The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of adult student participation in program planning on student achievement, retention, and attitude. Participants in two in-service groups at a North Carolina hospital were assigned to two experimental classes. One class participated in planning its educational program; the second completed a course identical to the one planned by the first, but was given no opportunity to participate in planning the course objectives and design.The results permitted three conclusions: (1) adult student participation in program planning appears to affect positively student achievement; (2) no evidence was found to support the prediction that participation in classroom planning positively influences retention of information; (3) given a situation where prior attitudes are not firmly fixed, participating in program planning may have considerable impact on attitudes of adult students.

No abstract