Framing an Applied Science to Support Adult Working Learners

This project aims to serve the national interest by setting a broad agenda for applied science that will serve to improve educational opportunities for adult working learners. These are adults who are seeking postsecondary learning opportunities over the course of their lives. Despite widespread recognition of the need for effective and accessible learning opportunities for adult Americans, the nation is without shared scientific or policy goals for serving this vast population and lacks protocols for the cross-sector collaborative activity this service requires.

The project fills this gap, with special foci on educational opportunities related to STEM careers and on working learners served by community colleges. STEM education and pathways into STEM-related occupations are the target domains of the entire endeavor.

The project outcomes include the specification of (a) a taxonomy of the kinds of people and life circumstances that comprise the broad category of working learners, (b) applied research goals whose pursuit will serve to improve the educational and occupational success of working learners, and (c) templates for cross-sector sharing of data, expertise, and infrastructure to pursue this applied research. Attendees will meet virtually as a whole on four consecutive Wednesdays in July.

Outputs include a portfolio of policy briefs outlining a vision for applied research in such domains as: building a taxonomy of working learners; framing a learning science for specifically for adults; building the social science of academic progress and credential returns for working learners; dynamics of evaluation, hiring and retention of adults seeking employment through alternative pathways; envisioning a data infrastructure to observe the careers of working learners; and serving working learners in community colleges. The portfolio of policy briefs will be disseminated to the general public via a dedicated web page and presentations.

The NSF IUSE:EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. The NSF Science of Organizations Program in the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Directorate is providing co-funding for this project in recognition of its relevance to the study of workforce and organizational development.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.