Portfolio Credit
What Is Experiential Learning?
Many students return to the college campus with years of experience through their work, professional and military training, self-study, hobbies, and community activities, as well as various tests such as Dante's, CLEP, Proficiency exams, and Advanced Placement, resulting in learning that occurs outside the classroom. Such learning occurs on many levels. To receive credit for learning occurring outside the college classroom, the student must substantiate that the knowledge is college-level.
Prior learning, extra-institutional learning, external learning, hands-on learning and on the job learning are other terms you may hear to describe learning outside the classroom. Experiential learning focuses on the actions and what is learned from those actions. Experiences occur, are reflected upon and lead to abstract concepts and generalizations. These concepts are then tried out in new situations. Experiential learning begins with concrete experiences.
As an adult returning to college, you have many life and work experiences from which you have learned. Is the learning college-level? Can it be applied to your degree program? Assume, for example, you manage your own business, a medical supply company; therefore, you have experience in human resources, planning, scheduling, marketing, and customer service. You can explain not only what you have done on the job for the past ten years, but the reasons for your actions and your knowledge and skills in these areas. You have acted, reflected upon these actions, analyzed their effects, generalized to other situations and applied your learning in new situations. When you review your college catalog, you find courses describing some of the learning objectives you have met through your work experience.
The area of management is only one of many on a list of college-level disciplines to consider for experiential learning credit. Some others may include art, music, dance, accounting, economics, engineering, marketing, public relations, advertising, history, sociology, psychology, criminal justice, nursing, health, computer science, biology, physics, education, and communication. In gaining academic credit through your experiences outside the college classroom, you must be able to identify and document your experiences and learning. Since you do not earn academic credit for experience alone, you must meet the challenges of analyzing the learning and finding parallels with UT Martin's curriculum.
Getting Credit For College-Level Learning At UT Martin
At the undergraduate level a UT Martin student can earn up to 30 semester hours through the experiential learning options listed below. Experiential learning credit hours can be applied toward free electives, area of interest courses, and courses for lower and upper division requirements for the major. Credit toward general education requirements must receive special approval through the advisor and the University Studies Council. In order to receive credit, appropriate documentation must be provided in all cases.
Experiential Learning Credit Options
Advanced Placement (AP). Qualifying scores are established through the Advanced Placement Program of the Educational Testing Service (ETS). Students must have their scores sent directly to the University Registrar in order to receive credit.
Proficiency Examinations. Upon approval of the University Registrar and appropriate chair and/or dean of the college involved, a student may take a comprehensive examination in any academic course in which he or she can demonstrate proficiency and receive credit for that course. Students should make requests to take proficiency examinations through the Office of Academic Records.
External Examinations. Satisfactory scores on the College Level Examination Program (CLEP), Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support (DANTES), and other examinations evaluated by American Council on Education (ACE) for college-level credit. Students must have scores reported directly to the University Registrar.
Credit for Training. Credit will be awarded for military training that has been evaluated and recommended for college credit by the American Council on Education (ACE). Students must submit documentation (AARTS or SMARTS transcript is recommended, at minimum a DD214 or DD295) of training to the University Registrar.
Portfolio Development. A student may develop a portfolio to gain college credit. Portfolios are submitted to the Coordinator of Online and University Studies and are evaluated by UT Martin faculty assessors.
What Is A Portfolio?
A portfolio is an organized collection of essays and documentation demonstrating your learning through work and life experiences. Through the portfolio, you show that the knowledge you have gained through experience is equivalent to university learning. A portfolio may contain several subject areas, some examples might include, organizational psychology, public relations and information systems management. At UT Martin, each course equivalent is referred to as a section and is evaluated by a faculty expert in that field.
How To Begin
You must be enrolled as a student in the Bachelor of University Studies degree program at UT Martin. At the beginning of your academic career at UT Martin, your academic advisor and the Office of Online and University Studies will review your educational and career goals, your official college transcripts, and your remaining degree requirements. You and your degree program advisor will decide what requirements you have already met, what courses you need to take and what credit you might earn through experiential learning. At this point the student will be asked to prepare and submit an autobiography to be used as a diagnostic tool to determine if the student possesses the writing skills and appropriate life experiences to successfully complete a portfolio program.
To begin the process of maximizing credit from external sources students should follow the steps listed below. Make sure all your college transcripts have been submitted to the Office of Admissions. Talk with the University Registrar about military training that could be counted toward your degree. You must have an AARTS or SMARTS transcript sent directly to the University Registrar, or present a certified copy of your DD214 or DD295.
If you have taken examinations for college credit, have official copies of your scores submitted to the Registrar's Office. If you are planning to take examinations, review the University Catalog to make sure you know what will count for credit. Discuss with your academic advisor what courses can be challenged through examination. Always verify your eligibility with the University Registrar prior to taking these exams.
Finally, an online course entitled Portfolio Development is required before a student submits a portfolio. You should contact the Office of Online and University Studies to discuss any questions or problems that arise. A Guide to Portfolio Development is available to aid in developing the portfolio.
These essential first steps ensure that program requirements are met, there is no duplication of credit, experiential learning credit will apply in the desired degree program areas and, that all appropriate experiential learning options are used. Dependent upon acceptance into the portfolio program, your academic advisor can help determine the courses that can most likely be completed through experiential learning credit options.
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