Experiential
Learning
At
CPCS "If you know some things ... but you don't think
you need a workshop or a class, you just need to talk to somebody,
we have advisors and evaluators to help you figure that out. If
you've done a whole lot of work in your life that seems to match
what public and community service is all about we have a way for
you to visit me (Ann Withorn) or other faculty and staff to figure
out how to apply that; how to use that toward your degree; how
to make it make sense to you. And that's Prior Learning ... What
we are proud about at CPCS is that we don't have you pretending
to learn something when you already know it and we give you lots
of options to demonstrate or build on what you already know or
to find ways to compare it with what our curriculum is and make
choices based your own informed understanding of what is required.
So we work together to have you be as smart as you can be in any
evaluation setting whether it is independent, or out in the field,
or in the classroom." Professor
Ann Withorn
Experiential
learning at CPCS is an important feature of competency-based education.
Students may demonstrate competencies in different ways - you
don't have to take a class. There are two different avenues:
1)
Directed Study / Independent Learning is for students
that may not have the work or life experience to demonstrate the
competency, but feel that they are able to complete the competency
without the direct support that a class offers. To do a directed
study, you (or you and a group of students) would put together
a plan to address the criteria and standards of a competency through
an independent learning project, field-based activity, work-related
activity, etc.
You
and an evaluator for the competency will agree upon what is going
to be done for the competency and how you will go about doing
it. The plan may include the kinds of activities you will engage
in, the kinds of resources you will draw on, and the product(s)
you will produce to demonstrate your learning.
You
have to play an active role and be willing and able to work independently
to put a directed study together. A directed study should not
be considered a one-on-one tutorial between you and the evaluator.
Students who are looking for that kind of structured learning
experience should look to the scheduled instructional activities.
2)
Prior Learning Evaluation is for students that have had
learning experiences on their jobs, through their community involvement,
or through other life experiences that are related to the competencies
in the CPCS curriculum. Evaluation of prior learning is a way
for you to demonstrate the outcome of those learning experiences
and get competencies. Prior learning evaluation assumes that you
have experience and knowledge that goes a long way toward meeting
the criteria and standards of the competency; that is, you will
not be doing new learning, but will put together a demonstration
to show that you have already done learning in this area. That
demonstration may take different forms - a presentation, a paper,
a portfolio documenting your experiences.
If
you think you have prior learning experience that relates to one
or more competencies, you should first read through the competency
carefully and think about how what you have done and learned relates
to the requirements. Than you should meet with an evaluator to
discuss your ideas and come to some agreement about what would
be required for demonstration.
| For
both of the options, there are support mechanisms in place
to help students learn more about experiential and independent
learning options and how to make them work for you. See the
Experiential Learning Support link to find out about these
options. |
