NAN L. TRAVERS, PH.D.

1
Research Perspective United States of America

• PRESENTED BY
• NAN L. TRAVERS, PH.D.
• EMPIRE STATE COLLEGE
• THOMPSON RIVERS UNIVERSITY
• OPEN LEARNING
• KAMLOOPS, BC
• JULY, 2009

2
The United States of America expands beyond the
mainland.
3
(No Transcript)
4
United States of America

• Educational Systems are governed by individual
  states, and by systems within states.
• Higher Education is funded by federal, state and
  tuition dollars.
• Prior to 2000, poor articulation across many
  institutions.
• Higher Education reviewed by seven Accreditation
  Bodies, NOT affiliated with the national
  government - based on self-review, peer
  evaluated through institutional portfolio.
• Many academic programs are affiliated with
  professional accreditations, NOT affiliated with
  the national government - based on self-review,
  peer evaluated through program portfolio.

5
Adult Focused Institutions/Organizations

• Early 70s a group of northeast institutions
  were created to meet the needs of adults these
  are still fairly true to their original mission.
• Charter Oak State College CT
• Granite State College, University of NH (formally
  College of Lifelong Learning) NH
• Community College of Vermont VT
• Empire State College NY
• Excelsior College (formally Regents College -
  private) - NY
• Thomas Edison State College NJ
• University Maryland University College -MD
• CAEL founded by Morris Keaton (1974)
• IRAHE Institute for Research on Adults in
  Higher Education UMUC founded by Morris Keaton
• National Institute on the Assessment of Adult
  Learning (TESC)
• National Council on Adult Learning (NCAL) ESC
• Graduate programs in Adult Learning Programs
  begin at a few Universities
• Research focus begins on the adult learner

6
Federal Shifts in Education in 21st Century

• No Child Left Behind Act (Bush Administration)
  2001 focused totally on limited learning criteria
  and attached funding to these criteria. Higher
  Education was threatened that a similar act would
  be coming.
• Severe cuts in federal funding for all education.
• Federal financial aid increased mandated
  reporting requirements of Higher Education
  institutions. All other federal funded programs
  increased mandated reporting requirements.
• States started increasing accountability measures
  that required common measures across their
  institutions.

7
Research in Prior Learning Assessment (PLA)

• General Themes
• Effectiveness and Efficiencies (early research)
• Best Practices
• Persistence
• Cognitive Transformational Process

8
Effectiveness and Efficiency

• Early research indicates assessing prior
  college-level learning from experiences increase
  effectiveness and efficiencies for the student
  and the college.
• At the same time, a greater emphasis on
  articulation across institutions increases.
• Results in an increased effort to find ways to
  standardize the assessing prior learning
• PLA practices increase in course-match models.
• Pre-evaluated learning and exams increases (ACE,
  NPONSI, DANTES, CLEP, etc.)

9
Research in Best Practices

• Empire State College
• Travers, N.L., et. al., 2009, Faculty Voices A
  Cinderella Story at the PLA Ball. All About
  Mentoring, Vol. 35.
• Hoffman, T., Travers, N. L., Evans, M.,
  Treadwell, A. (2009) PLA Faculty/Specialist
  Evaluator Training Part I and Part II Research
  Results From A Multi-Institutional Study Of
  Applied Methods. The National Institute On The
  Assessment Of Adult Learning 2009 The Next
  Generation. Princeton, NJ.
• Journal of Continuing Higher Education (PLA
  Corner, Debbi Dagavarian)
• Travers (in process) examined 25 articles over
  last 9 years mostly based on PLA practices.
• Overall, institution after institution,
  anecdotally found that PLA practices enhance
  persistence, students learning, students
  efficacy, students transformation and other
  hallmarks of success.
• Council of Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL)
• Prior Learning Portfolios A Representative
  Collection - by Denise M. Hart and Jerry H.
  Hickerson (2008)
• Statewide PLA Policy By Kathleen Glancey, CAEL
  (2007)
• Prior Learning Assessment Current Policy and
  Practice in the U.S. By Rebecca Klein-Collins
  (2006)
• Prior Learning Assessment A Guidebook to
  American Institutional Practices - by Brian J.
  Zucker, Chantell C. Johnson, and Thomas A. Flint
  (1999)

10
Research in Persistence

• Pearson, W. S. (2000). Enhancing adult student
  persistence The relationship between prior
  learning assessment and persistence toward the
  baccalaureate degree. Unpublished Dissertation,
  Iowa State University.
• Prior research early 1990s showed community
  college students who engaged in PLA had higher
  rates of persistence (Freers, 1994 Snyder,
  1990).
• Examined persistence with adult students at a
  mid-western college. Compared those who did and
  did not participate in PLA.
• Looked at the association of persistence with
  age, gender, HS class rank, prior credits, GPA
  and PLA - Slight relationship with GPA, Strong
  relationship with Prior Credits and PLA.
• When combined in a predictive model, PLA
  significantly increased persistence regardless of
  the number of prior credits or GPA. (Persistence
  rate for those who completed PLA 75 vs. 39 for
  those who did not.)

11
Persistence (cont.)

• Council for Adult and Experiential Learning
  (CAEL) Data are being collected July, 2009.
• Examining the same cohort year at about 50
  institutions.
• Looking at variables of persistence, such as
• Degrees or certificates earned and dates
• Total Credit Hours, Transfer Credits and PLA
  credits earned,
• Degree goal (associates, bachelors, other)
• Gender Race/Ethnicity Year of birth
• Grade point average on date last enrolled
• Financial aid recipient
• Remedial or developmental credits earned post
  enrollment ESL credits earned post enrollment
• GED, SAT, Placement scores such as
  Compass/ACCUPLACER
• Military service status
• Results to be presented at CAEL 2009
  International Conference

12
Persistence (cont.)

• Fonte, L. F., (2008). Implications to the
  institution of awarding credit for prior learning
  assessment. Journal of Continuing Higher
  Education, Vol. 56, No. 1.
• Found over 10 year period, those students who
  completed PLA portfolio had graduation rate of
  88.

13
Cognitive Transformation

• LeGrow, M. R., Sheckley, B.G., Kehrhahn, M.
  (2002). Comparison of problem-solving performance
  between adults receiving credit via assessment of
  prior learning and adults completing classroom
  courses. The Journal of Continuing Higher
  Education, Vol. 50, No. 3.
• Compared cognitive problem-solving skills for
  students in a business program who completed a
  PLA portfolio versus classroom-based business
  courses.
• Compared the number of links within and
  complexity of students solutions during a
  talk-aloud problem-solving exercise.
• PLA Students consistently solved problems at a
  higher complexity and with more links than those
  in the classroom-based course, regardless of how
  much prior experience in the field.

14
Transformation (cont.)

• Michelson, E. (in process). Autobiography and
  Selfhood in the Practice of Adult Learning.
• Literary analysis of the self-narrative process
  in learning essays as a form of fiction.
  Questions the influence of society and education
  on the narrative and its authenticity as a true
  reflection of the students learning.
• Travers, N. L. (in process). Self-Regulated
  Learning and Prior Learning Assessment.
• Examines the ways in which Prior Learning
  Assessment enhances students ways they
  self-regulate their learning.
• Travers, N.L., Sheckley, B.G., Bell, A.,
  (2003). Enhancing Self-regulated learning A
  comparison of instructional techniques. Journal
  of Continuing Higher Education, Vol. 51, n0.3.
• Travers, N.L., (2008). Some thoughts on adult
  learning, self-regulated learning, and the Empire
  State College degree planning process. All About
  Mentoring, Vol. 33.
• Brain Research Sheckley, B. G., (2008). All
  Learning is Experiential. CAEL.
• Connects how through experience the brain learns

15
Future of US research?

• New Administration agenda on the adult learner
• CAEL instrumental in policy-making concerning
  adults in higher education
• Learning Portfolios increase as common practice
• Empire State College increasing efforts
• President Davis supportive of research
• Designing a Masters program in Adult Learning
  looking at PLA as part of program (Michelson)
• Research agendas (Travers, Mandell, Michelson,
  and others)