Session Type
Full Papers/Presentations Session Proposal (up to 75 minutes)
Topic
Technology and Teaching, Post-traditional Students, Retention/High-Impact Practices
Session Abstract
In recent years, there has been a surge in the number of adult students who have expressed interest in returning back to school to complete their undergraduate degrees. Research, however, shows that many adult students who start degree completion programs do not complete them.
An oft-cited roadblock to degree completion by adult students is lack of recognition of prior learning obtained on the job or through other means. As a result, prior learning assessment (PLA) has now become an important tool used by colleges and universities to facilitate access to higher education by adult students.
The Council for Adult & Experiential Learning (CAEL) has developed a set of PLA standards to award course credit for significant life or career experiences. Based on those standards, an individual with extensive experience in accounting might well have already mastered the knowledge required to satisfy learning outcomes for an elementary accounting course; or again, an experienced journalist might have experience that satisfies learning outcomes in an elementary writing course.
Colleges and universities across the US are using a wide variety of PLA approaches to validate mastery of college-level material. More recently, the PLA portfolio model, which is a process that allow students to document college-level learning experiences for course credit, has received widespread acceptance. Through the use of the PLA portfolio, many colleges and universities now provide a new degree completion pathway, allowing adult learners to complete their programs within a reasonable amount of time.
In this session, we describe some recent PLA practices and consider how they might be implemented here at Winthrop. We will discuss and review some PLA standards that might correlate to certain standard courses here at Winthrop. And we will consider the primary model for PLA, the PLA-portfolio constructed by students seeking PLA course-credit.
Keywords
Prior Learning Assessment, PLA, Post-traditional Students, Adult Learners, Learning Portfolio
Location
DiGiorgio Campus Center 114
Start Date
6-2-2016 1:30 PM
Credits Earned, Credits Due: Forging New Degree Completion Pathways for Post-Traditional Students with the Aid of Prior Learning Assessment Portfolios
DiGiorgio Campus Center 114
In recent years, there has been a surge in the number of adult students who have expressed interest in returning back to school to complete their undergraduate degrees. Research, however, shows that many adult students who start degree completion programs do not complete them.
An oft-cited roadblock to degree completion by adult students is lack of recognition of prior learning obtained on the job or through other means. As a result, prior learning assessment (PLA) has now become an important tool used by colleges and universities to facilitate access to higher education by adult students.
The Council for Adult & Experiential Learning (CAEL) has developed a set of PLA standards to award course credit for significant life or career experiences. Based on those standards, an individual with extensive experience in accounting might well have already mastered the knowledge required to satisfy learning outcomes for an elementary accounting course; or again, an experienced journalist might have experience that satisfies learning outcomes in an elementary writing course.
Colleges and universities across the US are using a wide variety of PLA approaches to validate mastery of college-level material. More recently, the PLA portfolio model, which is a process that allow students to document college-level learning experiences for course credit, has received widespread acceptance. Through the use of the PLA portfolio, many colleges and universities now provide a new degree completion pathway, allowing adult learners to complete their programs within a reasonable amount of time.
In this session, we describe some recent PLA practices and consider how they might be implemented here at Winthrop. We will discuss and review some PLA standards that might correlate to certain standard courses here at Winthrop. And we will consider the primary model for PLA, the PLA-portfolio constructed by students seeking PLA course-credit.
