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Key Areas - APEL
Accredited Prior Experiential Learning (APL / APEL)
The Context
AP(E)L is a contraction of two linked initiatives:
The assessment of prior learning – APL
The assessment of prior experiential learning – APEL
These two terms are used to describe ways in which learners can achieve academic recognition and credit for their formal and/or informal learning experiences.
In order to obtain credit learners must be able to present evidence of their learning in relation to specific course content and this must be at the appropriate academic level. For example, if you have been running a small business for some time, and you wish to take a degree in Business Studies, then it may be possible for you to produce a portfolio of evidence of your learning, learning which mirrors some modules of the Business Studies degree. You will then be awarded credit for these modules without having to take the courses.
What role does FACE Play?
FACE has been in the forefront of developments which enable learners to make their experience count in this way. Members of FACE cover the whole range of APL activity, for example:
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Work with adults in oral history, reminiscence groups, or Return to Learning settings where the key objective is to enable learners themselves to recognise their significant achievements.
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Work with learners to produce a portfolio of evidence to gain admission to a particular degree, or to obtain entry with credit.
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Work within Schools and Departments to align the curriculum more closely to the lived experience of the students profile.
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The construction of credit systems which recognise the knowledge and skills which are developed in non-formal contexts, for example in volunteering.
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The codification of procedures for assessing prior formal and informal learning to bring consistency and transparency to university APL procedures.
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The enhancement of admission procedures to take account of a broader range of applicant achievement.
FACE has also been instrumental in developing APL across Europe – from a trans-national Socrates project on the recognition of informal learning in Germany and Italy, to a Transfine survey of APL developments in six European countries. FACE is currently engaged in an EU Refine study, testing the robustness of tools for APL in England, Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland as part of a wider European initiative.
Community and APEL Web Links
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