitioner. Students will examine their own purpose, professional identity, practice and professional competence. Topics include the role student affairs in enhancing the growth and development of all students an increasingly complex and diverse higher education system, accountability for student affairs outcomes, and emerging issues and models for student affairs.

ADLC 6040  Learning & Education in the Workplace  (3 Credits)  

The changing nature of work has created the need for lifelong learning in the workplace at all levels of the organization. Workforce development needs range across issues such as literacy, management development, the cultural diversity of the workplace, internationalism and the changes brought about by technological changes. Students explore learning at the workplace from several vantage points: human resource management, work satisfactions and personal development, and public policy, and economic competitiveness. The course also takes a critical historical view of the relationship between knowledge, power, and workplace organization. Following general readings and assignments in which a variety of perspectives are brought into dialogue, students have the opportunity to focus on the needs for education and training in their own workplace. This course was previously ADL-680107.

ADLC 6045  Learning as Transformation  (3 Credits)  

The goal of this elective is to learn about and critically examine various ideas and arguments about "learning as transformation," that is, about one powerful educational outcome: change. The study will have three basic components. The first will focus on theories of transformational learning as set out in the work of educators such as Mezirow, Freire and Hooks. The second will critically examine various efforts to apply these theories to an array of sites of educational practice. And in the third component, students will be asked to use what they have learned about the possibilities, challenges and drawbacks to learning-as-transformation to explore a topic/question/problem relevant to their ongoing work. At the heart of this elective will be a basic question: What are the ripple effects of suggesting that adult learning is intimately tied to change?

ADLC 6050  Learning Theory & Practice in Adult Education  (3 Credits)  

This course explores established and emergent theories about learning in greater depth. This will include analysis of learning theories and critiques and also applications of theory to practices in teaching or learner support services. This course will examine learning theory as applied in face to face or technology mediated environments. There will be several synchronous sessions which will be recorded.

ADLC 6055  Organizational Development and Change  (3 Credits)  

This course examines the specific body of knowledge that relates to organization development and change such as an historical perspective, theoretical foundations, models and areas of practice (application), its purpose and specific issues or challenges related to the function of those practicing in the field, with an emphasis on the role of adult learning. Specifically, students will study an overview of organization development and change; process of organization development; human process, techno-structural and human resource management interventions; and the future direction of organization development. This course was previously ADL-680104.

ADLC 6060  Philosophical Foundations of Adult Learning  (3 Credits)  

This course will reflect on the ways in which practitioners think about their practice as being part of a larger philosophy. Students will look at six major schools of philosophy in the adult education field and place them in a context of their own site of practice, reflecting upon the origins and reasons behind the way they do things, and also to bring some clarity and purpose to their everyday activities. Students will identify aspects of their practice which are situated in various schools and the implications and worldviews undergirding these schools. This course is intended to support students understanding the different philosophical schools of adult learning and find their place within them. By the end of this course, students should be able to differentiate among various philosophical schools of thought which underline current adult education practice, and begin to formulate a personal philosophy of adult education. Students should also begin to connect adult education philosophies to broader intellectual movements (and situate themselves within those). Students should also begin making connections between various course content and their philosophical underpinnings. This course was previously ADL-680109.

ADLC 6065  Racialized Narrative and Adult Education  (3 Credits)  

This course will support students in exploring the relationship between critical race theory and adult education. The course will explore the historical development of CRT, from Critical Legal Studies to how it is used in adult education. A key focus of this course is to understand CRT as a theoretical framework, to examine its utility, and consider its potential for student researcher and practice. In addition, the course examines the ways race and education have been constructed in the United States and interrogate questions of color-blindness. The course will examine educational inequalities, as framed through this theory, in the interest of building more just frameworks that uncover oppressive educational practices and philosophies. This course was previously ADL-680120.

ADLC 6070  Adult Learners in the Community College  (3 Credits)  

This course explores the unique role of the community college in serving adult learners. Students examine these complex institutions, their role and contributions in the community and in serving adult learners. Students consider the resources required to serve the wide range of students who enroll in community college. The course will consider issues of administration, faculty, instruction and student services- including information technology support. This course was previously ADL-680112.

ADLC 6075  Adult Literacy & Social Change  (3 Credits)  

In this course, students will be introduced to the field of adult literacy and explore some of the current themes and issues within the field. Students will read, write about, and discuss who adult literacy students are, our own and society’s assumptions about adult literacy, and strategies and philosophies of teaching. Students will volunteer in a community based program as a way to gain experience in the field. The focus of the course moves between broader issues of literacy, power, privilege, and educational theory (along with more specific questions and issues students encounter in their sites of practice). This course is intended to be a collaborative project where we share, question, and explore issues in the field based on the readings, teaching, and other work we have completed together. This course was previously ADL-680105.

ADLC 6080  Higher Education for Diverse and Adult Learners  (3 Credits)  

Students examine the range of issues for colleges supporting diverse and adult learners. Students will examine frameworks within which decisions about interventions for student success must be made. Within the larger context of the national demographics and institutional constraints, students will gain experience in analysis and decision-making around cases designed to provoke thoughtful consideration of salient issues.

ADLC 6085  Comparative & International Education  (3 Credits)  

Comparative and international education (CIE) is a field that allows educational researchers and practitioners to study theories and methods around the world while also considering connections between the local and the global. This course provides an introduction to the field, and it is available as an elective for all ESC graduate education programs involving degree planning. CIE is useful to all educators because it broadens one’s perspective on how a theory, policy, or practice might have similar or different manifestations in another nation or culture. The field involves ongoing study of how local and global patterns of education interact. It examines the social, political, and economic contexts of education from international and intercultural perspectives. As humans continue in the process of globalization, the field of CIE will grow in importance for all in educational professions. This course was previously ADL-680119.

ADLC 6090  Critical Approaches to Adult Learning  (3 Credits)  

Critical Approaches to Adult Learning is designed to familiarize students with a wide range of contemporary theories of adult learning. Moving beyond the conventional theories that have characterized the field of adult learning, the course focuses on the following topics: the relevance for adult learning of theorists such as Jurgen Habermas and Michel Foucault; feminist approaches to experience and knowledge; and the critique of neoliberalism in adult learning. This course will be of value to students who wish to deepen their theoretical understanding of adult learning and who wish to explore the relevance of contemporary theory to the field. Following a series of discussions and papers on each of the above topics, students will have the opportunity to do further research on a specific topic of their choice. This course was previously ADL-680114.

ADLC 6095  Human Resource Development  (3 Credits)  

Human Resource Development (HRD) is comprised of planned, structured, institutionally sponsored initiatives designed to facilitate individual, group and organizational learning and growth. These initiatives include skills training, career development, leadership development, and organizational development. Students will learn about each one of these aspects of HRD, and they will learn how these aspects interrelate to form an HRD strategy. This course takes both a practical stance, as well as a critical stance. This means that students will come away from the course with the ability to article the meaning, purpose, and activities of HRD. Additionally, students will acquire a multifaceted understanding of HRD’s evolution, which has not been without ambiguity and debate. Students learn about the history of the field, key theorists and debates in the field, and they will be able to identify HRD initiatives within their own professional experiences in order to connect theory with application. This course was previously ADL-680113.

ADLC 6105  Career Skills Management: Training and Development  (3 Credits)  

There is a growing understanding of the necessity to embed career competencies, individual skills management, and lifelong learning into the design of educational and workforce development programs. The course goal is to guide the student through the development and implementation of a career self-management project aimed at identifying, benchmarking, evaluating, peer-reviewing, documenting, presenting, and improving job-related skills. Throughout the course, students will learn how to use contemporary learning theories and marketing tools and techniques for effective skill-building, self-development, and self-promotion. Besides career builders, this course will also be beneficial for career coaches, advisors, managers, and policy makers, as it is research-based and can provide insights into recent trends in workforce development in a global context in the post-pandemic world.

ADLC 6122  Mentoring Adult Learners  (3 Credits)  

Mentoring will be explored as it is used in various practice areas of adult education. This study will explore some of the ways in which mentoring has been defined, described, used and critically evaluated. Distinctive Mentoring approaches in practice will be shared, analyzed and/or promoted as an approach for adult learners in different learning environments.

ADLC 6125  Practicum in Adult Learning  (3 Credits)  

Students have the opportunity to work with advisors to set-up a practicum in a work setting of his or her choice, including areas such as college teaching assistants, student services, training and development areas, adult basic education settings. Planning must begin at least one term in advance with the advisor.

ADLC 6996  Special Topics in ADLC  (3 Credits)  

The content of this course will vary by term and section. Students may repeat this course for credit as long as the topic differs. Please refer to the Term Guide for course topic offerings.

ADLC 6998  Individualized Studies in Adult Learning (ADLC)  (1-8 Credits)  

Students have the opportunity to develop individualized studies with their mentor/advisor in Adult Learning (ADLC). Please contact your mentor/advisor for more details.

ADLC 7010  Project Design  (3 Credits)  

This course is designed to guide you through the development of a capstone project. The final project is completed over a period of two terms, with the final project capstone proposal developed in one term and the development of the activity in the second. This course deals with the development of a final project capstone proposal for capstone project, which could be a professional project, practicum or a position paper. It assumes ability to identify and locate literature in the field, along with familiarity with research methods and theoretical approaches to inquiry.

ADLC 7015  Final Project  (3 Credits)  

This is the capstone course in the MA Adult Education program. It is designed to guide you through the capstone project that was developed in Project Design. The final project is completed over a period of two terms, with the final project proposal developed in Project Design. The implementation of the proposal takes place in this course. Registration must be completed through your program mentor. Final Project cannot be taken concurrently with Project Design. Prerequisites: ADLC 6005, ADLC 6010 and ADLC 6015 with a grade of C or better ADLC 6020 and ADLC 7010 with a grade of B or better.

ADLC 7998  Individualized Studies in Adult Learning (ADLC)  (1-8 Credits)  

Students have the opportunity to develop individualized studies with their mentor/advisor in Adult Learning (ADLC). Please contact your mentor/advisor for more details.