Transcript Folie 1

Work Based Learning and APEL
Professor Jonathan Garnett
Centre for Excellence in Work Based Learning
Middlesex University
APEL is long established in the UK
• 1980s pioneering work of Learning from Experience
Trust
• CNAA Legitimization 1986
• 1990 Favourable policy context eg Robertson 1994
• Work of credit Consortia eg SEEC Code of practice 1996
endorsed by 37 institutions
• Merrifield (2000) 83 institutions offered APEL
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But use of APEL is limited
• Merrifield: two thirds of HEIs with APEL policies and
procedures have less than 100 APEL students
• 26% of institutions which offer APEL do not include it in
their prospectuses
• Staff expertise to guide APEL claimants tends to be
concentrated with a few individuals
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APEL Concerns
• Quality - is “experiential learning” comparable to learning
from the HE course? Can assessment be valid and
reliable?
• Cost - is the support and assessment of an APEL claim
too resource intensive?
• Use - who benefits?
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APEL Opportunities
• APEL traditionally seen as a means to widen access to
Higher Education
• Negotiated learning programmes , especially work based
learning, in the UK highlight new opportunities
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APEL in Work Based Learning
• Work Based Learning is “ learning through, at and for work”
• Within the UK Work Based Learning can be at any level and may
vary from being part of a single module to a whole programme.
• Work Based Learning has been a Middlesex speciality for 15 years
• In 1996 Middlesex was awarded a Queens Prize for “Excellence and
Innovation” for pioneering work based learning
• 2003 Quality Assurance Agency report highlighted the innovative
and robust procedures for ensuring the quality of work based
learning at Middlesex (www.qaa.ac.uk)
• 2005 APEL part of the Middlesex case for Excellence in Work Based
Learning recognized by HEFCE
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Work Based Learning at Middlesex
• In 2006/7 over 1100 students were engaged in Work
Based Learning programmes, including about 500 at
Honours Degree level
• WBL takes place in all types of organisations, some of
our employer partners are: Marks and Spencer, City of
London Corporation, Dell, Ministry of Defence Police,
Health Service Trusts.
• Comprehensive range of qualifications – Certificate,
Diploma, Hons Degree, Masters, Doctorate
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APEL within a Work Based Learning Programme
• Forward focused Review (APEL)
• Programme Planning - to meet individual and
organizational (including MU) needs
• Work Based Research and Development Methodology
• Work Based Project(s)
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The individual Work Based Learner
• Mature (typically 35-50)
• Well established at work
• Considerable pre-understanding (formal and informal
learning)
• WBL places the learner at the interface between work
and the university to explore work-focused issues
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Bob: the Work Based Learner
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Bob has a range of knowledge and skills
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• Values the learning already held by the individual and
their organisation
• Enables the individual to plan their own programme
• Is a distance learning programme with individual tutorial
support from a Programme Adviser
• Is flexible to meet individual/organisational needs
• Leads to internationally recognised higher education
qualifications
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WBL and APEL Challenges
• Roles: of the HE institution, the work based learner, the
employer
• Nature and purposes of knowledge
• Responsiveness: How responsive can/should HE be to
the needs of the “knowledge driven economy”?
• Quality: maintain standards of HE qualifications while
being fit for the purposes of employees/students and
employers
• Curriculum, learning, teaching and assessment
• Cost: How much, who pays, is it worth it?
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WBL and APEL Opportunities
• Provides a new way of focusing higher education level
critical thinking on the demands of work
• Can stimulate HE eg approaches to research for work
based researchers, recognition of learning at work, new
curriculum models
• Offers the opportunity to develop new types of
partnership to support the development and application
of knowledge in the workplace
• Potential to increase participation in HE and widen the
funding base
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