This guide is designed for administrators of universities, colleges, school boards, and private institutions who wish to consider the implementation of a program for the recognition of prior learning within their institutions. To explain the possibility of transferring learning skills, some examples of the recognition of prior learning are…

This guide was developed in Great Britain to help colleges develop programs for assessment of prior learning (APL) for adult students. (APL involves careers and educational guidance, access to particular courses despite possible lack of traditional certification, accreditation, formal credit toward a particular qualification, and exemption from…

The issue of assessing adult learning prior to formal college level study is examined and presented in this handbook. The handbook offers guidelines for setting standards, provides a review of some of the proven techniques and practices that have been used to evaluate previous learning, addresses a series of issues relevant to particular subject…

This guide is designed to help the counselor work with adult students who cannot attend the 45-hour course on portfolio development and must prepare a portfolio within a program of independent studies. Chapter I gives an overview of the place that andragogical counselors occupy within the academic structure, their educational background, and some…

This study was designed to identify characteristics of college freshmen taking mathematics courses. Students enrolled in basic algebra courses at a regional campus of a large midwestern university participated in the study. Students were administered an instrument which included a "math autobiography," the Adult Mathematics Expectation Scale…

In view of the importance of recognizing and documenting the prior learning of adult students returning to higher education, a project was undertaken to research, construct a system, and write materials for use in assessing the experiential learning acquired by students seeking access to higher education. An extensive research effort was…

This paper is designed to help education and training providers in the United Kingdom understand what accreditation options are available and choose solutions that match their particular needs. It aims to help them appreciate the importance of accreditation to adult learners, understand some terminology, know what choices there are in offering…

A catalog of 205 descriptions of college programs to recruit and retain adult learners is presented, based on a national survey, "Attracting and Retaining Adult Learners" (ARAL), conducted in 1980 by the American College Testing Program. In addition to a brief program description, each program form provides information on the type of program, the…

Both the literature on adult learning and the literature on the composing process focus on students and their behaviors rather than on teachers and their methods or on curricular content and structure. The most productive teaching of nontraditional students and the most useful educational research about them begins with the students themselves,…

This document is intended for further education colleges in the United Kingdom wishing to extend their General National Vocational Qualification (GNVQ) provision to adults, extend their adult students' options for accreditation, or review the suitability of different qualification routes for adults. It presents information about the development of…

This guide is designed to explore how British further education colleges can open up their vocational programs to the whole community and to describe the sort of strategic planning necessary to achieve flexible access. Chapter 1 discusses the content and purpose of the handbook. Chapter 2 provides an overview of the new framework for vocational…

Results of a national survey, "Attracting and Retaining Adult Learners" (ARAL), by the American College Testing Program are summarized. Attention is focused on programs and services that have been successful with adult learners. ARAL respondents were from three types of institutions: (1) those for whom adult learners represent a primary thrust of…

A variety of special financial aid practices that colleges have created to meet the needs of adult students are described, based on a 1983 survey of financial aid directors from more than 100 colleges. Information is provided on campus-based sources of financial aid such as: credit for prior learning programs, financial and career information…

This planning guide and collection of resources is designed to help higher education faculty become more aware of current research and thinking on adult learning and to participate actively in institutional changes that make campuses, particularly in the California State University system, better able to meet the needs of adult students. Each of…

This Skills and Knowledge Profile is designed to help adults identify the wide range of skills and experience they have and give themselves credit for what they have learned outside school. It can be used for training and education programs, education proposals, and for self-assessment. Using checklists, short-answer formats, and line drawings,…