Learning is a life-long process. Today’s rapidly changing world requires adults to learn new ways of doing their jobs or to change careers several times throughout their lives. This new reality requires adults to return to educational institutions for classes, to partake in on-the-job training and development courses, and to attend continuing professional education seminars in order to achieve new career goals. The influx of adult learners into adult education venues has resulted in a demand for qualified adult educators to assist adult learners as they cope with the effects of an ever-changing world.
Adult educators are employed to plan, teach, administer, coordinate, and evaluate programs for adult learners. They work in many different types of settings, such as higher education, business and industry, labor unions, GED/ABLE programs, cooperative extension services, community agencies, professional continuing education programs, museums, health education centers, hospitals, libraries, and correctional institutions.
The purpose of this program is to prepare present and future adult educators with the theories, competencies, and knowledge that will help them plan, teach, and administer programs for a diverse population of adult learners in a variety of settings. The M.Ed. program is committed to providing adult educators with a cognizance of the issues and challenges confronting adult educators in diverse learning environments. Theories, philosophies, history, and practices concerning adult learning and development, teaching adult learners, designing and developing educational programs that are mediated by technology, program planning and administration are emphasized through a variety of courses throughout the program. Many students also gain practical experience through participation in internships.