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Challenges in Adult Learning (In Honor of the late Wales Brown 15’, 18’) A Joint Deliberative Conversation Guiding Document By: Dr. Rhianna Rogers (Buffalo Faculty) and Anita Brown (College Career Development Coordinator)Pictured: Wales Brown 15’ & 18’ (left) and Dean of Students Lisa D’Adamo-Weinstein (right) In Honor of the late Wales BrownWales Brown persevered through Associate Bachelor's and Master's degrees while employed as a parent educator in Schenectady.? Diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, Brown described himself as a gay, disabled single father. Wales Brown died after a brief illness and before he knew he received the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence for his pioneering work nationally and locally working with leadership and parent education. Wales advocated in his Masters of Adult Education degree and certificate in learning and educational technologies for the importance of social and peer-to-peer engagement locally or through technology for adult students and for parents in their communities.What are Deliberative Conversations? Deliberative Conversations at SUNY Empire grew out of a partnership between the college’s Division of Student Affairs and the Buffalo Project. These conversations are an effort to increase cultural awareness, interaction and discussion among students, faculty, and staff around difficult topics. The uniqueness of the Deliberative Conversations format is that it is meant to intentionally bring together individuals who represent diverse perspectives around a topic; sometimes difficult or controversial, to advocate for tangible, joint solutions that give a voice to all invested in the conversation. R. Rogers Framing Discussion – How Can you Become a Successful Adult Learner? For the past several decades, scholars and university administrators have contemplated how to make higher education more open, accessible, and inclusive to a wider population of potential students. In recent years, the push to graduate a more diverse population has taken on new urgency, as American colleges and universities are experiencing a dramatic shift in learner demographics (i.e., the rise of adult, nontraditional students). Scholar David Scobey’s 2018 talk entitled The Crossroads of Change: Why Adult Learners Are So Important to the Future of Higher Education (and Vice Versa) suggests that this emerging student population requires colleges and universities to reconsider the ways in which they engage 21st century students. As Scobey stated:…nontraditional students – this new majority – is incredibly diverse in age and role; they are veterans, they are formerly incarcerated citizens, one out of four are parents, and many are workers looking for advancement. Across these categories, students of color tend to be more highly represented in proportion to white students, but there are significant numbers of nontraditional students across all gender and ethno-racial categories (Scobey, 2018.)Given the historical focus on learning pedagogies related to traditional aged students in most colleges and universities, many barriers exist for nontraditional students in higher education. Family obligations, work responsibilities, limitations on course modalities and evening classes, lack of supports and programming for working adults and parents, the rising cost of courses and textbooks, the decreased access to diverse funding opportunities as well as other socio-economic and socio-cultural limitations have made obtaining a degree even more difficult for adult learners. So what can we do to help support this “new majority”? Arguably, understanding how nontraditional students engage in the learning process is a critical component of recruitment and retention in today’s higher education landscape. The premise of Scobey’s talk, that is, the need for increased focus on the adult learner in 21st century higher education, challenges colleges and universities to reconsider the tools and resources that will make this population successful in the years to come. This conversations offers a few strategies in support of this premise. Scobey’s Materials and Discussion OutcomesAdult learners are known by a wide variety of names — including non-traditional students, adult students, returning adults, adult returners, mature learners and many more — and they have an even wider variety of cultural and educational backgrounds, abilities, responsibilities and experiences. With this frame in mind, students will be engaging with Dr. David Scobey 2018 presentation materials, located here: framing this conversation we hope students answer the following questions:Question #1: What are your biggest obstacles as adult learners?Research indicates that adult students are confronted with time management, funding/financial barriers, work/life balances, family commitments, and re-adjusting to a student mindset (Rogers et al., 2019; Stevens, 2018). How do you see these impacting you? Are there others that we should consider?Question #2: What things do you think a college should do to support you as an adult learner? What strategies have you created that have made you successful? Are there aspects of education that you feel hinder your ability to success (e.g., technologies, learning formats, textbooks, or other elements of the college infrastructure?) Question #3: If you could envision the perfect college for adults, what would it be?Do you foresee aspects of college that should change moving into the 21st century and beyond (specific trainings or other things?)Student Academic Conference (StAC) Student Discussion Issues and Solutions:ISSUE: Students are anxious about the website and where to location information. Would like a quick, FAQ for most common questions (Moodle Tutorials, Clubs, Events and Student Research and Publication)SOLUTION#1: Moodle : Using LEARNscape for Help with Moodle – Please follow each of the following links:Intro to Moodle: Training Course: an Assignment:? to Your Courses:?: Clubs/Events: Many events and activities at the college, including how to create clubs, is included on the Student Affairs website here #3: Research and Publications Many faculty and staff engage in research. Consider asking your faculty if they are working on projects and see if you can join.Join the Buffalo Project: For example, I encourage students to join my project, the Buffalo Project, which is a longitudinal study of students’ perception of college culture. This project spans the entire state, so feel free to reach out if you want join! Link about the project here: : Students DO NOT feel overwhelmed by emails, they universally stated “please send more!”SOLUTIONS: College is looking into issues with esc.edu emails. Students should notify the college if they are not receive emails or have updated/changed their email address.REQUEST: Students would like a newsletter that includes colleges events for that monthREQUEST: Students would like the SAC representatives to send out monthly emails about activities in their regionREQUEST: Students requested that Student Services send out more emails and update elements of their website regularly with engagement eventsREQUEST: Students would like their communities to be labeled based on importance (high priority, events, financial aid, registration) and have affiliated icons to distinguish between themREQUEST: Students would like the subject line in the email to be clear so that they can prioritize which emails at the college are the most importantISSUE: Students felt, as adult learners, they do not understand the language of collegeWhat do all the acronyms mean and why are they important?Where can I find the meaning of these terms? Can they be put on the FAQ page?SOLUTION: Review some of the webmaterials on adult learning strategies:Experiences as an Adult Learner – A Student Perspective Educators can be Learners Too: Adult Leaners are so Important (David Scobey, references above by R. Rogers): Higher Education- Occasional ESC Journal: to Law School as an Adult Learner: Learning series: : Students would like to know how to borrow books from other librariesSOLUTION: Here is the blog post:? is the FAQ:?: Students would like an introduction to SUNY Empire video (very short introduction to the college) and/or refresher courses. One student said “they don’t know what they don’t know!” Another student said “We [adult learners] don’t speak the language of the 21st century student. We have to be taught! It makes us feel bad and we are scared to ask for help.” Returning students would like the opportunity to take refresher courses and learn new things about the college (technologies, learning platforms, and resources) in one spaceSOLUTION: Review Adult Learning resources (see above)SOLUTION: Student Online Orientation video post:?: Students would like professors to be aware of Student events and give them extensions when they are traveling to or are participating in said events.SOLUTION: Share with SUNY Empire Dean of Undergrad, Dean of Grad, and Dean of Online Education ISSUE: Students who are non-traditional feel they have less access to scholarships and grants. Pensions and retirements are “drying up” they need help transitioning into a new vocation/professional career. Students want a return on investment (ROI)…what options do we have when we graduate from SUNY Empire? Will you help me with job placement?SOLUTION: Review SUNY Empire Career Development for Students and Alumni: : Review SUNY Empire scholarship opportunities: : Students would like to learn skills to sift through all the “academic information” of the college. REQUEST: Requested that tech tutorials be built within each college course as a reminder.SOLUTION: Share with SUNY Empire Dean of Undergrad, Dean of Grad, and Dean of Online Education ISSUE: Students would like more cost effective ways to learn from course materials (OERs, library textbooks, and other cheaper options)SOLUTION: Share with SUNY Empire Dean of Undergrad, Dean of Grad, and Dean of Online Education ISSUE: Students feel that there is a lack of long-term institutional knowledge among students. Since they work at a distance, they don’t get to learn from alumniREQUEST: Have alumni dinners in regional locations and invite students to attend.REQUEST: Have regular student town halls to discuss regional issues within the student body.ISSUE: Students feel afraid to ask for help and fear that there will be negative ramifications for expressing their voiceSOLUTION: Create student clubs, report issues to your regional student SAC rep, collect information and send it in anonymously to Rhianna.Rogers@esc.edu (see example below titled “Student Feedback Post Session”)ISSUE: Students are confused about Banner and course options (Residencies, Independent Studies and other options)SOLUTION: Resources for using Banner Student Self Service: : Residencies options across the state: : Virtual Residencies also exists as part of the Buffalo Project- SUB-PROJECT #1: Virtual Residencies (2017-present)What are Virtual Residencies??Virtual Residencies (VRs) at SUNY Empire State College began as a partnership between International Education and the Buffalo Project. The goal of VRs were to connect undergraduate, graduate, and international education courses via a three-week collaborative, cross-disciplinary online module. The exchange usually consists of joint asynchronous discussions, joint asynchronous assignment(s), and a synchronous/asynchronous keynote address by an expert in the thematic field for that term. Data indicates that students not only gain knowledge of their course materials but a better understanding of other cultures.?*Based on their success, in 2018, VRs were adopted as a new form of learning.?Virtual Residency Videos and Articles:?VIDEOS:Virtual Residencies at SUNY Empire (Rogers interview):? Rogers, Introduction to VRs at SUNY Empire State College (2018):? Mercer, Katarina Pisutova, Rhianna Rogers, “From Mystery to Mastery: Creating & Enhancing the Ultimate Virtual Classroom Experience,” COIL Conference, 2018.Katarina Pisutova, Rhianna Rogers, Jeannine Mercer, “Engaging Students at a Distance: Advantages and Pitfalls of Video-Conference use in Teaching,” 16th?International Conference on Emerging eLearning Technologies and Applications, 2018.Student Feedback/Anonymous Comments - Post Session:A current student from the Brooklyn Campus shared that her professor failed her after learning she had cataract causing her to be partially blind. Even though he referred her to Disability Service who then ?assure her that her grades nor GPA would not be affect. And, this was very alarming to her. The course was “Beginning of Art Drawing”.?Most students are concerned that their mentors are overwhelmed that creates the lack of communications to fully advise student of their academic progress. Most has expressed that they feel like they are all alone with not guidance or intellectual discussions.?Online students express their concerns of feeling isolated once registering with ESC for specific area of study (ex. Social Services ) and being assigned a mentor that is not locally located to meet. Because, they experience difficulty in getting immediate or reasonable responses to questions via email.?Students shared their frustration regarding the tone of their professors remarks to questions pertaining to their assignments and syllabus. ???????students shared that they are not receiving email correspondence ?from the college, and have been requesting to be added on multiple occasions.?Students expressed that they just found out about events such as the Student Conference hosted by the college from other student whom they’ve became friend and not from any email correspondence or mentors. And, they would like at least the mentors since they do have discussions with them from time to time.?Their was one student I meet that had credits transfer from Jamaica from the Hudson location that spoke very highly of his mentor and would like to acknowledge her, Jeanne Cousineau. Unfortunately, I’m not sure I spelled her last name right, but her really praised her for all her consistent guidance and attentiveness towards him.Non-matriculated and students who are enrolled in certificate courses only also have issues seeing emails from SUNY Empire. We too would like to feel apart of the community and attend events.I'd like to see an alternative for a student like myself who had attended college previously and only needed a few courses to earn a degree. I could have graduated last semester but I didn't find out what I was being giving credit for until half way?through my second semester, which should have been my final semester. Thus a capstone project and a 2 credit course this semester. I should have found out what credits were able to be transferred before I even registered for classes. Taking an EDP class is valuable but not if you are a student who only has about 4 or 5 classes to finish a degree. Perhaps a different path should be required for say, "transfer students with over 80 credits" (just a random number I picked)?JUST REMEMBER <YOU MATTER!>References CitedRogers, R. C.(2018). The Buffalo Project Webpage. SUNY Empire State College. Retrievedfrom , E. 2018. The Challenges Of Being An Adult Learner And How To Overcome Them. Retrieved from: ................
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