Dr. Pamela Hampton-Garland Assistant Professor of Adult Education joined the University District of Columbia faculty in August 2014 from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. Dr. Hampton-Garland has a Master of Science degree in Adult Education from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and holds Doctor of Philosophy degree in Curriculum and Teaching with a Concentration in Cultural Studies from the University of North Carolina in Greensboro. Dr. Hampton-Garland’s research interest is in the area of Cultural Capital which is comprised of Embodied, Objectified and Institutionalized capital and the role each play in the retention of non-traditional adult learners pursuing higher education. Dr. Hampton-Garland is passionate about life-long learning for adults in non-formal, informal and formal settings, which is reflected in her commitment to the field of Adult Education. Additionally, Dr. Hampton-Garland is happily married to Mr. Vernon Garland and is the mother of two wonderful daughters’, Miss. Gabrielle Garland and Miss. Domonique Garland.
Alan Mandell is the college professor of adult learning and mentoring and also serves as a mentor in the social sciences at the Metropolitan Center in New York City. Mandell began at the Lower Hudson program (now Hudson Valley Center) more than 30 years ago. He has served as associate dean of the Hudson Valley Center, as the associate dean-director of the Metropolitan Center, and as director of the college’s Mentoring Institute.
In addition to ongoing work with students in a range of social science areas, Mandell has written, made presentations and conducted workshops on adult learning and mentoring. With colleague, Lee Herman, he has written many essays and the book, “From Teaching to Mentoring: Principle and Practice, Dialogue and Life in Adult Education” (Routledge, 2004). The second edition of his book with Elana Michelson, “Portfolio Development and Adult Learning” was published in 2004 (Stylus).
Association for Non-Traditional Students in Higher Education (ANTSHE)
Recorded: ANTSHE Conference, 2017.
Total Time: 09:12
Short Bio:
Dr. Lee Viar is a Lead Faculty, Author of The Nontraditional Learner’s Guide to Success, Certified Post-Secondary Instructor and President of the Association for Non-Traditional Students in Higher Education (ANTSHE, www.myantshe.org). He is also a Board of Trustee for the East Coast Colleges Social Sciences Association (ECCSSA). Dr. Viar has helped adult learners, non-traditional students, and academic professionals of all economic backgrounds to achieve academic, professional, and personal success.
Recorded: AAACE Conference, November 2016 in Albuquerque, NM.
Total Time: 25:15
Short Bio:
Dr. Henry Merrill has served as vice chancellor for student services and director of continuing studies at IU East, chair of the adult education program, and interim associate vice chancellor for lifelong learning at IUPUI. The Indiana Council for Continuing Education honored Merrill as “Faculty Member of the Year” in 2004.
A native of Connecticut, Merrill graduated from Hanover College in 1968 with a major in drama and speech. He holds a master’s degree in fine arts from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst; a master’s degree in counseling psychology from Ball State; and a doctorate in education from Ball State University.
Recorded: AAACE Conference, November 2016 in Albuquerque, NM.
Total Time: 38:47
Short Bio: (Hall of Fame Member)
Gretchen T. Bersch, Ph.D., began her career in adult education in 1971 working for the University of Alaska (UA) system in Alaska villages. In 1990, she was commissioned to create and coordinate an adult education master’s degree program for UA-Anchorage.
Bersch has dedicated her career to the world of adult education. Whether she was collaborating with international programs, inviting students and educators into her home or researching other scholars, Bersch always had improving lifelong learning in her goals.
Internationally, Bersch focused on creating a partnership between the UA-Anchorage and the university in Magadan, Russia. Her work led to a faculty and student exchange program, joint conferences, policy and curriculum work, and eventually being awarded the title of honorary professor of the university in Magadan, Russia in 2001. Many Russian students lived at her Anchorage house over the years along with countless adult education visitors. Bersch also reached out on a personal level to Magadan, Russia demonstrating adult and continuing educators go beyond the university/academic relationship. During the winter of 1998, the town was struggling to survive the cold weather. Bersch co-chaired a committee of 40 volunteers and in two days they gathered 30,000 pounds of warm clothing, blankets and baby formula. She and her committee organized an overwhelmingly successful food drive.
A research interest of Bersch’s had been to film interviews of noted national and international adult education scholars. She created and produced a video (DVD) series titled, Conversations on Lifelong Learning. The purpose was to create a visual set of interviews with scholars sharing their life stories in the field of adult and continuing education. The interviews reflect on the contributions, life work, ideas and experience from a unique and personal point of view. To date, 76 scholars have been interviewed and 35 finished programs are available to the field.
Bersch dreamed of establishing a center for learning on Yukon Island, at her family’s homestead across Kachemak Bay from Homer, Alaska. For many years, she has hosted adult education scholars who have come there to teach graduate courses. The Yukon Island Center for Research and Education provides a place of serenity where educators can gather to gain a scientific, cultural and social understanding of our world and exchange ideas and theories in adult education and other fields.
Bersch has received numerous awards for her work, including the Edith R. Bullock Prize for Excellence, a statewide honor through the UA Foundation carrying a $15,000 award. She used some of the prize money to establish the Gretchen T. Bersch Outstanding Professor of the Year Award at the university in Magadan. The fall of 2008 marked the 12th year of the outstanding professor award. Bersch has also been honored as the Alaska Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation and the Outstanding Teacher of the Year by the UA-Anchorage Chancellor’s Awards. In June, 1997, Gretchen T. Bersch was awarded Emerita Professor status by the University of Alaska-Anchorage.
Recorded: AAACE Conference, November 2016 in Albuquerque, NM.
Total Time: 19:14
Short Bio:
Since 2011, Dr. Johnson has directed the B.A. in General Studies, an adult degree-completion program, at Eastern Illinois University. She previously held a faculty position at a university in the Chicago area.
Dr. Johnson earned her Ed.D. in Adult and Higher Education from Northern Illinois University. She has spoken internationally on her research which focuses on adult accelerated courses, adjunct faculty development, teaching adults, and supporting underprepared adult learners in higher education. She has also published several journal articles and book chapters on these topics. She is the past-president of the Adult Higher Education Alliance and a contributing editor for the Adult Education Quarterly.
Recorded: February 2016 at the SDL Symposium in Cocoa Beach, FL
Total Time: 43:58
Short Bio:
Dr. Carol Kasworm received her B.A. in Psychology and Sociology from Valparaiso University in Indiana and her M.A. in Higher Education Administration from Michigan State University. She completed her Ed.D. in Adult Education from the University of Georgia in 1977.
She has held faculty appointments at University of Texas-Austin, University of Houston-Clear Lake, University of Tennessee-Knoxville, and University of South Florida. In addition, she has served in a number of administrative roles, to include Associate Dean of Research and Technology, College of Education, at University of Tennessee-Knoxville, Associate Vice Chancellor for Faculty and Program Development at University of Houston, Clear Lake, Assistant Director of Housing at University of Georgia, Resident Instructor at University of South Florida, and Resident Director at Michigan State University. She has been principal investigator or director/co-director of 18 foundation, state, and federal grants.
Dr. Carol Kasworm is a leading authority on adult undergraduate students in higher education, including a number of qualitative studies on adult undergraduate learning and the participation patterns of adults in higher education.
Recorded: Research to Practice Conference, November 2015 in Norman, OK.
Total Time: 30:42
Short Bio:
Professor Dr. Boden-McGill is the former Chair of the Department of Occupational, Workforce, and Leadership Studies at Texas State University. Before joining Texas State University, Dr. Boden-McGill worked extensively with undergraduate and graduate adult students in her roles as Associate Professor and Program Coordinator for the Master of Adult Education Program at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and Associate Professor and Director of the Program for Adult College Education at Friends University in Wichita, Kansas. In her spare time, Dr. Boden-McGill enjoys outdoor activities, live music, traveling, and spending time with her family, pets, and friends.
Dr. Boden-McGill’s research is primarily focused in the areas of teaching and learning strategies, mentoring, transformative learning, and personal epistemological beliefs. She has presented papers in over 25 states and foreign countries and published articles in journals such as Adult Learning Quarterly, The International Journal of Learning, and National Teacher Education Journal. Dr. Boden McGill’s book, Pathways to Transformation: Learning in Relationship, co-edited with Dr. Sola Kippers, was featured in the New York, Boston, and Philadelphia editions of Metro newspapers. Her books, Conversations about Adult Learning in Our Complex World and Developing and Sustaining Adult Learners, were co-edited with Dr. Kathleen P. King, and her latest book, Building Sustainable Futures for Adult Learners, was co-edited with Stephen B. Springer and Jennifer K. Holtz.
Dr. Boden-McGill has designed and taught courses in traditional, hybrid, and online formats, and she has developed and overseen the implementation of several online program initiatives. Dr. Boden-McGill has been recognized for her work with awards such as the Distinguished Teaching Fellowship from the Academy of Teaching and Learning Excellence and the Sister Cities International Award for Technology and Innovation. In service to the profession, Dr. Boden-McGill is a Director on the Board for the Adult Higher Education Alliance and a Special Interest Group Chair for the Commission of Professors of Adult Education.
-How did you get started in Adult Education? -0:05
-What makes Adult Education unique? -3:12
-What contributions have made the most impact? -4:27
-Tell us about your writing process. -11:04
-What books would you recommend? -13:37
-Where do Adult Education program fit into Higher Ed? -17:55
-How can students apply what they learn in Adult Education? -22:13
-Why is Adult Education important to you? -27:05
Recorded: Research to Practice Conference, November 2015 in Norman, OK.
Total Time: 27:29
Short Bio: (Hall of Fame Member)
Jost Reischmann has been a dynamic force in the field of adult education, building vital bridges between theory and practice. He is the Chair and Professor of Andragogy at the University of Bamberg, Germany, and President of the International Society for Comparative Adult Education.
For 20 years he has partnered the international professional exchange between colleagues and institutions in more than 30 countries through the International Society for Comparative Adult Education (ISCAE) and actively supported the exchange of ideas and persons. In 1995, Dr. Reischmann organized ISCAE’s first conference in Bamberg, Germany, attracting researchers from 15 countries. Through his activities and fund raising, he enabled the participation of colleagues from various (especially eastern) countries. He headed the second ISCAE conference in Ljubljana, Slovenia, in 1998. He initiated the publication of the results of these conferences in the first international summary of research on comparative adult education, Comparative Adult Education 1998, and in 1999 wrote the first history of ISCAE in Ljubljana. The third conference is planned in 2000 in St. Louis, Missouri.
As the Chair of Andragogy, he is responsible for the qualification of many students at the pre-masters and post-masters level. The course of studies he compiled at Otto-Friedrich University, Bamberg, Germany, is renowned for its high quality, building acceptance and appreciation of this new academic and professional field. He collaborates with many adult and continuing education institutions on federal, state, and local levels, with public adult education, church related adult education, and major companies, bringing the principles of andragogy into the field of practice.
He has extensively presented, edited, and written about adult education, with eight books and more than 80 articles to his credit. His works include Evaluation in Adult Education, Open Learning of Adults, and Learning How to Learn.
In 1998, he received from AAACE the President’s Award for Exceptional and Innovative Leadership in Adult and Continuing Education.
Recorded: Research to Practice Conference, November 2016 in Norman, OK.
Total Time: 21:00
Short Bio:
Kevin Roessger owned and operated a tile and stone company for several years before returning to graduate school for a master’s and doctoral degrees in adult and continuing education.
Roessger joined the faculty of the adult and lifelong learning program in the College of Education and Health Professions at the University of Arkansas this fall (2016). It was when he was asked to teach a technical school course on segmental paving that he realized he wanted to pursue advanced degrees to improve his teaching.
A Wisconsin native, Roessger earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and graduate degrees in adult and continuing education from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He taught at Seattle University for three years after finishing his doctorate in 2013.
When he sold his business in 2008 and began teaching his trade, he realized that, although he knew the content well, he needed to learn more about teaching, designing curriculum and assessing learning. He also saw a need for more evidence-based practice and research in the field around how adults learn.
“What drew me to the field of adult learning was reflecting on my own learning experiences,” Roessger said. “The great thing about the field is that it’s a wide umbrella covering many forms of learning. Most organizations have some form of training and development, and universities and community colleges offer numerous formal learning opportunities for adults. Even organizations like home-improvement stores offer non-formal courses such as gardening clinics. Adult learning is everywhere.”
“Much adult learning is self-directed,” he continued. “We can all learn about topics online. I saw myself using these opportunities to enrich my own life as I reach constantly for changing, new goals. (Teaching at the U of A) felt like a natural place to be.”
Roessger’s primary area of research is reflective learning processes with adults. He is studying, with colleagues in Milwaukee and Seattle, what effect reflection has on learning outcomes. Specifically, his research has investigated the role of the self in reflective learning and whether people retain more knowledge when they relate concepts to themselves rather than other things. He calls this personal relevance. He is currently investigating the effects of incorporating the self in a classroom activity called concept mapping.
“When you identify how a concept is relevant to you and then relate it to other things you have done, you tend to remember that concept at a much higher rate,” he said.
He is now working on incorporating those findings into suggestions for how instructors can use them in the classroom.
