Universities and colleges who serve working adults frequently offer an option that can offset the need to take certain courses: experiential portfolios.
Experiential portfolios are formal documents created by individuals who seek equivalency credit for courses that they normally are required to take and pass. Typically, the applicant will target a subject cluster of courses (ex: marketing), identify specific courses within that cluster (ex: consumer analysis, marketing communications), and then develop a portfolio that expounds upon the related topics. The portfolio’s contents will include narratives that address workplace experience, as well as supporting work products, professional certifications, peer evaluations and testimonials from employers. Portfolios are reviewed, assessed and graded by academic faculty; as a rule, they recommend either no or partial credit—full credit is rare.
Why is it rare? Because the biggest challenge to creating an effective portfolio is articulating theoretical knowledge. Adults generally have little trouble identifying and explaining practical experience, but when asked to discuss underlying theories, hit a communication wall. Theories are concepts or beliefs about a topic, behavior or process, and are the heart of academic learning. They also tend to be contradictory on almost any subject. Consider how different ‘theory x’ and ‘theory y’ are when explaining human motivation!
Photo Credit: andy54321 on Flickr
If you are considering development/submission of an experiential portfolio at any institution of higher education, it’s worth your time to do some theoretical reading on the targeted subject(s), so that you can integrate theories into your practical narrative and earn the highest possible equivalency credit.
Wed, Jul 15, 2009
Adult Education, Continuing Education, Tips