Prior Learning Assessment - Assignment Example

Prior Learning Assessment Written Assignment One The area of my life that has developed certain skills and competencies in me and has groomed me as a whole was the period of my high school. It was the time when I found myself so much more participative than in any other time of my life. Whether it was discussion with the teachers during a lecture or participating in extracurricular activities such as debates and volunteering in seminars, all this has developed me as a person. Hence my high school has developed and carved my communication skills. I also find myself quite social, when it comes to gathering and talking to people as I can effectively communicate with them and therefore it becomes easy for me to get along with people. Reading has allowed me to develop several competencies, one of which is thinking out of the box and being creative. Although I would completely agree to this fact that everyone is creative in their own separate way but not everyone recognizes this ability. Being creative helps you to gain competitive edge over others in several ways. Whether you are a part of an organization or starting your own business, having a creative and innovative mind helps you to stand out in the competition. Based on these competencies and skills possessed by me, I went through the list of courses being offered at Thomas Edison State College. On analyzing the courses I found that courses like organizational behavior, human resource management, international management, managerial communication, change management, advance organizational management, small business management, project management, sales management and advertising can be quite effective for me. The reason behind choosing all these courses is because they suit my competencies and skills that I have developed in all these years. All these skills require a person who is creative and can generate new business ideas. Written Assignment 2 My areas of expertise are communication, being social and generating new ideas and therefore I think that all the management courses being offered at Thomas Edison State can be a good option for me as they are according to my area of interest and they also match my competencies. Organizational behavior, human resource management, international management, managerial communication, change management, advance organizational management, small business management, project management, sales management and advertising are all management related courses and I found them quite interesting because the objective of these courses points towards practical and modern study of the business world. These courses can open a door to new opportunities for me to the business world. My competencies and skills will help to support my future career in the field of management and will help me to establish myself as an effective and successful manager. Written Assignment 3 Bloom’s taxonomy of cognitive domain is divided into six different categories. These categories are knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation. These different categories define help in the development of knowledge and skills of individuals. Bloom’s taxonomy of cognitive domain is based on the mental skills. It is based on aspects such as recalling information and data. It also takes into account the interpretation of the instruction that the individual gains from its instructor and states the recognized problems in his or her own words, defining the concept learnt in the classroom in their own words and it also helps individuals to distinguish between the concepts and facts that are being taught in the classroom. This cognitive domain also focuses on synthesis and evaluation. Synthesis can be defined as gathering different structures and pattern and then putting them together and looking at it as a whole. Evaluation is to interpret the ideas and concepts and give judgments accordingly (Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning Domains). The students’ portfolio of Thomas Edison State College states that they encourage students who are independent learners and who have the ability to study in unstructured environment. The level of Bloom taxonomy mentioned in student portfolio can be related to each and every element of Bloom’s taxonomy of cognitive domain. For example knowledge that is one of the categories of cognitive domain and it is also the basis of every educational institutions including Thomas Edison State College. Written Assignment 4 My areas of expertise include communication and management. These areas are quite essential for the courses I’m planning to take in future. Communication is an important element of management courses being offered, as without effective communication one cannot be successful in their professional life. Learning is quite an essential element not only in education but in almost all the spheres of life. Learning is a continuous process and it does not end with any particular course or degree. Education helps a student to grow as a person and learn different techniques. The more a student learns the more he or she becomes skilled at different task and gains experience which later on helps them in their professional career as well. One can say that education fosters growth and provides an individual with ways through which they can grow in the person and professional life. Based on the learning outcome of this course I would like to go for the TECEP Examination. This examination, according to me will help to evaluate my skills and competencies than any other test and therefore I would like to select TECEP examination for my evaluation. My next step would be to understand the objectives of different courses that I’m planning to take during the completion of my degree. It is important to thoroughly go through the objective of the courses as it gives you the insight that what education has to offer. I would like to go through the catalogue of Thomas Edison State College and read the objectives and match it with my expectation regarding that particular course. In case I find that the objective of a course is different than the expectations that I have from it, then I guess I have to think once again before registering for it. Discussion Forum 1 PLA is a corporative or professional learning program that cannot be evaluated as gaining credit but it can be considered as an option for students in gaining credit for their prior learning. PLA as well as TECEP allows student to demonstrate the previous college learning, whether it is formal or informal. After a student has gained credit based on their prior knowledge then it moves into a phase where the institute as well as the student in collaboration finds a suitable course for the student. This program helps students to save their time and money by not spending it on tasks which they already know. PLA is considered to an effective program that helps students gaining credits for their college knowledge that they have gained both inside and outside their classrooms. Thomas Edison College has helped and is also helping students to gain credit that help them in getting transfers to many other universities and college present throughout the country. Besides all its advantages PLA does have certain disadvantages as well. It is not always easy to measure the prior knowledge of the students. Sometimes the students are not very much expressive and this make them earn low credit. Many of the knowledge that student possess do need to be revised, gaining credits for such knowledge can be a drawback as they jump to a higher level surpassing the previous one. PLA has been an effective program for me as I was fully satisfied with the credits I gained in the program based on my prior knowledge. However one of my friends gained higher credit than me. He faced many difficulties in his course as many concepts being taught in the course were difficult for him. This happened because the credit he gained in the PLA program were not compatible to his previous knowledge and his credit score must have been low but because of his elaborative qualities that he gained a much higher score than he deserved. Discussion Forum 2 There are various sources that serve as a success factor. However the most important sources can be the knowledge that you acquire by working part-time or full time at any facility, any independent research that you have conducting related to your study or on your own, any volunteering experience, effective cultural and artistic experiences that one hold, creative hobbies and activities that one performs in his or her leisure hours, any other religious or communicative activity that contributes to one’s learning and your studying experience at a place outside your home town. All the learning outcomes that one gains from these sources function as sources of gaining higher credit in your PLA program. I do think that I possess some of these success factors as I have part-time job experience that has helped me in several different aspect of my life as well as in my studies. It has given me the practical experience of the theoretical knowledge that I gained within the settings of my classroom. My hobbies include reading article and books in my spare time, which I consider quite informative because both these sources gave me loads of knowledge and to some extent I also implemented this knowledge in my studies. Also I have been attending different conferences and seminars which again have served as a source of knowledge and motivation for me. All these sources including your formal education contribute in gaining higher credits in PLA. Discussion Forum 3 I am a good learner but I only like learning things that grab my interest. I believe that learning is a continuous process and it does not stop at any particular level but it goes on. I easily learn things that are demonstrated by a good and helpful instructor. My self-learning techniques are not that much developed for when I’m on my own I do take time to learn things. I have taken Kolb’s test once in my high school. My instructor asked me to perform an experiment, observe the consequences of the experiment and then I had to reflect the learning that I gained during the event. Based on that I had to draw a conclusion of the experiment and analyze what I actually learned during the experiment (Cherry). Based on the result of this experiment I found that I’m a reflective observer because first I reviewed the whole circumstances and then reflected likewise. While learning any new techniques I first study all its aspects and consequences. I study in detail the consequences that are causing the event and also the ones who are preventing it from occurring. I then reflect all these aspects and the learning outcome in my mind and also practically, drawing specific conclusions from it. This form of learning is quite effective for me as the knowledge that I gain from it is not at all short lived but it stays with me for a very long period and therefore Kolb’s learning is every much effective for me. Discussion Forum 4 Based on the learning outcome of this module, learning forms the basis of the factors associated with the success of a person. A person must possess a learning quality where he should always be eager to learn new and different task that would help him to enhance his skills and competencies. Reflective learning is a process that can be associated with long term learning and it is in fact one of the key factors that can be associated with the long term learning. Reflective learning is what helps you to score more credit in PLA. I am a reflective learner and I learn different aspects by analyzing and then implementing the concepts in my own words. This is one of the most important aspects of learning as it helps me to have long tern memory. It can also be considered important because it help in the better understanding of concepts, which later on helps the individuals in their practical life. Work Cited Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning Domains. 2013. Web. 10 November 2013 . Cherry, Kendra. Experiential Learning. 2012. Web. 10 November 2013 . Read More