ADULT EDUCATION

Some of the seats in these courses are reserved for students in the Adult Education program. If there is space, other students are welcome to register providing they receive permission from the Adult Education department. The department offers at least one course per semester via online media.

ADED 200:
Portfolio Development for Prior Learning Assessment 3 credits

Prerequisites: a minimum CPT score of 48, or ENGL 101 with a minimum grade of C, or ENGL 081 or 091 with a minimum grade of C+, or a written communications course with a minimum grade of C, or instructor’s permission

Transferability: OU

An introduction to the concept of prior learning assessment and recognition (PLAR) and its relationship to lifelong learning. Major emphasis will be placed on one of the methods used to assess prior learning — the portfolio method. In the context of your educational goals, you will prepare a comprehensive written portfolio which identifies and documents your prior learning. The finished portfolio subsequently may be used to request PLA credit toward a post-secondary program. Because assessing institutions require portfolios to be well-written and well-organized, you should have strong writing and organization skills. We recommend Adult Education program students enrol in this course only after completing at least six Adult Education credits.

ADED 310:
Introduction to Adult Education 3 credits

Prerequisites: none

Transferability: OU

This course surveys the philosophical and historical foundations of adult education, its methods and approaches, its organizations, and issues confronting contemporary adult education practice.
It is highly recommended that you enrol in this course during the first or second semester of the Adult Education degree program.

ADED 320:
Adult Learning 3 credits

Prerequisites: none

Transferability: OU, SFU

This course will orient participants to adult learning, develop their understanding of some theoretical perspectives, and provide an opportunity for consideration of implications for practice. Topics include: selected theories and concepts of adult development, selected theories regarding circumstances and processes of adult learning, and characteristics of adults as learners. It is highly recommended that you enrol in this course during the first or second semester of  the Adult Education degree program.

ADED 330:
Special Topics in Adult Education 3 credits

Prerequisites: instructor’s permission

Transferability: OU

Course offerings under this heading will supplement regular program offerings by examining selected and emergent topics in adult education. Intermittent offerings will be determined by availability of faculty, resources, and learner interest. Examples of topics include Learning in the Workplace, Education for Health, and Bridging to Adult Education. Contact department for current offerings.

ADED 335:
Curriculum Development for Vocational Instruction 3 credits

Prerequisites: Permission of the department

Transferability: OU

An introduction to the development of vocational curriculum. Using the concepts of curriculum development, the course provides a study of selecting and sequencing learning activities, unit and lesson planning, methods of managing laboratory and practical experiences, and course and student evaluation.

ADED 336
Popular Education 3 credits

Prerequisites: ADED 310, or ADED 320, or ADED 360, or permission of the instructor

This course will be of interest to people currently working or preparing to work for progressive social change in community settings around such concerns as poverty, health, racism, peace, native self-government, environment, women’s equality, community economic development, trade practices, food distribution, and media literacy. The course explores the use of a collective adult learning approach as an alternative or adjunct to purely political action or individual empowerment and healing models. Photo novels, radio, popular theatre, participatory research, and study circles are examples of alternative approaches that will be studied. In this course we emphasize the essential philosophical foundation of these alternative methods and practice skills required in their practical application in international and local settings. We explore the possibilities of adult education as a means of emancipation rather than domination.

ADED 340:
Program Planning and Evaluation 3 credits

Prerequisites: ADED 310 or 360

Transferability: OU

This course will provide a basis for responsible, reflective program planning practice by introducing participants to key concepts, principles, and issues in program planning processes, and to the diverse settings in which those processes are carried out. The course will emphasize the development of a critical perspective. Through study of recent theory and actual cases, participants will assess the extent to which educational program planning is an important site in the struggle over the definition, sources, and purposes of legitimate knowledge.

ADED 345:
Instructional Skills for Professionals 3 credits

Prerequisites: (CMNS 125 and 225) or (ENGL 105 and one of ENGL 110 to 150) or (CMNS 155 and 255)

Transferability: none

This course provides an opportunity to design and teach using a variety of media, to a variety of audiences, in a variety of situations. Developing lesson plans, using instructional technologies, developing and using evaluation techniques, and conducting on-the-job training are the focus of the course. This course is the same as CMNS 345.

Note: Some public speaking skills are assumed in this course.

Note: Students cannot receive credit for both ADED 345 and CMNS 345.

ADED 360:
Adult Education in the Canadian Context: History and Trends 3 credits

Prerequisites: Admission to the program or instructor’s permission

Transferability: OU

Adult education in Canada operates within a diverse field of educational perspectives and within a complex public policy realm, shared between the federal and the provincial or territorial governments. This course examines the practices, vocation, and trends of the field within the context of historical, social, political, and economic influences. We examine ways in which formal, nonformal, and informal adult education practices shape and are shaped by this milieu.

ADED 370:
Guided Independent Study 3 credits

Prerequisites: ADED 310 and nine additional Adult Education credits and permission of the course coordinator

Transferability: OU

A supervised, research and/or field-based activity through which you will either diversify your experience base or refine and deepen your understanding of selected areas of concentration. The course offers an opportunity to integrate, and apply theories and practices in your areas of interest. (Subject to faculty availability.) Guidelines for the development of a learning contract for the study are available from the department or online. Students are urged to speak to the course coordinator and/or their program advisor well in advance of registration.

ADED 380:
Instructional Technologies 3 credits

Prerequisites: ADED 310

Transferability: OU

Advances in technology present new ways for adult education to overcome barriers to participation. This course prepares you to select, implement, and evaluate appropriate technologies for offering learning opportunities to adults. Emphasis is on application of adult learning theory and system design principles.  Although media play an important role in this course, the focus is on the underlying issues of adult education using “new” technologies.

ADED 390:
Seminar in Selecting, Evaluating, and Using Adult Education Research 3 credits

Prerequisites: Admission to the program, or instructor‘s permission

Transferability: OU

This course will involve a survey and examination of past and current research in the disciplines related to education in general, and adult education in particular. It will include an examination of research perspectives, methods of inquiry, research trends, and interests served. Participants will be encouraged to build skills in summarizing and critiquing research reports by identifying a researchable issue and conducting a related literature review.

ADED 405:
Honouring Human Diversity in Adult Education Contexts 3 credits

Prerequisites: ADED 310 or 360

Transferability: OU

This course explores various dimensions of human diversity — age, race, class, sexual orientation, ability, and gender, and their effect on learning; critically examines dominant attitudes toward diversity in the Canadian culture; provides course participants the opportunity to reflect on their own beliefs; and studies the implications of exclusion and inclusion for participants’ practice of adult education.

ADED 410:
Adult Education and Social Change 3 credits

Prerequisites: ADED 310 or 360 or SOC 101

Transferability: OU

Rapid economic and social change create new sites of adult education practice, and changes in social policy create new groups of learners. This course surveys global, national, and local social change, and reviews the history of adult education’s responses to change. The course challenges participants to critically examine competing perspectives on the role of adult education in promoting or impeding social justice, and their own position as reflected in their practice.

ADED 420:
Adult Education in the Global Context 3 credits

Prerequisites: ADED 310, 360 or 410, or SOC 101 or 250, or ANTH 102 or 220, or POSC 110 or 120

Transferability: OU

Institutions and the delivery of adult education have evolved very differently from country to country, and are increasingly affected by international organizations and other interests. Using a variety of program and policy examples, this course provides comparative and international perspectives on the history and the philosophical, socio-economic, and political foundations of adult education, including course participants’ fields of practice.

ADED 430:
Administration of Adult Education 3 credits

Prerequisites: ADED 310

Transferability: OU

The administration of adult education in institutions, community agencies, and private consulting is a specialized and complex management function. In this course you will examine concepts such as organizational planning, coordination, marketing, financing, and staffing, and learn how these concepts are applied to the administration and management of adult education. Special emphasis will be given to the idea of leadership.

ADED 470:
Synthesis Project in Adult Education 3 credits

Prerequisites: completion of 30 Adult Education credits and permission of the course coordinator

Transferability: OU

This course is intended to provide an opportunity for learners near the conclusion of their program of study to integrate the various concepts, philosophies, and knowledge of the field into a congruent professional identity in their practice through preparation of a major paper or other approved non-traditional project. (Subject of faculty availability.) Study in ADED 470 usually is conducted in the context of a student-prepared learning contract. Guidelines for the development of a learning contract for the study are available from the department or online. Students are urged to speak to the course coordinator and/or their program advisor well in advance of registration.

ADED 480:
Seminar in Adult Education Issues 3 credits

Prerequisites: ADED 310 or 360

Transferability: OU

This intermittent offering will provide opportunities to address, as they arise, particular emerging issues or areas of controversy in the field of adult education practice and/or study. Particular offerings will depend upon availability of faculty resources, trends in the field, and learner interest. Example of current offerings include Ethics in Adult Education, and Political & Social Dimensions of Workforce Training. Contact the department for current offerings.

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