Professor, Doctoral Student Awarded Imogene Okes Award for Outstanding Research in Adult Education

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From left, Kevin Roessger, James Weese and Elizabeth Roumell

The American Association for Adult and Continuing Education recently awarded the 2020 Imogene Okes Award for Outstanding Research in Adult Education to Kevin Roessger, an associate professor of Adult and Lifelong Learning at the University of Arkansas, and James Weese, a doctoral student.

Elizabeth Roumell, an associate professor at Texas A&M University who collaborated with Roessger and Weese, was also named on the award.

This national award recognizes researchers who significantly contribute to the advancement of adult and continuing education. It honors the memory of Imogene Okes, whose reports on adult education participation have been widely used and quoted in the field. It's given annually by the AAACE for original research done by single or joint authors that reflects the ideals for which Okes stood. Nominated works exemplify outstanding and original research in adult education.

The three authored an article entitled, "Rethinking andragogical assumptions in the global age: How preferences for andragogical learning vary across people and cultures." It was published in the Studies in Continuing Education journal earlier this year.

Roessger expressed appreciation for Michael Hevel, chair of the Rehabilitation, Human Resources and Communication Disorders program at the U of A, for supporting their research.

"Dr. Hevel made funding available to James to work on the coding for the andragogical project and for me to attend the national Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies training conference in Houston, Texas, in 2017," he said.

Roessger teaches courses in quantitative data analysis and adult learning theory in the College of Education and Health Professions at the U of A. He received a bachelor's in psychology, a master's in administrative leadership, and a doctorate in adult and continuing education from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He serves as co-editor of Adult Education Quarterly and as a regular reviewer for the journals Adult Learning and Journal of Continuing Higher Education. His research focuses on evidence-informed practices and policies for adult learners. He has published numerous articles and book chapters in the field's leading outlets and just recently completed a yearlong longitudinal analysis of community factors predicting adult student participation in public universities.

Weese is a doctoral candidate studying Educational Statistics and Research Methods at the U of A. He defended his dissertation last month. He earned a master's degree in mathematics from the U of A in 2015, and a bachelor's degree in math from the University of Nebraska - Kearney in 2013. His research focuses on differential item functioning. He also uses statistics and research methods to conduct empirical research that has the potential to help make informed, data-driven decisions.

Roumell is an associate professor and program leader for the Adult Education specialization at Texas A&M. She's co-editor for Adult Education Quarterly and was recently named an Annenberg Research Fellow with the Barbara Bush Family Literacy Foundation.