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Frequently Asked Questions

1. Are there PEQAB guidelines regarding granting PLAR for the work-integrated learning component of a degree?

1. Are there PEQAB guidelines regarding granting PLAR for the work-integrated learning component of a degree??

Beginning with PEQAB and PLAR (Prior Learning Assessment & Recognition) in general: PEQAB has adopted a very limited definition of PLAR – it is in our current Manual for Colleges as a footnote within the Admission, Promotion, Graduation Standard:

¹³ In the context of this benchmark, prior learning assessment only refers to the assessment of learning gained outside a traditional classroom (through work experience, volunteering, outside study, etc.) and excludes (and therefore allows) transfer credits and transfer agreements which may amount to more than 50% advanced standing (p. 26).

So this limitation of 50% would only apply to anything, if that “thing” is considered to be outside the context of classroom learning.

Also PEQAB enthusiastically endorses Canada’s recent ratification of the Lisbon Recognition Convention—the principle being that students should not be required to repeat academic work which is “substantially” the same as the work required by a credential which they wish to claim or to pursue. Technically, this just applies to international students, but the principle is a good one – and no reason not to apply it to all students. We would accept the view that a student’s prior Work-Integrated Learning experience, if it could be shown to reflect the learning outcomes of a program (including a degree program) which they were pursuing should “count” toward the 420 hours, up to and including the full 420 hours, if the College is satisfied that it reflects all the requirements for WIL, including:

Work-Integrated Learning

¹⁰ A work-integrated learning experience:

1. is appropriate to the field of the program
2. has articulated, appropriate learning outcomes
3. is supervised by both a College representative with relevant academic credentials and an employer/staff member who collaborate to evaluate the student performance
4. provides opportunities and structure for student reflection on program learning outcomes in relationship to work-integrated learning experience(s)
5. amounts to no less than 14 weeks of full-time equivalent work (420 hours), either in one block, or in multiple cumulative blocks appropriate to achieving the learning outcomes (p. 29).

Also, we would accept the view that any of the above which were not reflected in the original WIL experience could be retroactively supplemented by the College, at its option. So for instance, if the original WIL had not articulated the “learning outcomes” of the program, but was found by “a College representative with relevant academic credentials” (e. g. a faculty member in the program) to in fact reflect those outcomes – that would be acceptable. Similarly, if the original WIL hadn not included for instance“ opportunities and structure for student reflection on program learning outcomes in relationship to work-integrated learning experience(s)” but the student was required to produce that reflection paper before being credited with (whatever part of) the 420 hours of WIL – that would be acceptable within the PEQAB standards and benchmarks.