Prior Learning Assessment » Reflection http://blog.marylhurst.edu/pla A program of Marylhurst University Tue, 14 May 2013 21:39:00 +0000 en-US hourly 1 Greg Carradine: He Learned A Lot In High School (Working There!) http://blog.marylhurst.edu/pla/2011/12/20/greg-carradine-he-learned-a-lot-in-high-school-working-there/ http://blog.marylhurst.edu/pla/2011/12/20/greg-carradine-he-learned-a-lot-in-high-school-working-there/#comments Tue, 20 Dec 2011 19:00:29 +0000 hmclendon http://blog.marylhurst.edu/pla/?p=43 Greg Carradine, a Human Communication major, recently completed his 32-credit Prior Learning Assessment Portfolio — Congratulations, Greg!

Greg used his personal experiences as well as those from his professional life as a high school teacher and athletic coach to demonstrate his college-level competency for these courses:

  • Effective Listening
  • Small Group Communication
  • Conflict Management
  • Nonverbal Communication
  • Planning & Facilitating Difficult Group Discussions
  • Communication of Self-Esteem
  • Team Building
  • Intercultural Communication
  • Interpersonal Communication
  • Poverty and Schooling

In his Final Reflection Essay, Greg wrote, in part, “I learned how to analyze and evaluate theoretical texts from scholarly sources and to apply this material to my own life experience.  Organizing my essays produced a continuum, and with the completion of each paper the method became smoother.”  

]]> http://blog.marylhurst.edu/pla/2011/12/20/greg-carradine-he-learned-a-lot-in-high-school-working-there/feed/ 0 Catherine Hooper: Learning to Dream Again http://blog.marylhurst.edu/pla/2011/03/08/catherine-hooper-learning-to-dream-again/ http://blog.marylhurst.edu/pla/2011/03/08/catherine-hooper-learning-to-dream-again/#comments Tue, 08 Mar 2011 19:24:10 +0000 hmclendon http://blog.marylhurst.edu/pla/?p=78 Catherine Hooper, an Organizational Communications major at Marylhurst University, recently finished her 9-credit PLA Portfolio for the following topics:

  • COL 427 Great Meetings: Planning and Facilitating Difficult Group Discussion
  • CCM 321 Small Group Communication
  • COL 426 Team Building: Managing Work Groups

In her Final Portfolio Reflection essay, Catherine wrote:

The PLA program was especially valuable to me because it provided tools to help me find what I was interested in and did well at, and then matched that to a degree program. Education is valuable and I have always wanted to complete my bachelor’s degree; the PLA program created an environment where experience and education are combined to build a strong resume and a sound career path while working on my degree.

Through the PLA program I learned to dream again and think about my future in a more creative way. It offered me opportunities to remember where I had been and what I had done in life and how that has molded me into the person I am today. PLA then helped me take that awareness to develop an educational degree plan that truly excited me.

Congratulations, Catherine!

]]> http://blog.marylhurst.edu/pla/2011/03/08/catherine-hooper-learning-to-dream-again/feed/ 0 Helen Fern: Informed by Life Experience http://blog.marylhurst.edu/pla/2010/11/05/helen-fern-informed-by-life-experience/ http://blog.marylhurst.edu/pla/2010/11/05/helen-fern-informed-by-life-experience/#comments Fri, 05 Nov 2010 19:11:14 +0000 hmclendon http://blog.marylhurst.edu/pla/?p=57 Helen is a Human Studies major, and she earned credit through the PLA program for the following courses:

  • Introduction to Photography
  • Mushroom Identification and Taxonomy
  • Anasazi Archeology
  • Conflict Management
  • Effective Listening
  • Psychology of Loss and Grief

Three of these topics were grounded in her hobbies and avocations (she has some great mushroom recipes and some amazing photographs!). All were deeply informed by her life experience.

]]> http://blog.marylhurst.edu/pla/2010/11/05/helen-fern-informed-by-life-experience/feed/ 0