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