Andragogical+Process+Elements


 * ** EDU8005-8 ** ||  ||
 * ** Qualitative Research Design ** || ** 1 Proposal 1 ** ||
 * ** Qualitative Research Design ** || ** 1 Proposal 1 ** ||


 * Thanks, Stephen. Please see my additional comments in-text. **
 * The three qualitative methods emphasized in the reading for this assignment are important to become familiar with. In particular, grounded theory is a historical concept in the field of qualitative research. Although it has evolved over the decades, elements of grounded theory are now freely borrowed by other qualitative methods to conceptualize and analyze qualitative data. As you may have read, some theorists believe that much ‘art’ is part and parcel of grounded theory method. Others, however, care to make the grounded theory process more ‘systematic’ so it can be uniformly applied by various researchers. Even with this one qualitative research approach, there is more than a single way to employ it on a given subject matter. **
 * Now, how is grounded theory to be distinguished from other qual research designs? Moreover, how might you explain the differences between grounded theory techniques from the philosophical aims of grounded theory approach? I encourage you to search extant literature to locate additional readings on grounded theory as a research design type to see when this approach can be best used. Thanks. **
 * I look forward to your next completed assignment. **

=Proposal 1 = Andragogy, “the art and science of helping adults learn” ( Chan, 2010, p. 27; Diabiase & Kidwai, 2010, p. 301; Kistler, 2011, p. 29; Moore, 2010, p. 3 ), concerns assisting and encouraging  adult learners to be more refined and competent ( Henschke, 2011 ) and reach their full potential ( McGrath, 2009; Taylor & Kroth, 2009 ). Though authors have identified limitations or weaknesses in Knowles’ (1984, 1995) original conceptualization of andragogy, it is acknowledged by most as the most comprehensive ( Cercone, 2008 ), learner centered ( <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">McGrath, 2009 <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">), and dominant ( <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Holton, Wilson, & Bates, 2009 <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">) theory of adult education. Andragogy focuses on the individual adult learner ( <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Abela, 2009; Cercone, 2008; Cheng, Wang, Yang, Kinshuk, & Peng, 2011; Strang, 2009 <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">), and postulates that as people mature, their self-concepts morph from dependency on others to being more self-directed and self-determined in their learning ( <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Blaschke, 2012; Cercone, 2008; Guilbaud & Jerome-D’Emelia, 2008 <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">). Andragogy has served as a way to distinguish instructors who service and work with adults from other teachers ( <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Chan, 2010, Donavant, 2009 <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">) and provides clear guidelines for instructional planning through consideration of “adult characteristics, inclinations, and commitments towards learning” ( <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Guilbaud & Jerome-D’Emelia, 2008, p. 114; Watts, 2013 <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">).

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Statement of the Problem
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Andragogy is considered by most to be the preeminent theory in adult education ( <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Holton et al., 2009 <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">) and has for almost fifty years guided practice and application in the classroom ( <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Cercone, 2008; Cheng et al., 2011 <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">). The usefulness of the six andragogical principles and assumptions as originally specified by Knowles (1984, 1995) has been supported by hundreds of descriptive and qualitative studies ( <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Holton et al., 2009 <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">). The usefulness of the eight andragogical design elements also proposed by Knowles (1984, 1995) to optimize the adult learning experience has mainly been ignored in the literature. This led Holton et al. (2009) to proclaim that studies are needed to examine andragogy holistically and test whether the assumptions and design elements influence learning outcomes.

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Purpose of the Study
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">The purpose of this qualitative grounded theory study is to determine the veracity of the andragogical process design elements in the context of the real-life experiences, knowledge, and understanding of master instructors who teach adult learners. A grounded theory approach is appropriate to evaluate the real-life experiences of instructors while using the constant comparative method ( <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Strauss & Cobin, 1990 <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">) to look for themes that may diverge or corroborate best practices ( <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Hodge et al., 2011 <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">) in teaching adults through an Knowlesian andragogical theoretical framework. According to Knowles (1984, 1995), optimal learning by adults occurs when instructors provide a student-centered focus by including eight process design elements into their teaching, including (a) preparing the learner, (b) climate setting, (c) mutual planning, (d) diagnosis of learning needs, (e) setting of learning objectives, (f) designing the learning experience, (g) learning activities, and (h) evaluation.

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Research Questions
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">**Q1.** How do experienced instructors of adults approach the design and teaching of their classes to best afford their learners a student-centered learning experience? <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">**Q2.** What are the factors that determine an optimal adult learning experience from the perspective of experienced instructors of adults?

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Research Methods and Design
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">The purpose of this qualitative grounded theory study is to determine the veracity of the andragogical process design elements in the context of the real-life experiences, knowledge, and understanding of master instructors who teach adult learners. To perform this verification, ten instructors with the following qualifications will take part in the study. Each will have at least five years of experience in teaching adults and be recommended by both peers and students as masters of teaching. (The teaching environment for this school includes mandatory peer reviews semiannually and end of course reviews by students at the end of each semester. Those instructors in the top 25% of both are designated master teachers.) <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">In phase one of the study, each instructor will be invited to participate in a single personal interview. During the interview each master instructor will be given the opportunity to explain the processes, techniques, and characteristics of their classroom preparation and pedagogy. The interview will be video recorded and conducted in a semi-structured, face-to-face interview using open-ended questions to elucidate information regarding what each instructor believes is important in the creation of an optimal learning environment. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Following the collection of data, each interview will be transcribed to provide an exact transcript of the words spoken, and the video will be carefully watched for non-verbal cues that will also be included in the transcript. After completion of each transcription, the participant will be asked to read and validate the transcript. Once all participants have been interviewed and the recordings transcribed and validated, the transcripts will be analyzed using the constant comparison of data method (Strauss & Corbin, 2008) to determine what meaning units exist in the data. Meaning units will be coded, extracted, and then grouped into similar concepts. As the process continues, concepts will be grouped into categories ( <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Charmaz, 2006 <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">). <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">In phase two of the study, all of the participants will be gathered in a focus group and open-ended questions will be asked of the group regarding the topic of optimal adult learning while focusing on the categories determined in phase one, but expanding as necessary to additional topics as warranted. The focus group will be video recorded, and transcribed as were the individual interviews, and analyzed to extend, clarify, or contradict the themes and categories discovered in phase one of the study ( <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Jackson, 2012 <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">). The final categories and themes discovered through phases one and two will then be compared with the andragogical process design elements proposed by Knowles (1984, 1995) to determine whether those elements match the lived experience, understanding, and knowledge of master instructors of adults.

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Explanation
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Grounded theory is generally utilized in the formation of a theoretical framework regarding a phenomenon that is grounded in the experience or views of participants ( <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Belanger & Crossler, 2011; Burian, Rogerson, & Maffai, 2010; Jackson, 2012 <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">). The use of Strauss and Corbin’s (2008) constant comparison method is a feature of most grounded theory studies as it allows for the triangulation of categories and concepts from the data of the interview transcripts ( <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Liu, Liu, Lee, & Magjuka, 2010 <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">). Utilizing the experience, knowledge, and beliefs of those who are acknowledged masters of teaching adult learners provides an opportunity to not only extend knowledge, but to also validate or contradict previous theory ( <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Oncu & Cakir, 2011 <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">). By following a grounded theory approach a deeper and richer understanding of the factors that promote optimal student-centered learning may be identified and competently contrasted to other learning theories for teaching adults. This richer understanding is enhanced by using different types of data in multiple settings ( <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Jackson, 2012; Wester, 2011 <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">). <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">The purpose of the face-to-face interviews and the focus group is to identify the experience, knowledge, and opinions of master instructors regarding how to optimize a students learning experience ( <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Moustakas, 1994 <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">). Interviews are used in research to obtain experience data ( <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Talmy, 2010 <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">) to gain a better understanding of or insights into experiences, behaviors, processes, opinions, or attitudes ( <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Rowley, 2012 <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">). The categories that result from the data analysis will consist of labels for concepts and themes discovered, and will link to underlying meaning units and descriptive statements.

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Discussion
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">One of the strengths of a grounded theory qualitative approach is that the researcher is able to focus on a specific phenomenon and through multiple data collection methods triangulate themes and meanings into categories that epitomize the phenomenon under study ( <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Burian et al., 2010; Liu et al., 2010 <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">). In qualitative research there is a concentration on meaning and individualized experience, where each participant is essential and irreplaceable, and his or her experience, understanding, knowledge, and opinions become knowable ( <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">McLafferty, Slate, & Onwuegbuzie, 2010; Patton, 2002 <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">). Quantitative research, on the other hand, focuses on the sample as a whole and seeks to generalize findings to the whole population through statistical tests based on measurable constructs ( <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Jackson, 2012 <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">). The purpose of this study is to determine through the individualized experience and knowledge of master instructors “what works” for the adult student, and how these individual instructors facilitate optimized learning for their students. Thus, qualitative research is appropriate for this research question to focus on the meaning of the individual. The research questions are not interested in the “average” techniques and behaviors that will accomplish a task, but are interested in the best practices of specific individuals that influence and encourage the greatest student growth; in this situation, only a qualitative study will do ( <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">McLafferty et al., 2010 <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">). =<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Conclusion = <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">The purpose of this qualitative grounded theory study is to determine the veracity of the andragogical process design elements in the context of the real-life experiences, knowledge, and understanding of master instructors who teach adult learners. This study will be conducted in two phases. Phase one will consist of face-to-face interviews of ten master instructors, while phase two will consist of a single focus group with all of the instructors. The purpose of both phases is to extract the experiences and understandings of these instructors regarding factors for successful engagement and teaching of adult learners to the point of saturation, and then through analysis and triangulation to distill this knowledge into appropriate categories and themes. Once these themes have been developed, a comparison will be made between the themes and the andragogical process elements suggested by Knowles to determine their veracity.

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif;">1. Other scholars think somewhat differently J…have you read Sharan B. Merriam et al. (Learning in adulthood) text?...the <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif;">notion is that andragogy is less so a theory, per se, and more like a set of tenets or principles of characteristics of adult learners (versus a systematic model that explains adult learning processes)… <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif;">2. …although Knowles, Holton, and Swanson (2011) admitted that this type of distinction may be blurred as pedagogical practitioners also report usefulness of andragogy when dealing with pre-adult learners… (Knowles et al. (2011). The adult learner (7th ed.). Burlington, MA: Elsevier. <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">3. Generally, one citation for a direct quote will suffice… <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif;">4. You say ‘master’ above… <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif;">5. What is rationale behind this criterion?...each criterion needs to be supported by some type of justification or reason… <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif;">6. Of approximately what length of time?...where will it take place? <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif;">7. When using constant comparison method the transcribing will be done immediately following each successive interview, right?...this is so to enable ‘constantly comparing’ collected data (via transcripts) as subsequent data continue to be collected…does this make sense?...thus, constant comparison method does not wait until ‘all’ data is collected in order to be implemented… <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif;">8. Coding per grounded theory?...what are sequential steps involved? <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif;">9. How will your (researcher’s) own background and position on andragogy calculate into this study in terms of subjectivity dynamics and interpretive grids used? <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: "Times New Roman",Times,serif;">10. So this will serve as a theoretical framework for subject matter for this study…


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