72
CAEL Prior Learning Assessment Prior Learning Assessment “PLA 101” CAEL
| Date post: | 23-Dec-2015 |
| Category: |
Documents |
| Upload: | horatio-oconnor |
| View: | 224 times |
| Download: | 0 times |
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
Prior Learning Assessment“PLA 101”
CAEL
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
What is Prior Learning Assessment, or ‘PLA’? The evaluation for college credit
of the knowledge and skills one gains from life experiences (or from non-college instructional programs) including employment, parenting, travel, hobbies, and volunteer service.
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
Four Approaches to PLA: Nationally standardized exams
in specified disciplines ‘Challenge’ exams for local
courses Evaluated non-college
programs Individualized assessments
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
Types of Standardized Exams: AP Exams CLEP Tests Excelsior College Exams DANTES Subject
Standardized Tests (DSST)
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
More on Advanced Placement (AP) Exams: 34 Exams in 19 subject areas Common for high school
students Run by the College Board 74% within CAEL survey use
them
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
More on College Level Examination Program (CLEP) Tests: 34 tests of “101”-level material 3 to 12 credits for each exam
taken 5 million users since 1967 79% within CAEL survey use them
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
More on Excelsior College Exams (aka Regents College; ACT/PEP) Proficiency-based exams About 40 exams in many areas Excelsior College (New York) 31% within CAEL survey use
them
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
More on DANTES Subject Standardized Tests (DSST): Developed for the military,
available to civilians Nearly 40 exams in many areas Run by Chauncey Group Int’l of
ETS 53% within CAEL survey use them
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
“Challenge” exams of local courses: At institutional discretion,
using locally-developed tests/exams
May be final exams of courses 63% within CAEL survey use
them
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
Evaluated non-college programs of instruction (externally evaluated): American Council on Education
“National Guides” with credit recommendations
Hundreds of organizations and programs, military & civilian
68% with CAEL survey use military guides, 34% use civilian guides
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
Individualized assessments (of students and of programs): Portfolio process – 48% within
CAEL survey use this approach College-based assessments of
external certifications – 17% within CAEL survey use this approach
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
Data source: Prior Learning
Assessment: A Guidebook to American Institutional Practices (1999) published by CAEL.
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
CAEL’s early history in PLA: 1977 – CAEL Validation Report 1977 – Principles of Good
Practice 1979 – ACE, COPA, & AACRAO
endorse PLA & CAEL Principles
1979 – 1st CAEL Survey of PLA Practices
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
CAEL today: Has 700+ members Consults with employers and
colleges about PLA and “adult-friendly” other service features
Also manages tuition reimbursement programs for a workforce of 500,000 for clients
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
Why Portfolio PLA? 3 MYTHS – PLA depresses enrollment.Tests are rigorous but portfolio PLA is not.
Only ‘weak’ or ‘lazy’ students want PLA.
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
Why PLA? Enrollment effects:PLA students often enroll for more (not fewer) courses vs. those with no PLA credits.
2001 Simpson College study: 75% retention with PLA vs. 38% for those without PLA.
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
Why PLA? Portfolio effects:Portfolio PLA students show better complex problem-solving skills (vs. classroom)
2002 University of Connecticut study in the Journal of Continuing Higher Education
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
Why PLA? PLA & Performance:Portfolio PLA students tend to show higher cumulative GPAs
Studies in 1992 @ UMUC, and in 2003 among 1600 students in 4 Illinois public universities.
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
Why PLA? As a choice factor:2000 College Board study of 1500 adults who rated ‘credit for prior learning policy’ as more important than ‘small class size’ or ‘availability of financial aid’.
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
Higher Learning Commission Recommends “assessment of
prior learning using principles advocated by such organizations as the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL)…”
Source: Adult Degree Completion Programs, June 22, 2000
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
PLA Endorsed: See “Evaluation of Extra-
Institutional and Experiential Learning for Purposes of Transfer and Award of Credit,” in the joint statement of American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, American Council on Education, & the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, Sept. 28, 2001
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
PLA Policy Considerations: Federal level – PLA not aid-eligible State level – Some states regulate
PLA as an activity, setting ‘caps’ Institutional level – ‘Faculty
Senate’ program approval may be required
Department level – Academic disciplines vary in attitude toward PLA
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
Activity: DiscussionRead the ‘Sally S’ Scenario. What questions about PLA does this scenario raise for you and your colleagues?
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
How Do Adults Learn?The (David) Kolb Model of Experiential Learning
Source: Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning & Development,
Prentice-Hall, 1984
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
The Kolb Model: 4 Dimensions:Concrete ExperienceReflective Observation Abstract ConceptualizationActive Experimentation
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
Kolb & ‘Learning Style’:Concrete Experience:Feelers: favor sensation Reflective observation:Observers: favor watching
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
Kolb & ‘Learning Style’:Abstract Conceptualization:Thinkers: favor abstraction Active Experimentation:Doers: favor activity
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
Kolb: people grow & develop:Affectively: to sense/feelSymbolically: to thinkBehaviorally: to actPerceptually: to observe
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
Possible Portfolio Components:Title Page / SummaryStatement of Credit Requested
Personal Goals StatementAcademic Degree PlanResume
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
Possible Portfolio Components:List of Learning Competencies
‘Learning Autobiography’Academic Transcripts ‘Certificated’ LearningOther Evidence of Learning
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
Possible Portfolio Components:Bibliography of ReadingsCourse DescriptionsLetters of Recommendation
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
Discussion Question:Given what has been said about adult learning theory, and the possible portfolio components, which of the components would you require of adults, and why?
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
6 Steps to Assess Prior Learning:#1 - Identification: Review experience to identify potentially creditable learning.
Faculty guide adults, often through a portfolio development course.
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
6 Steps to Assess Prior Learning:#2 - Articulation: Relate proposed credit to academic, personal, and professional goals.
A joint responsibility of the learner and faculty.
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
6 Steps to Assess Prior Learning:#2 - Articulation: an important additional note: Both assessors and those assessed must be clear about learning outcomes, not just the learning content!
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
6 Steps to Assess Prior Learning:#3 - Documentation: Prepare evidence to support the claim for credit.
Primarily for the learner to do, perhaps in a portfolio development course.
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
6 Steps to Assess Prior Learning:#4 - Measurement: Determine the degree and level of competence achieved.
Faculty must do this step.
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
6 Steps to Assess Prior Learning:#4 - Measurement: an additional note: there are multiple techniques to assess learning! Learner & assessor should agree upon approach.
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
6 Steps to Assess Prior Learning:#5 - Evaluation: Determine the credit equivalency.
Faculty must do this step.
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
6 Steps to Assess Prior Learning:#6 - Transcription: Prepare a useful record of the results.
Task of administration, with the advice of appropriate faculty.
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
What is College Level Learning? Curricular Characteristics: Breadth: communication, arts &
humanities, social sciences, etc. Depth: in a disciplinary area Integration: Coherence,
synthesis Rigor: demanding, challenging
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
What ‘other’ techniques might be used to assess prior learning? Performance tests (work
samples) Simulations (games, role-play) Essays (learning
autobiographies) Interviews (structured, paneled) Checklists, rating schemes
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
What is College Level Learning? Process Features: Collaboration: between faculty
& student, & between students Self-reflection: on personal
values Scholarship: research basis
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
What is College Level Learning? Performance Domains: Communication Computation Critical Thinking Aesthetic & Ethical
Awareness Lifelong Learning
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
What is College Level Learning? Additional Characteristics: Having a theoretical basis Having generality beyond the
context in which it was acquired
Having representation in existing college curricula
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
ACTIVITY: A Portfolio ExcerptLet’s look at a segment of an actual student portfolio to test the preceding concepts …
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
Quality Assurance Principles:Source: Assessing Learning: Standards, Principles, & Procedures, by Urban Whitaker. CAEL: 1989
(each followed by examples of malpractice of the principle..)
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
Quality Assurance Principles:#1 - Credit should be awarded only for learning, not for experience.
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
‘Malpractice’ on Principle 1:Credit for ‘time served’Example: Following WWI & WWII, GI’s received 9 to 15 units for a year and a day of enlisted or commissioned duty.
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
Quality Assurance Principles:#2 - College credit should be awarded only for college-level learning.
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
‘Malpractice’ on Principle 2:Credit for ‘progress’ or ‘effort’ rather than accomplishment.
Example: The ‘A’ for effort despite lack of competence.
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
Quality Assurance Principles:#3 - Credit should be awarded only for learning that has a balance, appropriate to the subject, between theory and practical application.
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
‘Malpractice’ on Principle 3:Credit for incomplete learning, missing theoretical or practical components.
Question: Would you trust pilots or physicians who lacked either component?
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
Quality Assurance Principles:#4 - The determination of competence levels and of credit awards must be made by appropriate subject matter and academic experts.
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
‘Malpractice’ on Principle 4:Implying or promising in promotional materials that credit is to be awarded for experience, when real judgments must be made by qualified assessors.
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
Quality Assurance Principles:#5 - Credit should be appropriate to the academic context in which it is accepted.
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
‘Malpractice’ on Principle 5: ‘Redlining’ general education or major areas for PLA credit, making it ‘elective only.’
Example: business credits counted only as electives, not in the appropriate major area.
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
Quality Assurance Principles:#6 - Credit awards and their transcript entries should be monitored to avoid giving credit twice for the same learning.
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
‘Malpractice’ on Principle 6: ‘Double counting’ of credit.The integrity of the degree and curriculum is in question when double-counting occurs.
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
Quality Assurance Principles:#7 - Policies and procedures applied to assessment, including provision for appeal, should be fully disclosed and prominently available.
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
‘Malpractice’ on Principle 7:Policies in name only, not in practice, such as for appeals.
No institution can put itself in the situation above without jeopardizing its integrity.
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
Quality Assurance Principles:#8 - Fees charged for assessment should be based on the services performed in the process and not determined by the amount of credit awarded.
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
‘Malpractice’ on Principle 8:Billing students for PLA fees based on credits awarded.
Question: How does the assessor or institution resist the ‘perverse incentive’ in this?!
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
Quality Assurance Principles: #9 - All personnel involved in the assessment of learning should receive adequate training for the functions they perform, and there should be provision for their continued professional development.
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
‘Malpractice’ on Principle 9:Assigning assessment work to persons untrained for it.
An analogy: We know that content experts are not also automatically teaching experts.
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
Quality Assurance Principles: #10 - Assessment programs should be regularly monitored, reviewed, evaluated, and revised as needed to reflect changes in the needs being served and in the state of the assessment arts.
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
‘Malpractice’ on Principle 10:Assessment program stagnation.
Without maintenance, even strong structures will weaken and eventually collapse.
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
Pausing Now for Discussion:What parts of the preceding “ring true” for you? Why?
What parts of the preceding material do you want to question or to challenge?
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
CAEL’s recommended development process for implementing portfolio PLA:Build awareness & legitimacyDesign an appropriate program
Implement it with trainingTroubleshoot startup problems
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
PLA from a “systems” view: Option 1: Local PLA programs &
policies at each college/university Option 2: One statewide center
for PLA decision-making; credits transferred as needed (Vermont)
Option 3: ‘Mixed’ models of individuality with collaboration
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
CAEL’s resources to help your school start portfolio PLA:PublicationsPublic PLA workshopsOnLine PLA certificationOn-campus consulting help
CAEL
Prior Learning Assessment
For More Information:
WWW.CAEL.ORG
![CAEL - Atividade4 luciana grof [modo de compatibilidade]](https://static.documents.pub/doc/80x56/54968761b479596f4d8b4f62/cael-atividade4-luciana-grof-modo-de-compatibilidade.jpg)
