Most research about prior learning assessment (PLA) has focused on the practice of PLA from institutional perspectives and not on the experience of PLA from the learner's perspective. Knowledge about the impact of PLA on learners is important in designing PLA courses and teaching methods. This study developed a substantive theory regarding what aspects of the PLA process foster changes in adult learners by examining their perspectives on their own change processes in the context of a portfolio course. The study sought to determine what changes are experienced by adult learners who participate in a portfolio course for prior learning assessment, and which aspects of the portfolio course are perceived to cause the change.

Data were gathered from 3 sources for each of 12 adult learners in 2 bachelor's degree programs for adult learners at a liberal arts college: interviews, portfolios, and learning journals. The substantive theory that emerged suggested 4 components of the portfolio course as most central to adult learners' experience of change: (a) a model for reflecting on and articulating learning from experience, including surfacing tacit knowledge, trying on multiple perspectives, and questioning assumptions; (b) a narrative (draft-redraft) writing process that fosters objectification of experience; (c) exposure to other perspectives, especially one's peers; and (d) a mentor who provides encouragement and challenge. The substantive theory links PLA practice with conceptual frameworks for PLA reflected in the literature: experiential learning and reflective practice, transformative learning, adult constructive development, and critical social theory. Prior learning assessment appears to foster changes in some adult learners' awareness of and ability to examine their own perspectives, awareness of their learning process, and awareness of others' perspectives.

Implications for PLA as a vehicle for social change include its potential for fostering learners' ability to question tacit assumptions and to take multiple perspectives, which would enable them to engage more effectively in an increasingly complex, ambiguous, and diverse global society. Recommendations included making transformative learning and developmental change an intentional goal rather than a side-benefit of PLA in programs for adult learners. (Author's abstract)