This annual publication serves as a forum for new ideas and dialogue between scholars and the larger public. Essays explore ways that students, administrators, and faculty can initiate and sustain an ongoing conversation about the public life they share. Following a Foreword by Deborah Witte, this issue of the "Higher Education Exchange"…

With work-based learning (WBL) forming an increasingly prevalent dimension of modern higher education practice, conceptual models of the pedagogies underpinning WBL are increasingly emerging. There is broadening recognition of the need to capture and represent the values and presuppositions underlying WBL in order to support facilitators and…

Discusses types of knowledge that should define the academic librarian: (1) background in history and development of higher education; (2) appreciation for history of scholarship and learning; (3) understanding of how knowledge is obtained in various disciplines; (4) ability to evaluate research findings. Three reactions to essay are included.…

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…

Examines grading systems in undergraduate education at a large university, using data from a 12-month ethnographic study. Identifies how grades determine student movement from college to other organizations. Questions relationships of grading systems to students' perceptions of their own knowledge and grading's role in educational outcomes. Finds…

A model for assessing and awarding credit for prior experiential learning is presented; the adult student's experiences are summarized in a portfolio. The model incorporates eight stages: facilitating the construction and assessment of a portfolio, identifying significant prior experiences, expressing the learning outcomes of prior experiences,…

This student guide is directed at the adult student who petitions for college credits based on prior experiential learning. It will assist such adults in maximizing the value of their prior experiences in relation to educational goals and successfully obtaining appropriate credit. The reader is led step by step through the process of identifying…

Metropolitan State University, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, is a competence-based, baccalaureate-degree-granting institution created in 1971 to serve adults. The Operational Models Project was designed to improve the university's program for assessing experiential learning. Specific purposes of the project were: (1) to describe a program for…

This book is designed to help social work students prepare a social work portfolio to be used as a learning guide, and following graduation, as a tool to maintain their social work licenses or other pertinent professional credentials. There are independent and collaborative group learning exercises as well as portfolio preparation exercises…