What do PLAR Assessments Look Like?

A PLAR assessment type will be determined by the academic area, and CLOs, and might be a portfolio, an exam, an assignment, or something else (e.g., an interview or storytelling). The assessment is designed to address all the CLOs as specified in the Course Outline and may be comprised of one or more activities to ensure full coverage.

Cultural Awareness and UDL

Many PLAR candidates have work and life experiences from across the globe. PLAR evaluators need to be mindful of how cultural differences may impact the demonstration of knowledge, competencies, and skills. For example, a candidate may be familiar with different terminology, societal contexts, ways of knowing, or may have different cultural norms of self-expression.

PLAR assessments should respect the validity of learning approaches across cultures and be mindful of questions or tasks that depend on knowledge or experiences containing specific cultural references. For example, an assessment should not assume that all learners are familiar with euro central customs, popular cultural references, or academic conventions unless those concepts are directly related to the course learning outcomes. Instead, learners should be provided opportunities to demonstrate their knowledge and skills through examples and experiences that are meaningful and relevant to their own cultural, community, and professional contexts and demonstrate the CLOs.

Exceptions may be instances where knowledge of local context, law, or regulated practices is a key learning requirement.

The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) guidelines acknowledge and support learner variability and can be helpful when designing PLAR assessments. UDL encourages learner agency and recognizes multiple means of learner action, expression, engagement, and representation. For example, candidates seeking prior recognition should be provided opportunities to express their learning in personally relevant ways when possible.

The variety of candidates’ experiences mean that PLAR assessment design needs to not only be meaningful, but flexible, adaptable, and accessible. Ideally, PLAR assessment should strike a balance between standardization and flexibility to account for an individual’s unique learning history while ensuring validity and reliability. Assessments should aim to provide different options for demonstrating each learning requirement. In addition, care should be taken to ensure assessment expectations are clearly communicated and understood by all candidates (Hamer, 2016).

Cultural Awareness and UDL information has been adapted from Seneca’s Cultural Awareness, UDL, and PLAR - Module 1: Understanding and Developing PLAR- PLAR Handbook for Assessors)