important when teaching adults who are already employed in their career fields, or pursuing a career change through higher education. Writing research papers or accomplishing group projects are common activities that resemble tasks students will likely perform on their jobs. One excellent opportunity to provide meaningful assignments is found in events sponsored by professional associations and societies. These include poster competitions, annual meeting presentations and essay contests. These events may be student competitions or invitations to working professionals to share their innovations, research and writing. No matter the agenda or the rules, the guidelines for such events are easily adaptable as student assignments.

Identifying value-added assignments that offer meaningful professional development opportunities can be a challenge. Educators at all levels are eager to offer their students course deliverables that improve and expand their skill sets. This goal becomes increasingly important when teaching adults who are already employed in their career fields, or pursuing a career change through higher education. Writing research papers or accomplishing group projects are common activities that resemble tasks students will likely perform on their jobs. One excellent opportunity to provide meaningful assignments is found in events sponsored by professional associations and societies. These include poster competitions, annual meeting presentations and essay contests. These events may be student competitions or invitations to working professionals to share their innovations, research and writing. No matter the agenda or the rules, the guidelines for such events are easily adaptable as student assignments.

As an example, many professional organizations host poster competitions at their annual meetings. These sessions typically highlight innovations and accomplishments in the field and provide a means for sharing ideas and successes. The rules of these poster competitions are generally very well defined and are available through Web sites and/or by contacting the sponsoring professional organization. Poster events are common across the spectrum of career fields and specialties within those fields. Typically, the poster competitions require submission of a brief abstract or outline of the proposed poster. Authoring these abstracts provides an excellent activity for students who may have never written an abstract. Students benefit from the challenge of writing a document that communicates their objectives in a very concise and focused format. Additionally, the abstracts provide the faculty member specific information as to the planned effort of the student or student group. Using the abstract as a starting point, the faculty member can "coach" the poster project toward successful completion. The effort of designing and delivering a quality poster will challenge the students in terms of research and presentation. Accomplished as a group endeavor, a poster project will present the added challenges of content debate, layout deliberations and the division of labor.

Utilizing the published guidelines for sponsored competitions offers a number of advantages:

• Provides ready-made and specific guidance for task accomplishment

The merits of linking classroom activities to the workplace, especially with adults who are already working, cannot be denied. While workplaces may not sponsor poster competitions or essay contests, the skills acquired through these activities are wholly transferable to skills workers require every day — conceptualization, communication, presentation and collaboration. Examination of the various events sponsored by professional organizations may yield an excellent activity that can be adapted to the classroom. The Internet provides a helpful means for locating and downloading the guidelines for poster contests and essay competitions. Modest adaptation of the published guidance will result in a meaningful and challenging assignment that the students will embrace and enjoy. As the 1970’s Alka-Seltzer advertising slogan said, "Try It, You’ll Like It!"