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.

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.

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.

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, and write up results. 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 identifies their elective studies. This course will help to ground ideas for the final project.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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