Introduction to Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR) Barbara Miron, Coordinator, Adult...
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Transcript of Introduction to Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR) Barbara Miron, Coordinator, Adult...
Introduction to Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR)Barbara Miron, Coordinator, Adult Basic Education Education, Culture and Employment 2009 LINX Conference
Overview
What is PLAR?
Different Kinds of Learning
Assessment of Learning
PLAR Portfolios
Documentation of Learning
Recognition of Learning
PLAR Activity
What is PLAR?
PLAR is a fresh way of looking at how people gain knowledge and skills.
PLAR recognizes learning that is derived from an experience, not the experience itself.
PLAR is a process which identifies, assesses and recognizes what a person knows (knowledge) and can do (skills).
Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) is another term used to describe this process.
Different Kinds of Learning
Formal learning: learning that occurs through an accredited program in an academic institution and is documented on a transcript.
Informal learning: the lifelong process of acquiring knowledge and skills from daily experience at work, at home, on the land and in the community.
Non-formal learning: learning that occurs through organized activities outside of a formal educational system.
Assessment of Learning
Prior learning has to be measured against an established set of standards:
Learner outcomes from recognized courses
Descriptive list of competencies
Skills checklists.
Principles of Quality Assessment
Rigorous – equivalent to the expected level for classroom learning.
Transparent – learners must be informed about how they will be evaluated.
Fair – unbiased, treating all learners equally.
Flexible – open to a wide range of ways of learning and knowing the content.
Flexible Assessment Methods
Self-assessment narratives and checklists
Product assessment, work samples
Projects, assignments, case studies
Reports, logs, journals
Written and oral challenge exams
Signed verifications
Skills demonstrations, performance assessments
Simulations, role plays
Interviews, oral presentations
Portfolio review, evidence collection
Evaluation of program equivalencies
PLAR Portfolio
A detailed document, which describes and verifies your knowledge, skills and achievements as well as your personal goals.
Tells who you are, what you have done, what you have learned and what your goals are.
Provides evidence of your learning.
Can be used for personal growth, seeking employment and applying for course credit.
Developing a PLAR Portfolio
Life mapping to identify learning from life and work experience.
Identify knowledge and skills gained from life and work experience.
Relate learning to career and education goals.
Compile evidence to document knowledge and skills.
Contents of a PLAR Portfolio Cover page
Table of contents
Letter of introduction
Career and education goals
Resume
Learning outcomes or skills statements
Documentation of learning
Documentation of Learning
Direct evidence: anything that is produced by the individual.
Indirect evidence: information about the individual from another source.
Self-assessment: an individual’s own assessment or narrative about his or her learning.
Recognition of Learning
After prior learning has been assessed, it can be recognized in several ways:
Course credit with an educational institution
Advanced standing in a course or program of study
Workplace performance appraisals
New employment opportunities.
PLAR Activity
1. List 2 – 3 significant learning experiences in your life.
2. Briefly state what you learned through these experiences.
PLAR Activity Working with a partner, categorize the
learning experience you have listed as informal learning, formal learning or non-formal learning.
Formal learning: learning that occurs through an accredited program in an academic institution and is documented on a transcript.
Informal learning: the lifelong process of acquiring knowledge and skills from daily experience at work, at home, on the land and in the community.
Non-formal learning: learning that occurs through organized activities outside of a formal educational system.
PLAR Activity
Select one learning experience from your list.
Working with another partner, brainstorm ways that that you could prove your learning.
Thank you