EDUA 7404, “Lifelong Learning”

Fall Term (September – December), 2008-2009

(Revised May, 2008)

Dr. Kelvin Seifert

Room 205, Faculty of Education

University of Manitoba

Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T 2N2

Phone: 474-9859

Department Office (Shelley Coveney): 474-9018

Department FAX: 474-7564

Email: <seifert@cc.umanitoba.ca>

Office hours: TBA

Overview of This Course:

In this course we explore the idea of adult learning, and look at how it differs from the learning and teaching conventionally provided for children and adolescents. The precise focus will depend partly on your own personal interests, but class sessions will likely focus on combinations of the following issues:

· motivation

· differences and diversity among students

· appropriate assessment

· the role of “teacher” with adults

Where possible, I will try to pursue these topics according to your own priorities and interests. At the same time, I will encourage you to share your knowledge, skills and concerns as much as is practical. (See assignments on the following pages for more information about how these dual purposes are intended to happen.)

Readings for the Course:

You will need to buy the following text for this course:

Merriam, S., Caffarella, R., & Baumgartner, L. (2007). Learning in adulthood: A comprehensive guide, 3^rd edition. New York: Wiley. (This sells on Amazon.ca for $67.99 C$. You may be able to find a used copy at less cost, especially in the 2^nd edition; this will be OK.)

There may also be various readings which I plan either to give to you or to sell to you at cost.

Summary of Assignments, Weightings, and Deadlines

(The assignments are explained more fully in the next section of this course outline.)

*Assignment*	*Weighting*	*Deadline*
A#1: Critique of Wikipedia article	15%	Session 4 (Oct 2)
A#2: Oral report of Wikipedia article	5%	Sessions 4, 5, and 6 (Oct 2, 9, & 16)
A#4: Critique of book related to lifelong learning & development	30%	Session 7 (Oct 23)
A#5: Oral report of critique of book related to lifelong learning & development	5%	Sessions 7, 8, & 9 (Oct 23, 30, & Nov 6)
A#3: Oral report of one chapter in textbook	5%	Sessions 2-9 (Sept 18 – Nov 6)
A#6: Account of personal lifelong learning & development	30%	Session 10 (Nov 13)
A#7: Oral report of personal learning & development	10%	Sessions 11, 12, and 13 (Nov 20, 27, & Dec 4)

Detailed Description of Assignments:

1. Assignment #1: Critique of Article about Lifelong Learning from Wikipedia. Get acquainted with the online encyclopedia called Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org), and select one article from it that relates to lifelong learning. Ideally, the article should be about 2-3 pages long when printed. Using this article, do the following, more-or-less in the following sequence:

a) Print the article as it is and save the printout before doing anything else with it (i.e. before editing).

b) Write a critique of the article that is 3-4 pages (~1000 words) long. The critique should have the following features:

1) Summarize the key points of the article (Note: this should only be about a half- page at most). If you need more space to summarize, then your article may be too long for this assignment.

2) Identify topics, ideas, or points that are omitted in the article, but relevant or important to lifelong learning and/or adult education. If you are not sure what may have been left out, try reading the relevant sections of the Merriam text for an overview of key issues about the topic of your particular article.

3) Identify sentences that seem unclear, misleading, poorly sequenced or organized, or ungrammatical. Explain why they are unclear, etc.

4) Comment on the usefulness to your work of any references and “additional resources” listed at the bottom on the article. Identify alternatives or additions to these. As with point #2 above, if you are not sure whether an article is truly useful or not, try reading the sections of the Merriam text that cover the same or similar topics.

c) After you have written the critique, use it as a guide to edit the original article. Do the editing online at the Wikipedia website. (See Appendix #1 for further guidelines about the nature and extent of the editing.) We will spend a bit of time at the computer lab to introduce how to edit and post, but expect to self-educate yourself about this task to some extent.

d) Post and save online the edited version of the chosen article. Then print the revised version immediately (in case someone else continues editing it).

e) When all of the above is done, turn in the following documents:

1) The originally posted version of the article.

2) Your critique/essay of the article (as a separate “Word” document).

3) The revised posted version of the article, as edited by you.

DUE: Session 4 (October 2)

WEIGHTING: 15%

2. Oral Report about Wikipedia Critique and Article Using about 15 minutes altogether, describe the critique you wrote of the Wikipedia article chosen for Assignment #1. Summarize the article itself briefly, and then talk about the changes that you made in it. Wherever possible, draw connections to other topics of interest to yourself and relevant to lifelong learning. Welcome classmates’ participation in discussing the paper.

DUE: Sessions 4, 5, and 6 (October 2, 9, and 16)

WEIGHTING: 5%

3. Oral Report on One Chapter or Section of Textbook Using about 15 minutes altogether, summarize 1-3 highlights or key ideas from one chapter or section of a chapter in the text. Explain the highlight(s) or idea(s) as concisely and clearly as possible, using examples from your own experience where possible. Identify any points that seem ambiguous or implausible to you. Do not feel obligated to report on everything in the chapter; there is likely to be too much material to do so.

Note that in a few cases two students will be assigned the same chapter. In that case you and the other student need to divide the chapter between you, and each person report on a specific section or topic of the chapter.

On the evening of your presentation, turn in one page of notes summarizing the key points of your report. The notes can be in point form, but should cover the ground that you intended for the report.

DUE: Sessions 2-9 (September 18 – November 6, by sign-up sheet)

WEIGHTING: 5%

4. Critique of Book about Lifelong Learning and Development Choose one book from the list provided at the end of this course outline (see Appendix #2). Write a five-page paper summarizing and critiquing the book. The paper should have the following features:

a) Summarize or state briefly the idea, theme, or issue addressed by the book.

b) Describe how the author addresses the idea, theme, or issue. For a non-fiction book, this usually means commenting on the author’s methods or ways of gathering information, and in part on the position the author takes.

c) Summarize the key conclusion(s) or implications of the book.

d) Assess the reliability, validity, and usefulness of the book for building insight about lifelong learning and development. For this part of the assignment, you must cite at least two relevant published sources in support of your ideas.

DUE: Session 7 (October 23)

WEIGHTING: 30%

5. Oral Report about Critique of Book about Lifelong Learning and Development Using about 15 minutes, and without reading from your paper, report to the class the essential ideas from the paper you wrote for Assignment #3 above. For this report, use no more than three overheads or Powerpoint slides for the entire presentation; this is deliberately a severe, and very strict limit!

DUE: Sessions 7, 8, and 9 (October 23, 30, and November 6)

WEIGHTING: 10%

6. Account of Your Own Lifelong Learning This activity involves examining your maturation or development as an adult learner—the stages and changes that you have experienced over the years, including the mechanisms or influences on your development. The Lifeline will have the following features:

1) A wall chart (approximately 1’ x 4’) that illustrates or summarizes major experiences, landmarks and stages in your development as a lifelong learner;

2) An essay or paper (approximately 5-7 pages) that explains the items on the chart. The paper will interpret your experiences, landmarks and stages of development in terms of general theories and specific research about adult learning and development. At the same time, the paper will critique the theories and research when/if appropriate, using your life experiences as evidence for the critique. Use the Merriam text to locate relevant, appropriate theories, but do use this book only as a starting point. Cite at least four other academic references in writing this essay.

Turn in both the wall chart and the essay on the same date (below).

DUE: Session 10 (November 13)

WEIGHTING: 30%

7. Oral Report about Your Personal Development as a Lifelong Learner Using 15 minutes of class time, present the most important themes, ideas, and facts from your developmental journey as a lifelong learner. To make this presentation, use the wall chart from Assignment #5 above, as well as ideas from the paper you write for that assignment.

On the date of this presentation, turn in a set of the notes that you used in making the presentation (e.g. an outline in point form or print-out of powerpoint slides). These should be about 2-4 pages long.

DUE: Sessions 11, 12, and 13 (November 20, 27, and December 4)

WEIGHTING: 10%

Other Miscellaneous Comments about the Course:

Here are a few other points relevant to the course. If you require any modifications to insure your full participation, please talk to me as soon as possible.

U of M Policies University of Manitoba policies require me to draw attention to the policies regarding academic integrity and dishonesty (plagiarism, cheating), incompletes, and reviews (appeals) of assignments and term grades. Please refer to the General Calendar for the details of these policies (pp.21 of the Graduate Calendar—see also <umanitoba.ca/student/resource/student_advocacy/cheating_plagiarism_fraud.html>). I will also have comments to make about plagiarism, particularly with regard to online publishing (and the Wikipedia assignment).

Completing Assignments All assignments must be completed on time in order to pass the course. The most acceptable excuses for being late include severe illness or death in the family; next most acceptable is that research participants did not show up for an interview or observation, or the Ethics Committee delayed approval of your project.

Wherever possible, assignments should be typed in a reasonably sized, clear font. Exceptions may be for drawings and diagrams, for line-by-line editing of classmate’s reports, or for certain special field-note situations. Please see me if you are wondering whether some part of a particular assignment truly needs to be typed.

Letter Grades By policy of the Faculty of Education, I must use the following percentage equivalents in assigning final letter grades for the course:

A+ = 100-96%

A = 95-90

B+ = 89-95

B = 84-80

C+ = 79-75

C = 74-70

D = 69-60

F = less than 60

Topics, Readings, Assignments, and Class Activities

(There will be additional class activities TBA.)

Session	Date	Activities During This Class	Readings in Merriam due before Class	Assignments Due at Start of This Class
1	Sept 11	Visit Computer Lab—demonstration re Wikipedia
2	Sept 18	A#3, Oral reports re chapters in text begin (1-2 per evening @ 15 min each) (…to Nov 6)	Ch 2, “Learning envir’s…” Ch 3, “Adult learners…”
3	Sept 25		Ch 4, “Knowles…” Ch 5, “Self-directed L…”
4	Oct 2	A#2, Oral reports re Wikipedia Article begin (5 per evening @ 15 min each)	Ch 6, “Transfmtnl L…” Ch 7, “Expernc & L…”	A#1, Critique of Wikipedia article
5	Oct 9	A#2, Oral reports re Wikipedia Article continue	Ch 8, “Embodied…” Ch 9, “L & Knowing…”
6	Oct 16	A#2, Oral reports re Wikipedia Article conclude	Ch 10, “Critical theory…”
7	Oct 23	A#5, Oral reports re book re lifelong learning & development begin (5 per evening @ 15 min each)	Ch 11, “Tradtnl L theories…” Ch 12, “Adult devlpmnt”	A#4, Critique of book about lifelong learning & development
8	Oct 30	A#5, Oral reports re book re lifelong learning & development continue	Ch 13, “Cognitv devlpmnt” Ch 14, “Intllignce & aging”
9	Nov 6	A#5, Oral reports re book re lifelong learning & development conclude	Ch 15, “Memory…”
10	Nov 13			A#6, Account of personal lifelong learning & development
11	Nov 20	A#7, Oral reports of personal development begin (5 per evening @ 15 minutes)
12	Nov 27	A#7, Oral reports of personal development continue
13	Dec 4	A#7, Oral reports of personal development conclude

Appendix #1:

Guidelines about Editing a Wikipedia Article

To do Assignments #1, follow the steps outlined below.

The existing page to be edited must be one that has significant content in it already (i.e. it cannot be just a “stub”). Try to find one that is about 2-3 pages when printed.
I recommend using only one existing Wikipedia page for this assignment, but I recognize that it may sometimes make sense to divide your effort between two related pages. Please see me if you want to do this. You may critique and edit more than one Wikipedia page as long as the total amount of critiquing and editing is consistent with the guidelines for a single page.
Editing should be more than trivial, but it need not involve a major overhaul of the existing Wikipedia page. An appropriate amount of editing would be all of the following:

About 100-150 words of new material added;
Material added either as a new subsection or subtopic to the article, or distributed as sentences in various places in the existing text;
Two new references or “external sources” added, provided they are truly focused on and relevant to the topic (i.e. not too general or tangential);
One new link to the existing page as well as one new link from the existing page. This requirement will require investigating additional Wikipedia pages and/or websites.

Editing may also include minor corrections of spelling, grammar, omitted or erroneous words, mistakes in Wiki formatting, or obvious misstatements by the original author. But minor editing will not substitute for the significant editing described above.
Some general practical advice:

Print one copy of the original article (before editing) for safekeeping, and another copy of it (before editing) to turn in to me
Print a copy of the revised article (post-editing) immediately upon finishing it. Do not wait, because with Wikipedia there is always a chance that further editing will occur and/or your own work will be reverted back (i.e. deleted) by someone else.
Allow ample time to do the actual editing. Correct formatting is an expectation of this assignment, and students often find that a bit of tinkering is needed to get formatting to look right.
Remember that your audience consist both of university students such as yourself, as well as other professionals concerned with adult education and post-secondary education. Professors like me will be only a minor part of your audience. Try to imagine what these people want to read about, as well as what they need to know. Choose your topic, examples, and writing style accordingly. Remember: the audience will be much broader than just me!

Hopefully I do not need to say this, but I will anyway just to be sure: Do not plagiarize, quasi-plagiarize, or “borrow” material unethically. Instead, use your own words and cite sources liberally. I will be checking for inappropriate plagiarism.

Appendix #2:

Book Choices for Lifelong Learning:

EDUA 7404, Fall Term, 2008-2009

(Note: All books are on seven-day reserve at Elizabeth Dafoe Library. In some cases there are two copies available.)

Brandt, D. (2001). Literacy in American lives. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Butin, D. (Ed.), Service learning in higher education. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Colby, A. & Damon, W. (1992). Some do care: Contemporary lives of moral commitment. New York: Free Press.

Gard, M. (2006). Men who dance. New York: Peter Lang Publishers.

Kidder, T. (1989). Among schoolchildren. New York: Perennial Books.

Marsh, M. (2003). The social fashioning of teacher identities. New York: Peter Lang.

Mirochnik, E. (2000). Teaching in the first person. New York: Peter Lang.

Nathan, R. (2004). My freshman year: What a professor learned by becoming a student. London: Penguin Books.

Rogoff, B. (2003). Cultural nature of human development. New York: Oxford University Press.

Wallace, P. (2004). Internet in the workplace. New York: Cambridge University Press. (Chapter 8, “E-learning.”)

Wenger, E. (1998). Communities in Practice. New York: Cambridge University Press.