These proceedings contain 17 papers from plenary sessions, workshops, and other presentations at a conference to consider and clarify major issues in assessment and standards in vocational education and training, including identification of problems and suggested solutions. A summary of discussions follows most presentations. Plenary session…

People use and extend their knowledge of the physical world constantly. Understanding how this fluency is achieved would be an important milestone in understanding human learning and intelligence, as well as a useful guide for constructing machines that learn. This paper presents a theoretical framework that is being developed in an attempt to…

A total of 50 papers are presented from the George Mason University (Virginia) fourth annual conference on nontraditional and interdisciplinary programs. They are grouped in the following major categories: adjunct faculty, corporate/university linkages, experiential learning, graduate nontraditional programs, interdisciplinary program issues,…

Stephens College Without Walls will grant college credits for prior experiential learning, if properly documented. Proficiency examinations, non-college transcript credit, work experiences, volunteer activities, homemaking, workshops or seminars, recreational activities or hobbies, independent reading, or licenses are categories of experiences for…

A study extended studies on use of prior learning assessment and recognition (PLAR) by concentrating on learners/students outside of the college system and exploring student experience with all dimensions of the use of PLAR. Fourteen university students were interviewed. Findings indicated respondents had re-entered formal education by novel means…

The paper describes the rationale and 10-day implementation in a 5th-grade classroom (n=19) of an experimental ratio-and-proportion instructional design. In this constructivist-phenomenological design, coming from our theoretical perspective, design research, and domain analysis, students: (1) link "real-world" and "mathematical" objects…

To reduce curricular fragmentation in science education, reform recommendations include using common, unifying themes such as scaling to enhance curricular coherence. This study involved 215 participants from five groups (grades 5, 7, 9, and 12, and doctoral students), who completed written assessments and card sort tasks related to their…

Educational institutions need to help women get a better education by taking into account the learning they have acquired through experience in homemaking, volunteer work, and other activities. This paper examines the need for recognition of women's prior learning by educational institutions and delves into some of the intricacies of the process.…

The Task Force on Educational Credit and Credentials of the American Council on Education undertook a two-year study to determine how postsecondary education's system for awarding credit and credentials can be changed or its adequacy improved to meet today's educational and social needs. This book sets forth the Task Force's report and…

N.F.S. Grundtvig was a priest, historian, poet, and founder of the Danish Folk High School. He believed that education for adults should be geared to adults and wanted schools to be independent of the church. Grundtvig was among the first to call for Denmark's schools to use the native Danish language. Grundtvig believed that each group or culture…

In recent years a movement has developed at the high school level to address issues of cost and educational improvement through Proficiency-Based Credit Assessment (PBCA). With PBCA, students can receive credit by demonstrating their proficiency without actually taking a course. A national mail survey conducted by the Utah State Office of…

Current practice in accreditation of prior and informal learning in the United Kingdom was examined through a review of literature on how the accreditation of prior and informal learning is being used to gain access to higher education or toward certification of a National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) or Scottish Vocational Qualification (SVQ).…

This paper explores the significance of experiential learning in promoting scholarship from a constructivist point of view. Chapter 1 examines the historical perspectives and educational theories that form the basis to experiential education. Chapter 2 explores the work of Jean Piaget, giving a description and explanation of his theories and how…

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…

A study examined the policies and practices that higher educational institutions in the United Kingdom have adopted towards experiential learning as a means of fulfilling entrance requirements. Included among the major activities of the project were a comparative analysis of United Kingdom and United States policies and practices with respect to…