2019 Annual Conference

Graduate Student Education

Roundtable (45 minutes)

This session is designed to explore the effectiveness of student groups partnering with organizations to address their critical issues using Action Learning, as well as understanding student learning during the process.  The session will focus around very successful Action Learning project conducted by Graduate Students.

Adult Educators interested in using Action Learning as a learning tool in graduate education, as well as anyone, educators and practitioners,  interested in learning more about Action Learning as a tool for problem solving and self-directed, group learning. 

As a result of this session participants will have
• Explored Action Learning as a method to partner graduate students with community organizations to aid
in solving real-world problems
• Gained insight into using Action Learning as a teaching tool in graduate education
• Discussed ways to evaluate the effectiveness of Action Learning as part of a graduate curriculum

Action Learning has long been used by organizations to promote creative problem solving for critical and complex issues, as well as developing leadership skills and team building, but can Action Learning techniques be used as an effective learning tool for graduate students to aid organizations in this endeavor?  This session will explore the concept of Action Learning, the effectiveness of student groups partnering with organizations to address their critical issues using Action Learning, as well as understanding student learning during the process.  Understanding the impact of Action Learning as a teaching and learning platform for students and partner organizations may provide interesting findings to inform the field of Adult Learning in graduate education.

This shared concurrent session or round table discussion will be interactive in nature, with a review of Action Learning as a process.  Discussion around the nature of using Action Learning as a teaching tool will also be part of the session.  A case study will be discussed using one example of a successful Action Learning project run by Graduate Students in Adult Learning. Not successful  examples will also be given.  Participants may share their own experiences using Action Learning in all settings, as well as seek advice on using the process in practice as well as in graduate edication.