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Prior Learning Assessment “PLA 101”

CAEL. Prior Learning Assessment “PLA 101”. What is Prior Learning Assessment, or ‘PLA’?

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Prior Learning Assessment “PLA 101”

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  1. CAEL Prior Learning Assessment“PLA 101”

  2. 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.

  3. Four Approaches to PLA: • Nationally standardized exams in specified disciplines • ‘Challenge’ exams for local courses • Evaluated non-college programs • Individualized assessments

  4. Types of Standardized Exams: • AP Exams • CLEP Tests • Excelsior College Exams • DANTES Subject Standardized Tests (DSST)

  5. 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

  6. 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

  7. 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

  8. 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

  9. “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

  10. 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

  11. 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

  12. Data source: • Prior Learning Assessment: A Guidebook to American Institutional Practices (1999) published by CAEL.

  13. 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

  14. 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

  15. Why Portfolio PLA? 3 MYTHS – • PLA depresses enrollment. • Tests are rigorous but portfolio PLA is not. • Only ‘weak’ or ‘lazy’ students want PLA.

  16. 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.

  17. 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

  18. 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.

  19. 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’.

  20. 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

  21. 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

  22. 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

  23. Activity: Discussion • Read the ‘Sally S’ Scenario. What questions about PLA does this scenario raise for you and your colleagues?

  24. How Do Adults Learn? • The (David) Kolb Model of Experiential Learning • Source: Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning & Development, Prentice-Hall, 1984

  25. The Kolb Model: 4 Dimensions: • Concrete Experience • Reflective Observation • Abstract Conceptualization • Active Experimentation

  26. Kolb & ‘Learning Style’: • Concrete Experience: • Feelers: favor sensation • Reflective observation: • Observers: favor watching

  27. Kolb & ‘Learning Style’: • Abstract Conceptualization: • Thinkers: favor abstraction • Active Experimentation: • Doers: favor activity

  28. Kolb: people grow & develop: • Affectively: to sense/feel • Symbolically: to think • Behaviorally: to act • Perceptually: to observe

  29. Possible Portfolio Components: • Title Page / Summary • Statement of Credit Requested • Personal Goals Statement • Academic Degree Plan • Resume

  30. Possible Portfolio Components: • List of Learning Competencies • ‘Learning Autobiography’ • Academic Transcripts • ‘Certificated’ Learning • Other Evidence of Learning

  31. Possible Portfolio Components: • Bibliography of Readings • Course Descriptions • Letters of Recommendation

  32. Discussion Question: • Given what has been said about adult learning theory, and the possible portfolio components, which of the components would yourequire of adults, and why?

  33. 6 Steps to Assess Prior Learning: • #1 - Identification: Review experience to identify potentially creditable learning. • Faculty guide adults, often through a portfolio development course.

  34. 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.

  35. 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!

  36. 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.

  37. 6 Steps to Assess Prior Learning: • #4 - Measurement: Determine the degree and level of competence achieved. • Faculty must do this step.

  38. 6 Steps to Assess Prior Learning: • #4 - Measurement: an additional note: there are multiple techniques to assess learning! Learner & assessor should agree upon approach.

  39. 6 Steps to Assess Prior Learning: • #5 - Evaluation: Determine the credit equivalency. • Faculty must do this step.

  40. 6 Steps to Assess Prior Learning: • #6 - Transcription: Prepare a useful record of the results. • Task of administration, with the advice of appropriate faculty.

  41. 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

  42. 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

  43. What is College Level Learning? • Process Features: • Collaboration: between faculty & student, & between students • Self-reflection: on personal values • Scholarship: research basis

  44. What is College Level Learning? • Performance Domains: • Communication • Computation • Critical Thinking • Aesthetic & Ethical Awareness • Lifelong Learning

  45. 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

  46. ACTIVITY: A Portfolio Excerpt • Let’s look at a segment of an actual student portfolio to test the preceding concepts …

  47. Quality Assurance Principles: • Source: Assessing Learning: Standards, Principles, & Procedures, by Urban Whitaker. CAEL: 1989 • (each followed by examples of malpractice of the principle..)

  48. Quality Assurance Principles: • #1 - Credit should be awarded only for learning, not for experience.

  49. ‘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.

  50. Quality Assurance Principles: • #2 - College credit should be awarded only for college-level learning.

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