Assessment Of Prior Learning: From Unskilled To Skilled Worker

Author(s):

Vibe Aarkrog(presenting / submitting)Bjarne Wahlgren(presenting)

Conference:

ECER 2014

Network:

02. Vocational Education and Training (VETNET)

Format:

Paper

Session Information

02 SES 10 C, Assessing Learning in VET

Paper Session

Time:

2014-09-04

15:30-17:00

Room:

B025 Anfiteatro

Chair:

Christof Nägele

Contribution

The paper deals about the preliminary results from an on-going action research project which is part of the project: “From unskilled worker to skilled worker in record time”. The aim of the project is to qualify unskilled workers for skilled positions in record time. The tools are a comprehensive assessment of the students' prior learning, a flexible course structure and a practical experience-based pedagogy.

The assessment of prior learning, in Danish “realkompetencevurdering” has been studied and elaborated in various project; please use this link http://nck.au.dk/search/local/?q=realkompetencevurdering

This paper focus on results from researching the assessment of the students' prior learning. In the paper we will describe and highlight some challenges in relation to assessing the students’ prior learning. Through studying the practice of assessing the students’ prior learning the aim of the actions research project is to currently improve the process of assessing the students’ prior learning.

We focus on the assessment procedures within three VET programs: “chef” (gastronomer), “hairdresser” “social- and health care helper”. The three programs have different procedures for assessing the students’ prior learning. The assessment can be based on interviews with the students; the students can demonstrate their skills and competences by solving practical tasks or performing in simulated practice situations; or the assessment combines interviews and practical performance.

In the research project the main interest is to study how the students demonstrate their prior learning and how the teachers assess the students’ knowledge skills and competences and transform the assessment into credit transfer. In relation to the latter an important focus is how the teachers use their tacit knowledge about practice within the vocation in the assessment procedures . The preliminary results show that the teachers as experts within the vocation has developed a tacit knowledge that has to be explicated as part of the assessment.

The unskilled worker’s actual and absolute competence encompasses skills and knowledge, formal knowledge and informal knowledge. Part of the competence is based on work experiences and practical knowledge. Part of the is tacit. Asssesment of the total amount of competence meet several challenges. The first one is the classical one: how is the relation between ‘knowing how’ (declarative knowledge) and ‘knowing that’ (Ryle, 1949)

How much knowing that should a skilled professional have in order to perform as a competent skilled worker? Is the practical functional knowledge (knowing how) sufficient or perhaps even better than the school-based academic book learning in relation to further education? Another classical question is how to measure tacit knowledge (Polanyi, 1966), . The tacit dimension is reinforced by the student who will often be able to demonstrate their skills and the knowing how that is included in their performance, however who cannot formulate their knowledge and skills. The students are in the Dreyfus sense (Dreyfus & Dreyfus, 1986) experts within their local practical settings, just as the teachers are experts within their local settings. How can and should tacit knowledge be included in the assessment of prior learning?

The research question is: How is the students’ prior learning assessed and which are the criteria for assessing the credit transfer?

Method

The project "From unskilled worker to skilled working runs for two years and will be completed ultimo 2014. The aim of the project is to develop and test methods for assessing prior learning as well as teaching methods that will support the record time target. The developmental part of the project takes place in a number of VET-colleges and a number of programs. The project includes an action learning project the aim of which is to influence the developments in the project through current data ciollection. In this paper the focus is solely on the part of the action project which deals with the assessment of prior learning mentioned above. The empirical data include: 1. Observation of the assessment of the students, ie of either interviews with the students or sessions in which the students demonstrate their knowledge, skills and competences. The observations focuses on how the students are supported in describing and or demonstrating their skills and competences. The observations include 3-4 assessment sessions in each of the three programs. 2. Interviews with the teachers (i.e 2-3 teachers in each program) who assess the students: The purpose is to learn about the teachers’ arguments for and considerations in relation to assessing the students’ prior learning. 3. Interviews with the students: The purpose is to learn about the students’ perceptions of the assessment procedures, including how these procedures influence the students’ motivation for education and training.

Expected Outcomes

The study contributes to developing methods for assessing prior learning including both the teachers’ ways of eliciting the students’ knowledge, skills and competences during the students’ performances and the methods that the teachers apply in order to assess the credit of the students’ prior learning in relation to the regulations of the current VET-program. The results in particular focus on how to transform into credits not only the students’ explicated knowledge and skills but also their competences, i.e. the way the students use their skills and knowledge to perform in practice. The study seeks to explicate the process of transforming the students’ performances into credits, which includes methods to help the teachers to formulate the tacit knowledge on which they base their assessment of the students. Interviews with the teachers show that they have no clear and common criteria for measuring the students’ competences; there is no common scale for operationalizing the students’ qualifications. The teacher uses the learning outcome described in the regulation for the particular program as a scale for estimating whether the student’s qualifications are equivalent to the learning outcome descriptions. However the descriptions of the learning outcome in the regulations are not operationalized. Consequently the process of assessing and giving credit transfer include an interpretation and operationalization of the learning outcome descriptions in the regulations as well as of the adults students’ skills, knowledge and competences. The teachers’ criteria for assessment of the students’ knowledge, skills, and competences are to some extent based on tacit knowledge. In the interview the teachers have difficulties in explaining how they assess. When the teachers observe the students performing, they may intuitively know whether the student is competent or less competent.

References

http://nck.au.dk/search/local/?q=realkompetencevurdering Aarkrog, V. & Wahlgren (2013). Challenges in relation to assessment of prior learning. Copenhagen: National Centre og Competence Development, www.nck.au.dk Andersson, P., Fejes, A. & Sandberg, F. (2013). Introducing research on recognition og prior learning. In: International Journal og Lifelong Education, 32: 4, 405-411. Andersson, P. & Harris, J. (2006) (Eds.). Re-theorising the recognition of prior learning. Leicester: NIACE. Bernstein, B. (1999). Vertical and Horizontal Discourse: an essay. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 20: 2, 157-173. Bjørnevold, J. (2000). Making learning visible. Identification, assessment and recognition of non-formal learning in Europe. Luxenbourg: Cedefop. Cedefop (2012). European guidelines for validating non-formal and informal learning. Thessaloniki: Cedwfop. www.cedefop.europa.eu Cooper, L. H., J. (2013). Recognition of prior learning: exploring the ‘knowledge question’. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 32: 4, 447-463. Diedrich, A. (2013). ‘Who’s giving us the answers?’ Interpreters and the validation of prior foreing learning. International Journal of Lifelong Learning, 32: 2, 230-246. Dreyfus, H. L. and S. E. Dreyfus (1986). Mind over Machine. The Power of Human Intuition and Expertise in the Era of the Computer. Glasgow: Basil Blackwell. Ehlers, S. (2011). Models for Validation of Prior Learning (working paper). Copenhagen: Danish School of Education. EVA (2010, a). Anerkendelse af realkompetencer i nordisk perspektiv (Eng: APL in a Nordic perspective). Copenhagen: Danmarks Evalueringsinstitut. EVA (2010, b). Anerkendelse af realkompetencer på VEU-området mv. Undersøgelse som led i overvågning af lov nr. 556 af 6. juni, 2007. (Eng: APL in CVET et cetera. Investigation as part of supervision of law no. 556 June 6, 2007).Copenhagen: Danmarks Evalueringsinstitut. Grunnet, H. & Dahler, A.M. (2013). Quality model for validation in the Nordic countries – a development project 2012-2013. NVL: www.nordvyux.net Gustafsson, L. & Mouwitz, L. (2008). Validation of competences. Göteborg: NCM. Lave, J. and E. Wenger (1991). Situated learning. Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Nistrup, U. et.al. (2010). Anerkendelse af realkompetencer - udbredelse, barrierer og gældende praksis. (Eng: Recognition of prior learning – extension, barriers and current practice). Copenhagen: National Centre of Competence development. www.nck.au.dk Pegg, A. et.al.. (2013). Narrating unfinished business: adult learners using credit transfer to re-engage with higher education. Studies in Continuing Education, 35: 2, 209-223. Polanyi, M. (1966)The Tacit Dimension . Gloucester, Mass: Peter Smith. Ryle, G. (1949) The Concept of Mind. London: Hutchinson Van Kleef, J. 2012). Finding Quality in the Dynamic of Social Practice. In: Prior Learning Assesment Inside Out, 1: 2.

Author Information

Vibe Aarkrog (presenting / submitting)

Department of Education Aarhus University, Denmark

Bjarne Wahlgren (presenting)

University of Aarhus

Copenhagen NW

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