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Prior Learning Assessment (PLA): Facilitating Self-Reflection. Terry Müller Simmons College CAEL 2012 . PLA at Simmons. Simmons College in Boston ca. 1900 women undergrads – 15% adult learners ca. 3000 grad students in 4 professional schools PLA since mid 1970s - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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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
PLA: Facilitating Self-Reflection 3
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
PLA: Facilitating Self-Reflection 4
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?
PLA: Facilitating Self-Reflection 5
Revisiting the past
Making sense of events & reactions
Connecting experience to learning
Reflection on Experience
PLA: Facilitating Self-Reflection 6
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
PLA: Facilitating Self-Reflection 7
Diagnostic essay
Learning inventory
Reflection practice
Writing the learning narrative
Facilitating Reflection
PLA: Facilitating Self-Reflection 8
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
PLA: Facilitating Self-Reflection 9
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
PLA: Facilitating Self-Reflection 10
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: Facilitating Self-Reflection 11
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