A Model of College Outcomes for Adults

Abstract

This article presents a model of college outcomes for adult undergraduate students to address the key elements that affect their learning and to stimulate research and theory building about adults' experience in college. It provides a review of the literature and a comprehensive model that considers the relationships between six major elements related to adults' undergraduate collegiate experiences: (a) prior experiences; (b) orienting frameworks such as motivation, self-confidence, and value system; (c) adult's cognition or the declarative, procedural, and self regulating knowledge structures and processes; (d) the "connecting classroom" as the central avenue for social engagement and for negotiating meaning for learning; (e) the life-world environment and the concurrent work, family, and community settings; and (I) the different types and levels of learning outcomes experienced by adults.