The Foundations of Adult Education course introduces participants to key elements from the background and theory of adult education and the cognitive sciences. They will discuss the characteristics of the adult learner and adult learning, and outline key roles of the adult educator. In addition, participants will develop skills related to reflective practice, communication, and the use of learning tools. They will use search strategies to access resources which they will require in their work. Participants will be introduced to concepts and techniques used to plan for teaching and learning. They will examine ways to create positive environments for learning in courses, workshops, presentations, and short forms of on-the-job training.

The Curriculum Development course introduces participants to a range of theories and approaches to curriculum development, such as competency-based education and outcomes-based education. Although this course introduces such general concepts of curriculum theory and practice, the course focuses primarily upon the design and development of curriculum documents. In particular, participants will develop material related to their own work environment. In addition, participants will develop skills related to instructional design such as the development of plans for teaching and learning. The course highlights the importance of alignment; that is, the connection between course outcomes/goals, delivery of instruction, and the assessment and evaluation of learning.

The Delivery of Instruction course provides participants with the opportunity to prepare, deliver and debrief three short (10 min.) mini-lessons with the rest of the class. Participants are encouraged to select one lesson from each of the three domains of learning (cognitive, affective, psychomotor). They are expected to use a variety of techniques while they present content and processes in a clear, enthusiastic and interactive manner. They will provide useful feedback to other course participants. The instructor will critique each lesson as well. Participants will then reflect critically on each lesson they taught and prepare a written reflective report describing their progress and learning during the course. This particular approach has been proven to be highly effective in increasing instructional skills in adult educators.

The Evaluation of Learning course examines the practices that support the assessment and evaluation strategies used in education and training. The course provides the knowledge and skills to design and implement a comprehensive strategy for obtaining information that is used to inform learners of their progress and guide them to successful completion. The course enables the participants to plan, construct and use assessment instruments that are appropriate and ethical to their teaching context.

The Media Enhanced Learning course enables participants to create, select, use and justify media, technology and tools for their various teaching and learning environments. The course emphasizes the application of media related concepts, copyright laws, media approaches and learning theories in the creation and selection of instructional media. Participants will investigate the current trends and issues, and will work with a wide range of instructional media tools.

The Instructional Strategies course provides participants with the opportunity to experience and learn about a variety of instructional strategies and techniques which they can apply to their own teaching practice. Participants will develop and adapt motivational strategies to better engage their students. They will also learn how to manage classrooms and handle difficult situations in a respectful, professional manner. Participants will use creative techniques and frameworks to help their students learn how to learn and how to think critically and creatively.

The Professional Practice course introduces participants to the issues, themes and concepts of effective instruction, instructor competencies, informal and formal assessment and evaluation of instruction, as well as ethics, professionalism and career management. A central focus of the course is the use of feedback mechanisms to guide instruction and to improve one’s professional practice. Participants are also introduced to the purposes and methods of course evaluation. They will define their vision of effective instruction and design feedback instruments that assess their instructional competencies. Participants will analyze dilemmas and suggest resolutions to the problems that confront many adult educators. Using ethical principles and codes of conduct as reference points, they will strengthen and articulate their understanding of professionalism, which highlights the importance of ethical and professional behavior in their practice. The course also highlights the importance of developing a career management strategy which includes a professional development plan.

During the Capstone Project, participants will reflect upon the themes and concepts, key insights and points of learning from each PIDP course and how they understand the integration of these insights in terms of their own work. The participants will develop and deepen the reflection of their personal experiences in the program and the implications for their practice, and articulate a personal teaching philosophy. Last, the participants will design, deliver, digitally record and self-assess a 45-90 minute lesson which will be delivered in a real setting. This is a self-paced course in which participants work on their own, in consultation with their PIDP Advisor, to complete the course requirements.

At the end of this course, learners will be able to design, deliver, and evaluate adult education courses and programs in a manner that is compatible with the latest research on how the brain learns, remembers, and forgets. Learners will have an understanding of how the brain functions. They will be able to discuss intelligently contemporary issues in brain research such as the brain and mental illness, critical thinking, moral development, new theories of intelligence, differences in male and female brains, wisdom and intelligence and others. An underlying goal is to have students become very interested in brain research and its implications for education to the point that they will continue to follow developments in this field for the rest of their lives.

This course will focus on the challenges and opportunities of teaching in contexts of increasing cultural diversity. Participants will examine benefits and drawbacks of using models of culture and cultural values in analyzing classroom behaviours. Participants will identify strategies for promoting inclusion, respect, and trusting relationships between students in multicultural groups of learners.

Facilitating Learning Online Fundamental provides participants with the opportunity to facilitate a short, pre-designed online learning activity for other course participants, usually with a small group. Online tools such as polls and forums will be used to facilitate learning activities. Participants will practice providing useful feedback in an online setting to other participants as they facilitate their own activities. Participants will also engage in reflection each week focusing on what has been learned and how it might be applied to other contexts. Facilitating Learning Online Fundamentals was first made available by BCcampus under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Facilitating Learning Online Design provides participants with the opportunity to plan a unit of online learning and a prototype learning activity using an intentional design strategy. Progress on design projects will be shared weekly using simple visual tools. Participants will give and act on constructive feedback weekly, and present their projects to each other at the end of the course. Participants will also engage in reflection each week focusing on what has been learned and how it might be applied to other contexts. Facilitating Learning Online Design was first made available by BCcampus under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

This course is designed for instructors who would like to implement collaborative learning strategies in their classrooms. It is a very practical course that will give learners experience working in collaborative learning groups using a variety of instructional techniques. Learners will plan implementation strategies for their own classrooms.

Post-secondary classrooms and other adult learning environments are more linguistically and culturally diverse than ever before. In this course, students will explore issues, learn skills and reflect on attitudes and values in order to create a supportive learning environment for all students. Students will learn foundational concepts in TESOL (Teaching English as a Second or Other Language) and strategies to support the needs of multilingual learners. They will also apply these concepts and strategies in lesson and course planning for their specific learning and teaching contexts.  The focus of this course is on the practical strategies and techniques for teaching multilingual learners in discipline specific content courses.

This course is for educators who would like to use a variety of strategies to provide feedback to their students to promote learning. Through interactive activities and practical application of the concepts, learners will explore how to give and accept feedback and prepare their learners to accept feedback. Participants will explore how to use audio, video and written feedback to support formative and summative assessments.