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 Portfolio DevelopmentChallenging Courses For Credit: The Del Folder(Documentation of Experiential Learning) Formal course work is customarily involved in fulfilling most of the competencies, both GUR and major. APU does, however, provide a process for receiving credit for regular catalog courses and other areas on the basis of previous experience and learning. This involves preparing special portfolio materials. Applying to receive academic credit for documented experiential learning is a more extensive process than the portfolio process described elsewhere in this handbook. The procedure is appropriate for students who are returning to school after a break in schooling and who, during their break, have accumulated extensive work, personal, and/or travel experiences which they may want to use to challenge particular courses for credit. If this applies to you, read on. Critical to the portfolio process is the reflection on one's learning experiences and the articulation of their significance in an academic context. Students in GS 135: Self and Society spend time producing the materials for the initial autobiographical documentation that is central to the Documented Experiential Learning process. If for some reason you arrive at APU and do not take GS 135, then the class GS 205: Portfolio Development: Initial Documentation will help you with this self-assessment. The third module of the portfolio class, GS207: Documented Experiential Learning for Credit (1 credit) will walk you through the process of identifying an area in which you would like to receive credit and for assembling the essay and documentation required. . Students in the RANA Program will find that their orientation course includes segments on both initial documentation and the DEL-folder process. In GS 207 you will be shown how to document work experience, volunteer or military experience, and other experiential learning in order to challenge specifically identified courses. Ordinarily you will work from a syllabus for some course you wish to challenge, preparing a detailed narrative essay describing the experiences you have had and how you believe they fulfill the objectives and assignments laid out in the formal syllabus. You will also collect documentation to support the points you make in the essay. The instructor will help you work through one course challenge, laying out the process. After you have contacted the Registrar's Office for the "Portfolio Assessment Summary Form", the instructor will then forward your completed folder to an appropriate faculty member for assessment. You will receive 1-credit for having completed the process and producing a course challenge. You may challenge other courses on your own later, working through the current , as identified by the Registrar. Credit for successfully challenging a given course is awarded when the instructor who has been assigned to assess the work recommends that it meets established criteria. Up to 32 credits applicable to the Bachelor of Arts degree can be gained through the Documented Experiential Learning Folders. What if you have an area of expertise which does not match up neatly with existing catalog descriptions? This may be an area where you can apply for credit for a special topics course. If no syllabus exists, the instructor of the portfolio class may be able to direct you to a faculty member who would be willing to help you draw up a contract for the kinds of work expected and the criteria for evaluation. You would use these guidelines to direct your portfolio presentation. These guidelines would articulate the exact topic and learning objectives. An example of a suitable topic might be "CS201 (cultural studies):The Changing Roles of Women in Guatemalan Society Seen Through The Eyes of An American Peace Corps Worker" (actually, the Registrar would object to such a long title...but you get the idea). For such a topic, one learning objective might be to identify the various cultural roles, historic and evolving, that women fulfill; another might be to try to identify social forces that seem to be pushing for change. Demonstration of knowledge might include an analytical essay, and documentation might include journals kept, letters exchanged, books read, evidence of second language skills, photographs. An example of a proposed topic that would likely not pass muster would be:" CS201: My Life Experiences As a Teenager in Anchorage". Too, you may have expertise in specific areas-- such as extensive training in substance abuse counseling-- which APU has no qualified faculty to teach but which your advisor recognizes as germane to, say, your program in Human Services. In such a case, APU may elect to contract with an outside expert to provide the assessment: the university regularly hires adjuncts to teach special courses. Each proposed challenge that differs from the conventional process of addressing existing syllabi must be approved by the Academic Dean, just as all directed study contracts are. Before the completed materials are forwarded to a faculty member who ordinarily teaches the course you are challenging, you will be asked to pay a portfolio review fee of $25/credit. If your challenge is successful, the business office will charge your account $50/credit hour and the Registrar will record the course and credits on your academic record. Summary of costs for the DEL Folder Tuition for GS205, 207 (206 optional) : 2 (3) credits DEL assessment fee $25/credit hour payable before folder submitted Per credit awarded fee $50/credit; payable when credits are awarded. |
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