Combining Novel Pedagogic and IT Approaches to Align the Assessment of Workplace Learning with Criteria for Academic Credit Conclusions
Profile has now been used for two years to monitor placement learning and to award academic credit for diverse workplace learning. About 50-70 students go on placement each year and of these about 90% opt for the PPM assessment of their placement. Using Profile has allowed tutors to successfully track students' learning and influence progress remotely.
This has, by necessity, increased the workload of individual tutors but this is in line with the fact that the assessment of placement learning has changed to permit the award of final year credit rather than notional credit. Our evaluation indicates that the academic workload associated with this placement module is no greater than any taught final year modules of equivalent credit value. On the other hand, the administrative load associated with the placement module has reduced since we have moved to the electronic system. Furthermore, from our own evaluation of the students' experience, though the students' workload increased, they valued this form of assessment because they:
• appreciated the academic recognition of their placement learning;
• preferred to complete the portfolio on-line rather than paper-based;
• favored a staged approach to assessment rather than a final report;
• valued the communication channels within the system that permit a remote yet supported iterative approach to learning;
• preferred a spread of level 3 assessments over both their Sandwich and final years.
As a result of all these factors, there has been a 100% pass rate.
Because Profile can be used for any task that is conventionally managed by paper-based forms, the system can be, and is being, used by a number of departments in other universities to manage not only workplace learning but also activities such as Personal Development Planning (PDP) and Continuing Professional Development (CPD). Additionally, Profile is suitable for administrating professional qualifications, especially where the users are geographically dispersed and where they are using a portfolio approach to evidence learning.
