Cultivating Assessment That Motivates Learning: Insights from the Experiences of Returning Adult Students

As student enrollment in colleges across the United States continues to diversify, teaching and learning practices must keep pace with demographic shifts. The growing majority of today's college student body, dubbed post-traditional learners, is older, racially and ethnically diverse, more experienced in work and life, and stretched by competing priorities as they pursue their academic goals. Given the expanding pressure for institutions to improve graduation rates, there is a need to explore the experiences of post-traditional students to more fully understand how to meet their needs. One critical factor for academic success lies in assessment approaches, both formative and summative, and the positive and negative impacts of psychosocial factors on academic achievement, specifically intrinsic motivation. This phenomenological inquiry explores returning adult students' psychosocial experiences of assessment practices at a regional, comprehensive four-year college in the northeast. Through interviews and autobiographical journaling, participants in one program designed to serve returning adult students provided insight into their lived experiences with assessment practices over an academic semester. Findings from the study are intended to guide the development of practical tools to advance teaching and learning related to assessment practices with adult students in higher education. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]