Assessing Experiential Learning

Quality in Assessing Experiential Learning
From “Principles of Good Practice in Assessing Experiential Learning”
Council for Adult and Experiential Learning
  1. Students should be required to differentiate clearly between learning and experience. College credit is not appropriate for experience alone.
  2. Prior to the experience itself, students should develop a learning plan that specifies the principal tasks to be performed, learning objectives, how objectives will be pursued, and the evidence required to document the learning.
  3. Clarity and specificity in describing learning objectives should not be achieved at the expense of relegating learning objectives to trivial skills.
  4. There should be formative evaluation of learning. Students should be encouraged to negotiate new learning objectives if their experiences so indicate.
  5. Care should be taken to discriminate whether particular documentation describes experience, describes learning, or provides evidence of learning.
  6. Assessment of experiential learning should employ measurement methods that fit the character of the learning.
  7. In measuring an individual’s learning, assessors should use the techniques that are appropriate to the background and characteristics of the learner, e.g., learning style.
  8. Assessment itself should be a useful learning experience.
  9. Institutions are responsible to see that assessment is as reliable (consistent) as possible to ensure fairness to students.
  10. To improve consistency in assessment, more than one sample of learning should be examined, and more than one assessor should be used unless evidence indicates that one is sufficient.
  11. Assessors should seek different forms of evidence of learning, and use more than one type of assessment.
  12. Self-assessment is often very desirable as a means of enhancing personal development and awareness of the implication of acquired skills.
  13. Self-assessment is ordinarily not a sufficient basis for granting academic credit.
  14. It is highly desirable to assess learning with reference to criterion standards of what the individual should be able to do. In the phrase, “criterion standards,” “criterion” refers to the content or nature of the performance or knowledge indicated, and “standards” refers to the depth or level of competence expected.
  15. In defining criterion standards, the content or nature of the learning or competence should be stated as clearly as possible through use of references and examples. Useful ways to clarify the content aspects of criterion standards include references to particular fields and bodies of knowledge, familiar roles or jobs, particular functions the individual can perform, equipment she can operate, and products he can make.
  16. In defining standards, several levels of competence should be stated through the use of references and examples.
  17. Standards for crediting experiential learning should be the same as or comparable to standards for crediting more traditional forms of learning. Neither should be more or less difficult to attain.
  18. It is important to clarify criterion standards before the fact so that students know what is expected and the learning is guided accordingly.
  19. Academic credit for experiential learning should be awarded only on the basis of a determination that the student has achieved the learning objectives agreed upon or has achieved alternate learning outcomes clearly satisfactory to the student and the assessor.
  20. All standards for awarding credit should be rigorous and reasonable in relation to the goals and character of the institution and the nature of its students.
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