Evaluation in Adult Education

Abstract

This chapter elaborates evaluation in adult education. The heterogeneity of adult education provision and of its student population renders measurement difficult, but the maturity of its participants facilitates investigation in depth, and the use of qualitative methodologies. The planning of an evaluation gives rise to significant questions of value, and purpose, and the interests of groups involved may conflict. In the United Kingdom, much pioneering work has been initiated, and evaluated by university adult educators. This has generally been on a small scale, the findings having doubtful significance beyond the local circumstance. In the United States where larger resources have been available, larger enquiries have been possible. It should be remembered however that in the United States alone many hundreds of doctoral, and masters theses, and dissertations in the field of adult education have been completed, and that similar work is rapidly aggregating in the United Kingdom, Australia, and elsewhere.