Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) is an important policy that enables adult learners to complete their credentials by demonstrating their life experience is worthy of earning college credit. PLA policy in the state of Colorado remains a priority for the government and state agencies and understanding Colorado faculty perspectives of and experiences…

This quasi-experimental study investigated the impact of visual art making on the cortisol levels of 39 healthy adults. Participants provided saliva samples to assess cortisol levels before and after 45 minutes of art making. Participants also provided written responses about the experience at the end of the session. Results indicate that art…

There have been a limited number of studies on the short-term influence of environmental and earth education programs, however, not much information is available about the long-term influence of these programs on participants' environmental attitudes and actions. This mixed methods study explores the long-term influence of the earth education…

Prior experience learning often requires new and different kinds of measurement techniques. Methods are described that have been developed to identify and assess the prior experiential learning of adult women from their unpaid work in the home and the community. (Author/PN)

The author presents a diagrammatic model of experiential learning and how it can be facilitated. His declared intention is to present an account of ongoing experiences and of the development of his own thinking, as a stimulus for the further development of readers who facilitate experimental learning. (Author/CH)

A study sought to determine the usefulness of the learning women acquire through life experience to entry level jobs in selected occupations. Methodology included sending sixteen sets of nine questionnaires to women in women's centers displaced homemaker centers, and counseling centers in seven states (131 replies, 91 percent response). The…

The process of assessing prior experiential learning can be painful as adults analyze traumatic or embarrassing experiences, revisit disturbing problems, and find their confidence in past experiences shaken. (SK)

With the increase in mature, highly (although informally) educated students returning to or beginning high school or college, the need for a system of crediting prior experiential learning has also increased. Prior experiential learning refers to knowledge for which no course corresponding to a student's learning exists in a curriculum, but that…

Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR) is a new field, but it has a long history, since children have always learned from adults and demonstrated their competence by observation of their work or by the quality of their products or services. Later, formal learning became more valuable and recognized school credentials paved the way to…

This course is designed to assist adults in documenting their prior experience, gaining an understanding of the policy and practices of recognition of prior learning (RPL), and then applying for RPL in either further education or employment. The 30-hour course is designed to be delivered over a series of weeks to allow time for students to reflect…

A study sought to find out how many skills which women learn through life experience can be transferred to selected postsecondary vocational education programs. Methodology included mailing sixteen sets of nine questionnaires to women in women's centers, displaced homemaker centers, and counseling centers in seven states. Questionnaires covered…

The Defense Activity for Nontraditional Education Support (DANTES) Program is a testing service conducted by the Educational Testing Service for DANTES, an agency of the Department of Defense. DANTES' mission is to help service members obtain credit for knowledge and skills acquired through non-traditional educational experiences. Since World War…

In a society characterized by change, people are faced with many opportunities to acquire practical knowledge outside the traditional environment of academic institutions using the same basic evaluation criteria and guarantee the validity and reliability of assessment. A prior learning assessment (PLA) program has the following economic benefits:…

The purpose of the review reported here is to identify what has been and is being done in formally recognizing the educational and career relevance of the skills and competencies which women learn from their life experiences. Methodology noted includes survey of published literature and interviews with organizations, projects, and individuals to…

The skills of the workforce are an important contributor to the economic vitality of any region, leading economic developers to consider how to connect their efforts to workforce development and help to build the skills of adults generally. This report, produced for the U.S. Department of Labor's Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic…