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portfolio is the formal document which defines learning acquired through
non college and unaccredited college experiences. Through the experience
of developing a portfolio(s) of prior learning, PLACE (Prior Learning Activity
for Credit Evaluation), you will request college recognition for this learning.
Learning acquired through non college and unaccredited college experiences
prior to entering or returning to college is frequently called prior experiential
learning. For many persons it is learning which is critical to personal
development and/or work competency.
Northern
Virginia Community College can evaluate and grant credit for equivalent
learning from prior experience upon completion of the portfolio development
process which includes taking the portfolio development course. This process
is for persons who have prior learning which cannot be easily measured
through CLEP, DANTES or other credit-by-examination sources. The campus
counseling centers have additional information on college credit through
advanced standing. If you have significant prior learning from working
or volunteering (normally at least five years), reading books and journals,
attending conferences, workshops, or in-service training programs, or from
instruction through correspondence schools, post secondary adult schools,
or continuing education programs, you may be able to have this learning
evaluated through the portfolio mechanism.
In
this first section of the PLACE Workbook, a number of "nuts and bolts"
questions about the process will be dealt with:
Your
final evaluation for this course will take into account your achievement
of the course objectives provided in the Course Content Summaries and the
quality and completeness of your Life History, Chronological Record, Goals
Paper, and, especially, the Narrative of Competencies which you develop
with good articulation and documentation of your own prior learning.
Note:
successful completion of the course in no way should be interpreted as
meaning that the content of your learning is college equivalent (i.e. worthy
of academic recognition beyond this course); only Northern Virginia Community
College faculty evaluators can make that judgment.
Ideally
enrollment in the Portfolio Development course should take place very early
in a student's academic program. Participation is conditional upon the
ability to write clearly and concisely and to prepare a well documented
portfolio.
During
the course, the PLACE instructor will provide you with technical assistance,
support, and direction in the development of the portfolio(s). Your portfolio(s)
must ultimately be approved by the PLACE instructor in order to successfully
complete this course.
NOTE:
Some students are able to complete all of their portfolios in one semester
but many require more time. Additional portfolios (up to 15 credits worth)
may be turned in to the PLACE instructor at any time without reenrolling
in STD 298.
Enrollment
in the Portfolio Development course entitles you to the following educational
services and interaction with the PLACE instructor within the 16 week semester
(and following, if necessary).....
With
the help of your portfolio instructor, you will progress through the following
steps in the portfolio development process..... |
