Adult students follow many paths to college. They often return to college later in life
after having left college as a traditional student. Many come to college for the first time
several years after high school. Often they approach college after some change in their work,
family, or personal situation. Adult students experience college in addition to the rest of
their life. Their college connection comes within a web of other connections.
Adult students are examples of centrifugal growth, of academic growth towards
outward roles and experiences. Adults do experience the inward journey of
intellectual and personal development, but they also have an outward journey of selfefficacy.
They significantly impact the daily lives of their children, their families,
their fellow workers, and their communities. These individuals translate and apply
the knowledge and skill of the undergraduate experience to their daily world of adult
life. The undergraduate classroom, the family gathering, and the workplace staff
meeting are all of equal importance in a teaching-learning exchange. As adults, they
value and wish to learn expertise from the undergraduate experience, but they also
view themselves as experts in their own domains of life. Adults do not live apart;
rather, they are a part of their world. (Kasworm, 1990 p. 366)
These connections and experiences make them both very committed to learning and
more likely to leave college. They have higher grade point averages and they are more likely
to drop out. They actively participate in classroom dialogues and have trouble trying to
balance the demands of work and family and school. They experience life changes that fuel
a return to college and that paradoxically also stall or block their persistence. (Introduction by author)

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) is usually associated with assessment processes prior to entry into an educational programme. This paper considers the recognition of prior learning in post-entry pedagogy (referred to here "rpl" lower case). The focus is on informal learning or experience in courses in Labour Law at two universities in South Africa. Transcripts of interactions between lecturers and students are viewed in the light of three common perspectives on RPL and then in terms of a proposed new disciplinary-specific approach. This approach exhorts adult educators to consider the nature and structure of a discipline or field of study and the relationship between formal and informal knowledge within that structure to ensure the authenticity of a programme and the success within it of students with extensive practical experience but limited formal qualifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR].

The mission of New Horizons in Adult Education and Human Resource Development is to promote all aspects of practice and research that explore issues of individual, group, and organizational learning, wherever they may be located and focuses on current research and ideas in adult education, human resource development, and related fields. We are interested in honoring work done in urban, suburban, rural, and international contexts.

Examines the outcomes of engaging in self-rating and assessment as perceived by students of an adult learning program. Emergence of fifteen themes representing specific outcomes of self-assessment from an inductive analysis of data; Indications that self-assessment serves as a powerful instrument for experiential learning.

A scholarly journal with a practical intent devoted to improving the efforts of adult educators working with low-literate, educationally disadvantaged, and educationally oppressed people.

E-journal consist of academic articles and book reviews about research and theory in adult continuing education.

A series of thematic journals exploring issues of common interest to instructors, administrators, counselors and policy makers in a broad range of adult and continuing education settings

This study investigated the factor structure of motivational constructs as expressed by older adult learners and examined how these constructs correlated with selected socio-demographic characteristics at the National Open University of Taiwan (NOUT). Results were based on the responses of 371 elders to the 32-item Reasons for Participation Scale (Steele 1984). Factor analysis yielded four aspects of motivation that described themes of keeping up and fulfillment, intellectual stimulation, escape and social contact, and adjustment. Among them, intellectual stimulation appeared to be the strongest attractor while escape and social contact was least important. Meanwhile, it is suggested that gender, age, level of formal education, and employment status had no significant difference on participants' motivational disposition at NOUT. Similarities and differences between this study and past research were discussed in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR].