Prior Learning Assessment (PLA): Facilitating Self-Reflection

Prior Learning Assessment (PLA): Facilitating Self-Reflection

Terry MüllerSimmons College

CAEL 2012

PLA: Facilitating Self-Reflection 2

◦Simmons College in Boston ca. 1900 women undergrads – 15% adult learners ca. 3000 grad students in 4 professional schools

◦PLA since mid 1970s max. 24 credits – average 12 credits

◦PLA seminar1. learning narrative2. supporting materials 3. faculty review

PLA at Simmons


Prior learning credits ◦for college-level learning◦not for experience or everyday skills

College-level learning ◦Gives a general understanding◦Is transferrable to other contexts◦Applies to different situations◦Solves new problems◦Creates new projects

Credits for Learning


Word processing Public speaking Taking vital signs at a health center Being a professional dancer Fundraising Supervising staff Creating a business plan Nursing a dying patient Data entry Mentoring teens Teaching cooking Quilting

College-Level Learning?


Revisiting the past

Making sense of events & reactions

Connecting experience to learning

Reflection on Experience


Not just confirmation of beliefs But inquiry into ideas, assumptions, values And reshaping of meaning

Confronts habits of thinking & behaving Contradicts views of formal learning Evokes feelings of inadequacy

Reflection: Mind Buster


Diagnostic essay

Learning inventory

Reflection practice

Writing the learning narrative

Facilitating Reflection


The hardest step is the beginning.

What can I possibly write pages and pages about?

I’m not sure if I can find something in my life that is credit worthy.

Learning Narrative: First Draft


From telling a story with rich descriptive details – “and then…”

To defining & evaluating learning To exploring implicationsTo applying new knowledge & skills

From Story to Analysis


Understanding expectations◦sample narratives ◦assessment criteria

Generating language◦feedback & open-ended questions◦conversations with peers & faculty ◦US Dept. Labor Occupational Outlook Handbook

Development of Narrative


PLA looks at learning differently – not the way we normally think about it.

Writing the narrative is difficult…but once you begin to see patterns, it becomes easier to identify learning.

I gained a tremendous amount of confidence through this process and feel that I have been validated as never before.

Reflecting on PLA


Terry Mü[email protected]

Thank you!

Questions?

Documents

Prior Learning Assessment (PLA): Facilitating Self-Reflection