Assessment of achievement seemingly conflicts with the adult education principle of the intrinsic value of learning. Assessment and accreditation can support adult learning if the curriculum is based on learner needs and if assessment and accreditation are based on the needs of the curriculum. (SK)

Problems in research on participation in adult education include the following: (1) treatment of participants as voluntary, which ignores the growth of compulsory training in the workplace; (2) lack of knowledge about the choice to be a nonlearner; (3) individualistic focus; and (4) inadequate investigation of informal learning. (SK)

Planning for adult learning necessitates (1) identifying learner needs; (2) specifying aims and objectives; (3) rethinking content from learners' point of view; and (4) consulting and negotiating with adult students. (SK)

Open Access courses in Great Britain are a means of increasing adult student enrollment in science, engineering, and technology. However, these mature students are not performing as well in the physical and natural sciences as in the social sciences and humanities, raising questions about the curriculum, teaching methods, and assessment used with…