Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine how students with workplace learning experience the process of the assessment of prior experiential learning (APEL) in higher education. Design/methodology/approach: This is an inductive and exploratory study drawing on methodology from the field of academic literacies. It addresses two questions:…

Relationships were examined between prior experience with training, goal orientation, gender and training attitudes. Participants (n = 165) had a minimum of six months of work experience. Results from regression analyses indicated that mastery-approach goal orientation had a beneficial effect on training attitudes for men but not for women. In…

When assessment of prior learning is used to teach self-reflection, it encourages developmental growth. Techniques that support development include goals statements, autobiographies, and experiential learning essays. (SK)

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)

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 influx of an unprecedented number of reentry women into educational programs and paid work requires more research on the transferability of women's competencies and life experiences to specific occupations. A questionnaire was developed to survey the life experiences of adult women (N=131) who were participating in various programs of career…

Colleges and universities have responded to the need of adults to possess academic credentials by designing programs flexible enough to fit any situation. Portfolio assessment, independent study, credit-by-exam, and credit for prior learning are among the ways people earn degrees. Some women's experiences and sources for study cited. (MLW)

This qualitative study focuses on ten graduate students in an English education master's program, who were enrolled in a course that I taught on teaching literature in the secondary school. I had restructured the course to make students the center of a series of conversations. For the study, I drew upon memory theory to examine their imagined…

One task of Project ACCESS was to try out a process that had been developed to assess the life experiences of women for entry into employment and for entry or advanced placement in vocational education programs. The process involved using an inventory of women's experiences and skills, the Experience Description Summary (EDS), and competency…

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 feminist movement has encouraged women to question their traditional roles as volunteers and voluntary organizations have been reconsidering the ways they have used volunteers. Responses of higher education, such as the offering of volunteer administration curricula and credit for prior learning in women's studies, are discussed. (MLW)

This article uses primary and secondary research on educational, social, and political theory in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to argue that the history of service-learning must be revised to include Jane Addams' pioneering work. A full consideration of Addams significantly revises understanding the origins of service-learning, suggesting…

Competency scales were developed for 10 direct-entry occupations and 10 vocational education programs as part of Project ACCESS, a project to assess women's life experience learning for entrance into employment and for advanced placement in vocational education programs. Development of the occupational scales involved employer interviews, followed…

Problems and barriers concerning transfer policies, residency, and graduation requirements that women often face when reentering the educational system are identified. Additionally, ways in which institutions can be more responsive to the needs of reentry students are suggested. A wide range of possible actions is included so that institutions can…

Describes two Educational Testing Service projects conducted to identify skills that women acquire through life experiences which are helpful to success in occupations and vocational programs, and to develop materials for experience-job linkages: Project ACCESS (Assessing Competencies Concerned with Employment and School Success) and Project HAVE…