Appropriate Assessment Strategies for Adult Students

Abstract

As metropolitan universities respond to calls for improved assessment, they must include approaches applicable to their increasing population of adult students. This article analyzes the attributes of adult students and the programs that serve them, and outlines some general principles for planning assessment and selecting strategies appropriate to this group. Examples illustrate the variety of methods, including assessment of experiential learning, that have emerged from adult and nontraditional higher education. These methods can be applied more widely by institutions seeking to develop assessment programs responsive to the full range of their students.