Dr. Yu-Chun Kuo, a Jackson State University assistant professor of Instructional Design and Development, has won a grant from the Association for Continuing Higher Education to help fund her research proposal related to adult learners.
Kuo’s proposal, “The Impact of Using Information and Communication Technologies on Adult Learners: Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Learning Outcomes of African American Undergraduates,” is the recipient of the 2013 ACHE Alex Charters Research Grant.
The award will be presented during the ACHE Annual Conference and Meeting in Lexington, Ky., on Nov. 5.
“I appreciate the grant opportunity offered through ACHE that supports my research ideas of implementing technologies into teaching and learning among African-American adult learners,” Kuo said. “I am very excited to get started on the project.”
David Grebel, president of the ACHE, lauded JSU’s ongoing engagement in the work of continuing education.
“We do not give this award every year. It depends on the application. Dr. Kuo’s application is outstanding. We were honored to be able to make the grant to her,” Grebel said.
The School of Lifelong Learning is a department within the College of Education and Human Development. College of Education Dean Daniel Watkins congratulated Kuo on the award.
“This research has the potential to make a tremendous impact on learning outcomes,” Watkins said.
Kuo’s research project is intended to investigate African American adult learners’ attitudes of using technologies, technology self-efficacy, and the impact of technology self-efficacy on cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes in face-to-face learning settings with the utilization of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Due to the rapid revolution of ICTs, integrating technologies in the classroom to improve student learning has been a trend in the last two decades. Kuo said that although ICTs have been accepted and frequently utilized by most of the younger generations, not all of the people have equal chances to access the newly developed ICTs, depending on their ages, socio-economic status, and ethnicity.
Due to the lack of research in technology integration among the African-American population, there is a need to investigate African-American adult learners’ perceptions of utilizing technologies and the influence of using technologies on student learning, Kuo said.
Kuo is the second faculty member within Cohort I of JSU’s Academy for Research and Scholarly Engagement to receive a grant award. Launched in the fall of 2012, the academy provides researchers with support and coaching to develop their ideas into funded research projects.