2019 Annual Conference

Undergraduate Student Education

Concurrent Session (45 minutes)

Through the lenses of developmental and adult education, we will explore how to best support undergraduate learners pursuing an interdisciplinary studies major as they engage in a career exploration course in order to successfully navigate post-graduation life in terms of their economic currency and sustainable interdependency. 

Our target audience for this concurrent session is adult and developmental educators who support undergraduate learners who are on a diversified learning continuum requiring differentiated teaching methods, such as faculty, staff, and administrators. The discussion will include diverse teaching methods to best support students in an interdisciplinary degree program as they make decisions about and explore their post-graduation economic currency and how they can best navigate shared spaces with those in their local, national, and global communities.

Attendees will be able to:

Understand the diverse needs of students in interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary programs of study;

Distinguish between the theoretical frameworks of developmental educators and adult educators;

Better differentiate instruction and provide appropriate scaffolding to students who are preparing to graduate and enter the workforce;

Best support students as they become economically empowered and sustainable;

Engage with other educators, administrators, and staff from a broad array of organizations and educational institutions to discuss common issues in relation to student development and economic empowerment.

Continued advances in the job market have increased the need for individuals to pursue higher education. This influx creates a need for a variety of services and academic support measures to provide students with tools for the development of economic prosperity that is not being met through traditional educational practices. Using a variety of teaching methods from both adult and developmental education methodologies, our instructors guide students through an array of self-reflective activities and assignments encouraging intellectual pursuits including career exploration and planning—followed by the completion of an interdisciplinary capstone project that incorporates three core subject areas. 

In this concurrent session, the presenters will introduce best practices to meet the diverse needs of students in interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary programs of study; distinguish between the theoretical frameworks of developmental educators and adult educators; and provide appropriate scaffolding techniques to students preparing to graduate and enter the workforce. 

Therefore, this topic is timely and important as it provides a valuable resource to not only meet the needs of students pursuing interdisciplinary degrees through innovative teaching strategies but also empowers them in their pursuit of economic prosperity and sustainability. 

In this session, we will: 

1. Introduce concurrent session facilitators (3 minutes)  
2. Survey attendees as to their outcomes for attending the session (5 minutes)  
3. Provide a description of student population and course (6 minutes)  
4. Review theoretical framework/lenses of developmental and adult education (6 minutes)  
5. Present best practices for teaching and learning in an interdisciplinary career preparation course (25 minutes)  
6. Give an opportunity for questions and answers (15 minutes) 
7. Close session