2019 Annual Conference

Colleges and Universities

Concurrent Session (45 minutes)

Working with adult learners - whether teaching, mentoring, advising - is an active process of engaging the learners’ existing conceptual frameworks for understanding their world/experiences.  This session will explore how educators, advisors, coaches, and administrators can increase their awareness of how learners are "framing" experiences, and make applications to their practice.

College/University Professors, advisors, coaches, program leaders, administrators

After participating in this session, attendees will be better equipped to:
• understand the powerful role of learners' conceptual frameworks
• identify areas of potential conflict as learners navigate the learning process
• identify opportunities to engage learners as they struggle with change
• understand the application of conceptual frameworks to structural change
• apply theory to practice

There is a growing need to better understand the struggles of adult learners in various educational settings.  Adult educators encounter learners in the midst of various life transitions, and sensitivity to how learners are navigating change can enhance the educator's ability to act as an effective supporter and guide.  All new knowledge and experiences are engaged within existing frameworks of understanding, and better awareness of these frameworks and how they impact the learning experience can lead to more effective interactions with the learner as a whole person (Vosniadou, 2013).

Special attention will be given to direct application.  Participants will discuss examples from three studies of adult learners, and the be invited to apply theory to examples from teaching, advising, and program development.

The session will begin with a group discussion with audience members about the needs of today's adult learners in higher education and other educational settings.  After a brief description of conceptual framework theory and its applications to teaching and learning settings (Vosniadou, 2013), examples will be provided from three different studies of adult learners dealing with challenges to their existing frameworks.  Participants will then be invited to find applications in real-world examples (advising situations, classroom engagements, and facilitating organizational change).