douglas
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Education Council highlights

David Lam Campus naming celebration
Nurses look for healthy families
David Lam Campus tours

Dig This

ORO AN

Events Calendar 10

THE DOUGLAS COLLEGE NEWSLETTER Wf JUNE 1996

 

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Barb Thompson hits the books while Gloria Kummerfield and Cathy Elson confer during class in the Office Administration

PLA Pilot Project.

Looking Back at
Prior Learning

he concept of Prior Learning

Assessment (PLA)—the

recognition of post
secondary-level knowledge regardless of
where or how the learning occurred—has
been around for a while. Douglas College
has certainly been a leader in this area,
having introduced policy dealing with
prior learning as early as 1979.

“What makes the difference now,” says

Carol Ebner, Douglas College
Coordinator of Prior Learning
Assessment, “Is that we have learned
enough to make assessments that are valid
and reliable.” Another difference is that
the College has moved from policy to
practice, with over 100 students having
completed or in the process of completing
prior learning assessments.

“At this stage,‘ says Barb Brawn,

Research Analyst and PLA Task Force
member, “It’s important to evaluate two
things: student success in receiving credit
for knowledge they already have; and the
formative elements of the assessment
process itself.”

The next areas to be looked at, Ebner
adds, are faculty satisfaction with the
assessment experience and the reaction of

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