Saturday April 22, 2017
from 9:00am-3:00pm
Eastern Illinois University
Martin Luther King Jr.
University Ballroom
PERSONAL LEARNING
CONFERENCE
Inspiration for personal learning professionals to expand ideas, resources,
and connections in serving their organizations.
Lifelong
Learning
SCHEDULE
8:30 am
Registration opens
9:00-9:15 am
Welcome: Marita Metzke
9:15-10:00 am
Finding Value in the Humanities for
the 21st Century
Rehema Barber
10:00-11:30 am Session 1: Curriculum Development
Richard Jones
Session 2: Disrupt Aging
Julie Vahling
11:45-1:00 pm
Lunch
Round Table Discussions
Kathleen O’Rourke & Elizabeth Rumbaugh
1:00-2:30 pm
Session 3: Evaluation Development
Dr. Jeff Stowell & Dr. Cari Brito
Session 4: Third Age Learning
Dr. Kaye Woodward & Dr. Will Hine
2:30-3:00 pm
Closing
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CONFERENCE CHAIR
Marita Metzke
Marita initially attended Eastern Illinois University, and graduated from Northern Illinois University with a BS degree in Communication Disorders. She later earned a master’s degree in
Management from Baker University, while working for GE in the
consumer credit industry. Operations management occupied
most of her career with Deluxe Financial Services, Inc., Transamerica Home Loans, and IKON until she returned to Illinois in
2007. Her broad interests led to higher education, running the
Academy of Lifelong Learning program that promotes third age
learning for adults in central Illinois. She earned a Certificate in
Gerontology from USC Davis School of Gerontology in 2015.
Personal interests include wellness, nature and gardening, and
reading a wide variety of news articles, memoirs, and fiction.
FINDING VALUE IN THE HUMANITIES
FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
Rehema Barber
Rehema Barber is the Director and Chief Curator of the Tarble
Arts Center at Eastern Illinois University. She has worked for
various institutions such as: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s School of Art + Design, University of Memphis,
Memphis College of Art, Power House Memphis, The Amistad
Center at the Wadsworth Athenueum Museum of Art. Barber
has been a participant in The Japan Foundation’s Curatorial
Exchange Program, the Getty Leadership Institute: The Next
Generation, the Henry Luce Foundation Jewish Art Institute at
NYU, and a Saint Louis Art Museum Romare Bearden Fellow.
Notable exhibitions include Bare Walls, No Boundaries and
Young Americans at the Wadsworth Atheneum; Everywhere,
Nowhere, Somewhere at Power House Memphis; Social
Habitat: The Porch Project by Heather Hart and Painting Is
Dead?! at Figure One, University of Illinois School of Art + Design’s off-campus project space; Venturing Out of the Heart of
Darkness at the Harvey B. Gantt Center; and A Dark Matter…
for the Tarble Arts Center. She has also written for various
publications and blogs such as The Commercial Appeal, Fiber
Arts, International Review of African American Art, Number
Magazine, and Sixty Inches From Center among other outlets.
Barber holds a B.A. from Roosevelt University, an M.A. from
the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and a certification in
Elementary and Secondary Art Education from the University of
Missouri, Saint Louis.
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SESSION 1: CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT
Richard Jones
Richard G. Jones, Jr., Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in
the Department of Communication Studies at Eastern Illinois
University where he is also the Faculty Laureate for 2016-2017.
Rich’s research focuses on how people communicate and perform intersecting identities in various contexts, and he is also
a scholar and teacher of communication pedagogy. He has
been recognized for teaching excellence by the US Professors
of the Year Awards Program, the Illinois Communication and
Theatre Association, Eastern Illinois University, and the Rocky
Mountain Communication Association. He has published numerous scholarly articles, book chapters, student workbooks,
and instructional materials. His textbook Communication in
the Real World is currently in use at over 30 institutions around
the world. In his spare time, Rich enjoys playing with his dogs,
rehabilitating his historic home, and being an active member of
the community theatre scene in East Central Illinois.
Description
Participants will learn to employ pedagogically informed strategies in the
development of relevant and dynamic curricula appropriate for diverse learners.
Concepts to be discussed include: backward design, audience analysis and
adaptation, universal design, and integrative learning.
SESSION 2: DISRUPT AGING
Julie Vahling
Ms. Julie Vahling is an Associate State Director for Advocacy & Outreach with AARP Illinois and is based in the field,
working out of her home in Dieterich, Illinois. She is primarily
responsible for leading outreach and education efforts in Illinois
Congressional Districts 12 and 15. Julie is also responsible
for AARP Illinois’ state and federal advocacy work in those
districts and leading the advocacy work on utility issues at the
state capitol.
Ms. Vahling is a graduate of Eastern Illinois University and her
professional background includes over 16 years of public service. During that time, she twice worked as a District Liaison
for the Illinois Department of Transportation, served as External
Affairs Manager for the Illinois State Treasurer and worked as a
Legislative Aide for the Illinois House of Representatives. She
also spent two years as a public employee organizer with the
Midwest Region Laborers’ Union. All of her positions have
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involved public education and advocacy for residents across southern Illinois. Ms.
Vahling is also an alumnus of the founding class of the Illinois Women’s Institute of
Leadership, an educational non-profit organization that seeks to encourage and
train women to become effective leaders in Illinois government and politics.
Health, Wealth and Self – Owning Your Age
Julie will discuss “Disrupt Aging”, the 2016 book written by AARP’s CEO, Jo Ann
Jenkins. The author articulates the need to redefine what it means to get older.
She encourages us to re-think the negative stories we tell ourselves and each other
about aging. The book chronicles Jo Ann’s journey, as well as those of other individuals, working to change what it means to age in America today.
Disrupt Aging shows us how to embrace opportunity and change the way society
looks at getting older. In her down-to-earth personal style, Jo Ann provides readers
practical, hands-on advice on a broad range of key issues, including:
•
Taking Control of Your Health
•
Choosing Where You Live
•
Making Your Money Last
•
Putting Your Experience to Work
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LUNCH
Healthy Lunch Menu Options
*provided by Illinois Humanities
Spring Mix Salad
Assorted Dinner Rolls
Brown & Wild Rice Chicken Soup
Vegetarian Vegetable Soup
Seasonal Fruit Salad
Cookies
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LUNCH - ROUND TABLE DISCUSSIONS
Ageism with Dr. Kathleen O’Rourke
Dr. Kathleen O’Rourke serves as the M.A. in Aging Studies Graduate Program
Coordinator at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois. Dr. O’Rourke has
been a faculty member in the School of Family and Consumer Sciences since 2001.
Within the M.A. in Aging Studies program, Dr. O’Rourke teaches Consumer and
Management Problems of Older People, Societal Theories of Aging, Aging and the
Family, and Research Methods.
Prior to joining the faculty at EIU, Dr. O’Rourke was employed by St. Mary’s Hospital
(Tennova Healthcare) in Knoxville, Tennessee as a Geriatric Case Manager for the
Employee Assistance Program and a Geriatric Consultant in the Division of Senior
and Community Services. While working in the health care system, Dr. O’Rourke’s
primary duties included: direct care services in a dementia-specific adult day
program for participants and their families, outreach education and support for
caregivers and older adults, grant writing and fund development, and coordination
of intergenerational programming.
Dr. O’Rourke holds a Ph.D. in Family Studies with a specialization in Gerontology
from The University of Tennessee, Knoxville and M.S. and B.S. degrees in
Family and Consumer Sciences-Family Services from Eastern Illinois University
in Charleston.
Book Reviews and Recommendations
with Elizabeth Rumbaugh
Elizabeth is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Communication Disorders and
Sciences at Eastern Illinois University. Elizabeth received her Bachelor of Science
degree in Communication Disorders and Sciences at Eastern Illinois University in
the spring of 2012. She is a graduate assistant for the Masters of Arts in Aging
Studies graduate program under Dr. Kathleen O’Rourke. There, she divides her time
between the Academy of Lifelong Learning and Arbor Rose of Charleston Memory
Care Home. As volunteering is a passion of hers, Elizabeth regularly volunteers with
the Academy of Lifelong Learning sponsored Hospice Care Choir, Camp Quality Illinois, and Together We Cope in Tinley Park, IL. Elizabeth plans to work in a hospital
setting providing speech therapy services to individuals from birth to 80+.
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SESSION 3: EVALUATION DEVELOPMENT
Dr. Cari Brito
Dr. Brito obtained her doctorate in Experimental
Psychology (with emphasis in cognitive processes, visual perception in the elderly, and psychophysics) from the University
of Iowa in 1994. She completed a two year National Institute
on Aging fellowship on aging while working in Dr. Michael
Wall’s Visual Field Lab in the Neuro-Ophthalmology Dept. at
the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. At EIU since 1996,
she regularly teaches Introductory Psychology, History of Psychology, Research Methods, Language Development, and has
mentored over 50 undergraduate researchers and graduate
theses. She has research interests in understanding perceptions toward older adults and how evoked memories can affect
those perceptions. She routinely serves as a research and
statistical consultant to members of the EIU community—
assisting primarily with design and analyses of surveys.
Dr. Jeff Stowell
Dr. Stowell earned his PhD in Psychobiology from The Ohio
State University. He is a Professor and the assistant chair of
the Psychology Department at Eastern Illinois University (EIU)
where he teaches courses in biological psychology, sensation
& perception, learning, and introductory psychology.
He presents regularly at regional psychology conferences and
has mentored numerous undergraduate and graduate student
research projects. His research interests are the psychological
factors that influence endocrine, nervous system, and
immune function and the use of technology to facilitate
student learning.
Description
Participants will have the opportunity to share their experiences with assessment in
their own programs. We will discuss the importance of matching assessments to
program learning objectives and provide principles for constructing quality assessments of individuals and programs. Finally, we will provide an overview of how to
use assessment results to improve future operations.
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SESSION 4: THIRD AGE LEARNING
Dr. Kaye Woodward
Professor Emeritus, Family and Consumer ScienceS
Director (retired), Bachelor of Arts in General Studies Degree Program
With three degrees in Vocational Education, Home Economics Education and
Adult Education, Dr. Woodward has spent more than 33 years working with adults
in Higher Education. Twenty-two of those years were spent as the director of the
Bachelor of Arts in General Studies Degree Program at EIU where she, along with
an excellent staff, assisted more than 1200 adults complete their undergraduate
degree.
Dr. Will Hine
Dr. Will Hine is Dean and Professor Emeritus. He was the founding Dean of the
School of Continuing Education at EIU and served in that role for 28 years. He
has provided leadership for many state and national professional associations. The
Alpha Sigma Lambda National Honor Society established the William C. Hine Distinguished Service Award in 2002 to honor Chapter Councilors for their commitment
to promoting lifelong learning, dedication to serving adult learners, and leadership to
the Alpha Sigma Lambda National Honor Society. In 2011, the William C. Hine
Continuing Education Adult Scholarship was established.
Description
Driven by the Baby Boomer Cohort (Born 1946 -1964) and societal changes, we
are in a lifelong learning society. Older Adult Learning (50+) is expanding greatly and
will continue to develop into the future. This panel discussion will focus on some
of reasons for this great growth in Third Age Learning and explore this issue from
a variety of perspectives. Handouts will be provided, as well as ample time for
discussion.
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Illinois Humanities works to build dialogue across all
sectors of society to examine issues important to
democracy in the focus areas of public policy, media &
journalism, business, and art. Using the humanities as
tools to stimulate discussion, we create experiences
across Illinois through programming, events, and
grantmaking to engage a diverse public on ideas and
issues that matter.
“
“
The excitement of learning separates
youth from old age. As long as
you’re learning you’re not old.
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-Rosalyn S. Yalow
Lifelong
Learning
The Academy of Lifelong Learning at Eastern Illinois
University was created in 2007 to provide non-credit
educational events in area communities for adults of any
age who love to learn. Learning for personal growth
provides rich opportunity to reflect on the world in new
ways, share ideas and viewpoints, and stay engaged.
Large scale, longitudinal research shows some of the
benefits of lifelong learning to be confidence, life satisfaction and improved capacity to cope. Many of our topics
are suggested by Academy members, and taught by
subject matter experts, EIU faculty, and local community
members. Most are offered without charge. Members
may also register to audit a class on campus each
semester, without paying tuition, through the Academy
Pass. Areas of greatest interest include the environment
and science, health, history, culture, and the arts.
Members receive discounted tickets to The Doudna
Fine Arts Center and other benefits at area businesses.
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“
“
Commit yourself to lifelong learning.
The most valuable asset you’ll ever have is
your mind and what you put into it.
-Brian Tracy
Lifelong
Learning