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Recent developments in OER and MOOCs (open educational resources and massive open online courses) have raised questions as to how learners engaging with these courses and components might be assessed or credentialed. This descriptive and exploratory paper examines PLAR (prior learning assessment and recognition) as a possible answer to these questions. It highlights three possible connections between PLAR and open education which hold the greatest promise for credentialing open learning experiences: (1) PLAR may be used to assess and credential open educational activities through the use of exam banks such as CLEP (College Level Examination Program); (2) learning occurring in MOOCs (MOOCs based on already credentialed courses) and in other open contexts resembling 'courses' may be assessed in PLAR through course-based portfolios; and (3) PLAR may also be enabled through the specification of 'gap learning' facilitated through OER of many different kinds. After describing these options, the paper concludes that although the connections leading from open educational contexts to PLAR credentialing are currently disparate and ad hoc, they may become more widespread and also more readily recognised in the PLAR and OER communities.

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The NSW TAFE Commission has agreed that in developing courses for accreditation, it will meet the requirements of the National Framework for the Recognition of Training (NFROT). One of the requirements of NFROT is that Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) is available. RPL is one element in the provision of recognition for students. Other elements of recognition include standard and non-standard exemptions.

In order to provide a coordinated recognition service to clients of TAFE NSW this evaluation was initiated to investigate the procedures being used in relation to non-standard exemptions and to discern what factors are essential for a successful and efficient service.

The evaluation focused on existing procedures for non-standard exemptions. At the conclusion of the evaluation ten recommendations for improvement were given. These included:

Simplifying the existing system

Consistency across the state

Devolvement of responsibility to teaching sections where appropriate

Subject-specific guidelines be written

After implementation of the report, a follow up review was undertaken to evaluate its success (see Non-standard exemptions: review of the implementation in TAFE NSW TD/NSW 43.14) Show less

The formal recognition of prior learning (RPL) has long been lauded and even, one might suggest, doggedly pursued as a tool of social justice and equity within education sectors across the world (Harris, 1999; Wheelahan, Miller and Newton, 2002; Castle and Attwood, 2001; Cleary et al., 2002). It can accredit skills and knowledges that have evolved from diverse, informal learning experiences and cultural locations and is thought to be 'a powerful tool for bringing people into the learning system' who have otherwise become disengaged (Hargreaves, 2006:2). Many strategies have been identified to increase access to RPL in Australia, including targeted promotion, reduction of bureaucratic procedures, and creative evidence-gathering and assessment techniques. But the fruits of these efforts are not sufficiently realised in increased social inclusion. The data indicate that, while RPL is on the increase in some quarters, there is still limited uptake by traditionally marginalised learners, such that more RPL overall does not necessarily lead to better outcomes for equity groups (Misko, Beddie and Smith, 2007). After more than a decade of focused attention, I believe this situation demands broader, less instrumental thinking, in favour of a more relational analysis of the meaning of recognition assessment and a different conception of RPL overall.

In this paper I draw on qualitative research in progress to explore the meaning of RPL to candidates and the significance of the candidate-assessor relationship as a site of negotiated meaning and identity construction (Hamer, 2010). Looking through the lens of a philosophy of recognition (Honneth, 1995) and postmodern understandings of the discursive production of the self (Chappell et al., 2003; Benhabib, 1992), I ask questions about the nature and effects of the assessment relationship. I invite considerations of this relationship as an intersubjective exchange within a wider, more fundamental 'struggle for recognition' as part of human self-actualisation (Honneth, 1995). I will use emerging data to illustrate the meaning and effects of RPL within this theoretical framework and propose a reconceptualisation of recognition assessment that aims to enhance our efforts towards access and equity goals.

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This article focuses on reliability in assessment of prior learning (APL) related to higher education. APL refers to a process where adults' prior learning, formal as well as informal, is assessed and acknowledged. In higher education, APL is used for the purpose of gaining admission, advanced standing or credits. In this article, studies investigating reliability in APL are presented. The studies provide data of inter- and intrarater reliability among assessors in a specific APL scheme used in higher education. Percentage of agreement and Cohen's kappa were used to estimate reliability, and the results show that the agreement between assessors, i.e. interrater reliability, is poorer compared to the agreement on repeated assessment by the same assessor, i.e. intrarater reliability. Further, the results reveal that there are differences in agreement between different aspects of prior learning. A conclusion is that reliability in this type of assessment ought to be further investigated.

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This report looks at various aspects of the role that certification systems, understood in the broad sense, can play in the very different ways in which competences are recognised in enterprise or in the labour market. There is undoubted interest in these certification systems in the European Union. Faced with the ‘maze’ of education systems and the fact that the certificates that they award are felt to be unable to adapt to new qualification needs, the problem of identifying competences is raising increasingly urgent questions as regards certification systems. Being able to identify the learning acquired from occupational experience and providing the best possible match between individuals and production functions, while ensuring that they are still adaptable, and therefore more employable, seem to be the current expectations. The answers that the various systems are providing in this respect are examined below from both an institutional and a methodological point of view: from an institutional point of view, the report looks at the role that the state has played in the past in constructing systems responsible for education and training and certification, and goes on to examine contemporary developments that are tending to make certification more independent from education and training with the result that skill identification is tending to make these skills independent from formal learning routes; this therefore raises new methodological problems. First, defining competences through performance standards raises the question of how and to what extent actual work can be taken into account. Second, the construction of assessment standards, analysed here using the accreditation of prior learning as an example, must include thinking about the nature of the competences that are being validated and the legitimacy of validation bodies. Competences are certified and recognised in different ways, depending on national traditions, but the procedures used in all cases have to address the same kind of problem: they must be precise enough to enable efficient adjustment and socially legitimate enough to pave the way for their general validity.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner.

The volume from which this chapter is taken is indexed at TD/TNC 66.507. Volumes two and three are indexed at TD/TNC 66.508 and TD/TNC 66.509. Individual chapters from the three volume set are indexed from TD/TNC 66.510 to TD/TNC 66.540.

The first background report, published in two volumes, is indexed at TD/IRD 88.38 and TD/INT 58.286. Show less

Despite more than a decade of policy initiatives and encouragement to embrace recognition of prior learning (RPL) there has been an apparent reluctance, borne out in national statistics, to take up RPL. In 1992 the National Training Board issued the National Competency Standards wherein policy and guidelines identified RPL as an important element in competency based training. Supporting this stance in 1993 the Federal and State Ministers of Education declared the National Framework for the Recognition of Training (NFROT), committing educational institutions, at all levels, to provide recognition for the existing skills and knowledge of students regardless of how, when or where they were acquired. Fourteen years on the continuing reform agenda maintains the principles of RPL and a concern about its uptake. Recent responses to this concern include the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreement to fund RTOs to establish or improve recognition services and processes, and the Australian Quality Training Framework (AQTF) that positions RPL as an essential element of quality training and assessment. Through an interpretive research process 100 teachers and educational leaders shared dialogue expressing their views on the practice of RPL and impediments to its broader embedding in practice. The findings suggest that for many practitioners there are poor understandings across a range of issues and not limited to the prevalent view that tools and frameworks are the critical element, but also about competency units, the nature of evidence and its collection for assessment and a fear of making invalid professional judgements. This lack of individual confidence results in a reticence to provide recognition services. The data suggests that making clear the nature of evidence and its method of collection within the context of RPL may begin to redress the reticence of vocational education and training (VET) practitioners to engage in recognition practice.

Published abstract.

Available papers from the 11th Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association (AVETRA) Conference are indexed from TD/TNC 92.459 to TD/TNC 92.499 and from TD/TNC 92.701 to TD/TNC 92.716. Show less

Assessment of practical work has traditionally been very subjective, often inaccurate and lacking validity. This paper addresses practical assessment and introduces an assessment tool for these issues, namely Computer Assisted Assessment System (CAAS). Practical assessment (the assessment of the practical component of competency) may be by observation, by demonstration, or project-based, or by simulation. These tried and proven methods by themselves will not guarantee validity or results that are comparable. To evaluate assessment methods and assessment tools, we have to examine the needs of a statewide or national assessment system and the needs of those involved in assessment. Show less

The current situation of prior learning assessment in New Zealand will be presented from a survey of polytechnics, industry training organisations, private training establishments, and colleges of education. The frequency of prior learning assessments with respect to vocational / subject areas, unit standards and NQF levels will be examined. Key aspects arising from the survey are support services for applicants, education of facilitators and assessors, and implementation issues. The paper will also explore critical issues likely to be significant in relation to the successful practice of the assessment of prior learning. Show less

Tocal College, as part of New South Wales Department of Primary Industries (DPI), provides training in agriculture and related disciplines across NSW and Australia. Tocal College delivers a wide range of full time, short course, and distance education courses, along with publications and study support materials. The rural and related industries in Australia operate in a very complex environment and have many features which make training delivery unique and challenging. A particular challenge is servicing a clientele who are thinly dispersed over a very large part of Australia and providing relevant skills to clients who have high levels of skills and knowledge acquired on the job through informal learning. As a consequence of these needs, external delivery of training and skills recognition (i.e. recognition of prior learning [RPL]) have emerged as key services delivered by the college. This paper outlines the development of the Tocal College skills recognition system from a paper-based to fully electronic system while maintaining a commitment to assessment by personal interview, client support, empowerment and respect, and active case management. The process of 'going electronic' is evaluated from both the client and college perspective. The e-portfolio approach is proving to be a better way of delivering services, but it does still present some challenges to clients in regional and remote areas of Australia. Show less

After reviewing research concerning student transition from Vocational Education and Training (VET) to Higher Education (HE), which mostly focussed on enablers, this paper examined the role of graded assessment within a competency based training (CBT) framework and its relationship to subsequent performance in HE studies. From this background, the key question was derived; is there a relationship between grades awarded under CBT and HE academic performance? The academic results of 34 students were reviewed for both VET and HE studies, and correlations analysed using the Spearman Rho calculator. A Likert style survey was used to gauge student perceptions as to their investment in assessment activities and the extent to which VET studies prepared them for HE.

Results indicated that a positive correlation existed between performance in VET studies and those in HE. This correlation was supported in that most students reported that they did attempt to achieve the highest grades possible across both sectors. It was concluded that using VET grades as predictors of success in HE was valid for this cohort and that students believed that VET assisted in preparing them for HE studies. The findings add to the argument calling for retention and indeed refinement of grading within the CBT system.

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