Adult Learning and Development

If your goal is to teach adults in business training programs, adult education classes, or at the college level, then this fully online self designed degree program is for you. Adults have unique qualities, motivations, and capabilities. Learn to leverage these into powerful adult learning programs. The courses in this program help you understand adult learning styles and will guide you through the process of creating successful programs for adult learners. You will learn a framework for understanding and responding to the unique needs of adult learners.

The adult learning program provides you with:

An increased understanding of adult development
Strategies for teaching adults and facilitating adult learning
Models for creating, sustaining, and evaluating adult programming

Programs of study are created on an individual basis and based on previously completed coursework and experience.

Master’s Core Component – 9 credits
3

ED 5000 Social Behavior in a Diverse Society

Seeks to examine the manner in which the behavior, feelings, or thoughts of one individual are influenced by the behavior or characteristics of others. Topics to be considered include social perception, attitudes, gender, social cognition, conflict, social influence, intercultural awareness, prejudice, discrimination, aggression, and group behavior. Fall, spring, and summer.
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3

ED 5005 Social Psychology and Mythology across Cultures

This course will provide an in-depth study of the social/cultural basis of behavior and examine the role of mythology as a vehicle for intrapersonal and interpersonal understanding. The major theoretical, empirical, and applied lines of work in the following topics in contemporary social psychology will be explored, including social cognition, interpersonal perception, attitudes, stereotyping and prejudice, the self, and interpersonal and group relations. Mythology will be employed as a mechanism for cross-cultural comparison and as a unifying construct to enhance multicultural understanding.
3

ED 5010 Philosophy, Ethics, and Education

A study of the historical, philosophical, and social-philosophic foundations of education. Emphasis is placed upon the ideas of the classical, medieval, Enlightenment, and post-Enlightenment periods that have influenced types of American educational systems relative to their mission and purpose. Analysis of how these systems have defined ethics and the characteristics of the virtuous person.
3

ED 5030 Research Design

Knowledge and understanding of the commonly accepted research designs. Study of research instruments and statistics used in educational research. Wide reading in various types of research design. Critical analysis of research design.

Note: The core courses can be taken online or transferred from an accredited institution.

Specialization Component– 21 credits
3

AL 5060 Psychology of Adulthood

This course takes a life-span developmental approach to adulthood in contemporary American society and includes the major theoretical perspectives regarding developmental transitions and age-related tasks. The course seeks to acquaint the student with seven broad themes of adult development: 1. Theory; 2. Research; 3. Changes that occur within oneself throughout adulthood - physical, cognitive, health, social; 4. Personality characteristics; 5. Meaning in life; 6. Stages and pointers for a successful journey; 7. Death and dying. Students use their own life experiences as a context for creating understanding in these seven areas.
3

AL 5070 Learning in Adulthood

The course focuses on the nature and process of learning in adulthood, especially in formal learning situations in business, industry, adult basic education, and adult higher education. Also emphasizes the concept of learning how to learn and the ways in which adults function in independent learning situations. We will examine theory, research, and practice from several different discipline perspectives to answer the question: "How do adults learn?"
3

AL 5080 Teaching Adults

This course builds on adult learning theory and examines the role of the instructor as the facilitator of learning. Major focus is on incorporating strategies for encouraging active learning, collaboration, self-directed learning, and self assessment by learners into a variety of learning situations. Class participants will be involved in demonstrating teaching methodologies and receiving feedback from group members.
3

ED 5140 Assessment Principles and Practices

The emphasis throughout this course is on the practical application of appraisal techniques in education. Critical concepts related to assessment and the integration of assessment into teaching and learning include: the role of assessment in teaching, how validity is determined, factors influencing reliability, avoiding stereotypes, understanding and using numerical data, using standardized assessment to improve instruction, and ideas and strategies for mining and reporting assessment data.
3

AL 5090 Program Design and Evaluation

This course addresses a broad spectrum of program development ranging from an individual course to a complete program of major learning activities conducted over a period of time. Participants will design programs based on their own special interests, for example, adult higher education, business and industry training, adult basic education, etc. Major emphasis will also be placed on designing program evaluations tailored to meet specified goals.
3

AL 5140 The Learning Workplace

This course deals with the professional learning needs and priorities of the workplace. It examines the variety of ways in which employees and their managers gain new knowledge and skills as part of their professional growth. Particular emphasis is given to the concept of the learning organization: its characteristics, how the concept of 'learning organization' is implemented in different types of organizations, the benefits of a learning organization to both the employee and the organization, and the role that the professional educator or trainer plays in building a learning organization. Also included is the role knowledge management plays in the development of the learning organization.
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3

OH 5300 Work as a Personal Journey

This course offers an exploration of the personal, interpersonal and transpersonal elements of work and personal growth. Through varied learning methods, participants will attend to the ways in which occupations transform us and how we transform our work to support personal development. Learning will extend to the ways in which we, as followers and leaders, can cooperate to support these synchronous and reciprocal processes creatively and with intention.
3

Elective Course

Capstone Experience – 3 credits
3

ED 6900 Graduate Capstone Project

A culminating, supervised project or practicum experience in a work environment or cooperating institution or agency. The purpose is to apply knowledge learned in previous coursework to the work environment or through an approved project. The candidate works with a field supervisor on site and presents their final product to PSU faculty. Students who anticipate working on their project for more than one term should register for the appropriate number of credits in each term so that they remain registered throughout the course of the project. Students should anticipate planning approximately 40 hours of work for each credit to be earned and the number of credits to be earned in total must be approved by their advisor and noted on their program contract. The candidate must submit a Graduate Capstone Project form with their registration and the Capstone Project must be approved by the advisor and Associate Vice President for Graduate Studies.
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3

ED 5430 Internship in College Teaching

Supervised internship in the development of a first-teaching field under the mentorship of an assigned faculty member. Development of a learning framework for teaching at the post-secondary level with attention to models of instruction, learning styles and needs of the college student and non-traditional learner. Presentation of course syllabus, course topics and concept lectures, course projects, tests and related materials. May be repeated with permission of instructor. Fall and offered on demand.