Elaine Cox and Val Green, Westminster Institute of Education, Oxford Brookes University
e-mail: ecox@brookes.ac.uk, vgreen@brookes.ac.uk
Partners
- Liz Browne, Westminster Institute of Education, Oxford Brookes
- Jude Carroll, Oxford Centre for Staff Learning and Development
- Kay Rainsley, Open Studies Office, University of Warwick
- Maggie Challis, Centre for Postgraduate and Continuing Medical Education, University of Nottingham
- Centre for Continuing Education and Development, South Bank University
This initiative will collect, collate and disseminate good practices in the Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning in Continuing Education. Results of the initiative will be disseminated at a half-day event and via the Internet. APL (accredited prior learning) is widely accepted in Higher Education as proof of previous attainment. However, despite wide agreement that significant knowledge and skills can be developed as a result of learning opportunities outside the academic setting, actual procedures for the accreditation of prior experiential learning (APEL) remain unclear, time consuming and unwieldy. This group aim to address this issue by drawing together examples of good practice that will inform solutions to the APEL dilemma, and particularly the problem of quality and consistency in the accreditation of prior experiential learning. The student experience will also be considered.
Results from the initiative will be disseminated widely in the form of a report (see link below) and academic papers, and were presented at a half-day event in July and made available for those attending the FACE (Forum for the Advancement of Continuing Education) Conference in early July.