Dear Reader,
Prior Learning Assessment is taking off! Pennsylvania Governor Rendell recently endorsed the use of PLA by Pennsylvania higher education institutions, and there is growing interest in PLA from employers, adults, and funders in all parts of the world.
This issue focuses on PLA, as practiced in the U.S. and abroad. From here in the U.S., Theresa Hoffman shares her experiences as a PLA practitioner; the Forum and News interviews Morry Fiddler and Catherine Marienau, authors of the new CAEL edition of Assessing Learning; and I provide a preview of the results from CAEL’s PLA survey.
Also, read about PLA efforts in Canada from Bonnie Kennedy, Aneesha Mayet’s account of PLA activities in South Africa, and Norman Evans’s experiences promoting PLA in Europe.
We hope to see you at the CAEL International Conference in Boston in November. This year, along with the many workshops and plenary sessions, we will be honoring Morris T. Keeton award winner Virginia Smith. Read our Interview with Virginia Smith, our Interview with the Learner of the Year, and all about Institutional Service Award winner Minnesota Online before you head to Boston!
See you then!
Becky Klein-Collins
Editor, Forum and News
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In this article, Theresa Hoffmann, PLA Consultant and former Director of Prior Learning at the University of Maryland University College (UMUC), tells the story of UMUC’s experiences with translating workplace learning into college credits and her experiences with employer interest in PLA. She provides profiles of actual learners and the types of learning events that led to the award of college credit.
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In June, CAEL introduced the second edition of Assessing Learning: Standards, Principles, and Procedures, an authoritative publication providing the principles and standards for practicing PLA. Authors Morry Fiddler and Catherine Marienau discuss the updates to the second edition, new applications of the standards, and the book’s emphasis on assessment as an integral part of the learning process.
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Since 1974, CAEL has established and disseminated information on PLA practices, trained faculty evaluators in PLA, and implemented research on PLA. Becky Klein-Collins gives a sneak peek at the results from CAEL’s recent survey of postsecondary educational institutions across the U.S. on the practice and support PLA. The article also shares preliminary findings from a scan of state policies in support of PLA.
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Bonnie Kennedy, Executive Director for the Canadian Association of Prior Learning (CAPLA), discusses the history of Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR) in Canada and the support for prior learning assessment practices that is growing throughout Canadian provinces.
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In South Africa, it is the labor movement that has promoted recognition of prior learning to help disadvantaged groups obtain higher education. Aneesha Mayet, RPL Project Manager of JET Education Services, details CAEL’s introduction of prior learning assessment to the country, JET’s work to advance RPL, and the potential for renewed interest in RPL to help South Africans earn college degrees.
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Throughout most of Europe, the theories and practice of assessing prior learning known as the assessment of prior experiential learning (APEL) are new ideas. Norman Evans, Founding Director and Trustee of Learning from Experience Trust, details EULlearN’s experiences and challenges with promoting and disseminating information about APEL across the 25 countries of the European Union and his experiences of writing the book, Recognising Experiential Learning: Practices in European Universities.
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Dr. Virginia B. Smith’s distinguished career stretches into many corners of advancing experiential learning in higher education. In her own words, Dr. Smith discusses her own pursuit of lifelong learning, career, and contributions to the advancement of experiential learning as well as her perspective on the current state of adult learning.
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Carolina, an Argentinean native, has reached a milestone in her long and challenging journey as an adult learner; soon she will receive her doctorate from the University of Connecticut. At the CAEL Conference, she will be honored for her perseverance to obtain the education she needed in order to become a teacher of adult and experiential learners. Read about her journey in this article.
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The Institutional Service Award will be presented to Minnesota Online on November 11 at a special luncheon. Minnesota Online demonstrates an outstanding commitment to the expansion of lifelong learning by offering more than 150 programs ranging from certificates to master’s degrees and 1,950 courses from Minnesota’s 25 two year colleges and seven state universities. This article details the system’s efforts and programs.
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