From University to Workplace: Assessing Experiential Learning Conclusions

What the Policy Internship program at Deakin University shows is that it is possible to design a learning environment that is collaborative, constructive and responsive to the student's needs in the workplace. The challenge has been to design an assessment regime that suits that learning environment, one that allows the students to firstly understand an evaluation framework and then apply it to their own circumstances in the workplace. The assumption is that if students are able to learn how to assess they can then apply it to their own experience. Consequently, preparation for learning is an important element of an assessment regime in experiential learning. What the Deakin program does is draw together the three major elements of preparation, collaboration and reflection into a holistic approach to assessment.

First preparing students to develop assessment criteria for their own experiential learning requires that they in fact have an initial experience of assessing the work of another. This also means that they be allowed to develop the critical skills required to apply an assessment regime. At Deakin the "Working with Government" subject is designed to engage the students in an evaluation that allows them to produce a final task that applies a range of assessment approaches. By progressively evaluating different aspects of a public policy document, they build the skills necessary for use in the ensuing workplace task.

Secondly through the collaborative process of negotiating a research contract the students are able to set down the basic goals for their placement. These goals are a combination of setting objectives, devising criteria and developing action plans that can be formulated in a formal learning contract. Using the skills obtained in the "Working with Government" unit the students are able more easily to focus on a range of approaches to their goal development. By formulating these goals in conjunction with workplace and academic supervisors the student not only develops a guide for progress in the project but also a set of criteria for a final assessment of the placement.

Thirdly by engaging in a reflective approach to their experiences in the workplace students are able to focus on the broader policy framework of their placement. In this way they link their previous theoretical study of public policy to their specific case study. The emphasis is on critical reflection where there is a recognition, a judgement and a justification of the student's ideas and actions. The final reflective essay synthesizes the evidence they develop in their journals or diaries into a sustained argument about the issues or problems they have faced.

The Deakin Policy Internship can be seen as a model of experiential learning that allows students to conceptualize, synthesize and integrate an assessment process into their planning and implementation in the workplace. Through preparation, collaboration and reflection students and supervisors alike can build an assessment regime that has the imprimatur of all concerned. In this sense assessment becomes an integral part of the experiential learning.

اخر الاخبار

اخبار العتبة العباسية المقدسة

متحف الكفيل يباشر صيانة منسوجات تراثية تابعة للعتبة العسكرية المقدسة

العتبة العباسية المقدسة تستذكر مظلومية الإمام الكاظم (عليه السلام) عبر مجلس عزاء

قسم العلاقات العامة يناقش مع منتدى شباب الإسكان إقامة مهرجان تكريم طالبات المدارس المرتديات العباءة في القادسية

سماحة السيد الصافي يدعو إلى توحيد الجهود في تحقيق التراث لضمان الرصانة والدقة وخدمة الساحة العلمية

المزيد

الآخبار الصحية

6 فواكة تساعدك على الشعور بتحسّن عند المرض

حفاظا على صحة العين.. هذا أفضل وقت لتناول فيتامين أ

الاستخدام اليومي لسماعات الأذن.. أخطر مما تتصور !

هل توقيت نشاطك اليومي يؤثر على صحة دماغك؟.. العلماء يجيبون

المزيد

الآخبار التكنلوجية

ابتكار ألماني قد يغيّر مستقبل صناعة البلاستيك

تحديثات وأرباح عبر المشاهدات.. ما الذي تخطط له "لينكد إن"؟

"الكوكايين الوردي".. مخدر جديد يثير قلق السلطات الأميركية

دراسة: تغيّرات في أسلوب القيادة قد تكشف مبكرا عن الخرف !

المزيد

مواضيع ذات صلة

Parents with Learning Disabilities CONCLUSION

PROVISION OF SUPPORT

CARING FOR CHILDREN

EUGENICS AND ETHICAL ISSUES

PARENTING

DISCRIMINATION AND DIVERSITY

THE HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Parents with Learning Disabilities

Legislation and Learning Disabilities CONCLUSION

LEGAL SAFEGUARDS

MENTAL CAPACITY ACT 2005

THE HUMAN RIGHTS ACT 1998