No two people are the same.

For us, making you jump through the same hoops as everyone else just doesn’t make sense.

That’s why we collect a bit more information from you before you start, and use it to tailor your own Personal Learning Plan.

Quite simply, every student who enrols has a course of study put together just for them.

Your Personal Learning Plan becomes your unique roadmap for how you can make your way through the course. It reflects your unique set of knowledge and skills, and uses your preferred learning style as a basis for how things are done.

It will tell you three things:

1. where you might be eligible for RPL
2. which other items of evidence you need to provide to support this RPL.
3. which tasks you need to do to fulfil any remaining course requirements.

Your Personal Learning Plan has a single goal: to ensure that your course best suits your situation.

Gary – Administration Manager

Gary has been working for about 15 years, with the last 7 years in a supervisory role. In this role, Gary has to manage the performance of other staff, and provide them with any training that they need to do their jobs. He also does some voluntary work with the local Rural Fire Brigade, and this has involved him in putting together a training program for other volunteers, and then conducting the training. More recently, Gary has attended some training offered by the Rural Fire Brigade in the area of assessment, specifically covering three units: TAEASS301A, TAEASS401A and TAEASS402A. Gary has a Diploma in Business. According to the Fortress Learning learning inventory, he is an Activist.

Gary’s Course

Based on the details provided, Gary could be eligible for a number of units by Recognition of Prior Learning, some by Direct Credit and some others through the completion of coursework. To fulfill course requirements, Gary will need to provide a range of items, including Other Evidence, Third Party Reports and Coursework.

Other Evidence

  • Supporting a personal fitness studio to become a Registered Training Organisation that delivers Certificates III and IV in Personal Training
  • Developing a suite of online resources to enable disengaged young people in Cape York communities to gain the Certificate I in Work Readiness
  • Constructing an online induction program for a Queensland organisation who has a large and dispersed workforce
  • Designing websites and other corporate identification material, content management systems and learning management systems for several RTOs and other education and training institutions
  • Undertaking a research project to determine the return on training investment for one of the national Industry Skills Councils
  • providing an 18 month incubation program to support people who wish to establish their own Registered Training Organisation

Third Party Reports

  • a Third Party Report will need to be completed for each unit for which Gary is seeking RPL, using the templates that we provide

Coursework

  • Short Answer Questions related to the Design and Delivery Fields
  • A project to develop a training program that addresses fully the requirements of two units of competency

Putting it all together

Gary will gain Direct Credit for the TAE units that he has already completed, as well as for one of the units completed as part of his Diploma in Business.

Other evidence will demonstrate his ability with respect to the underpinning skills component of one Design unit and all Delivery units, which means he will not need to do the corresponding projects.

His evidence does not extend to include the underpinning knowledge for these units, and so he can demonstrate those parts of the course by completing Short Answer Questions 1 and 2. The practical skills of the other Design unit can be demonstrated through completion of Project 1a.

The Third Party Reports enable for judgement of the currency of Gary’s skills.

Susan – Administration Manager

Susan is new to her current role. Prior to re-entering the workforce, she cared for her three children for 3 years. Her work experience is limited to sales-type roles in retail stores, with no formal qualifications completed in the past 7 years. Susan has indicated that even if she is eligible for Recognition of Prior Learning, she would prefer to do the whole course. Not surprisingly, she is a Pragmatist.

Susan’s Course

Based on the details provided, Susan would be required to complete the full course of study through coursework. Being a Pragmatist means that she:

  • is keen on trying things out look for new ideas that can be applied to the problem in hand.
  • likes to get on with things and tends to be impatient with open-ended discussions are a practical, down-to earth person.

Our advice to Susan is that she should do the course in the following way:

  • Do one set of Short Answer Questions at a time, then complete the corresponding projects.
  • Start with the Short Answer Questions for the Design Field, then move to Deliver and conclude with Assess.
  • Whenever she gets bored with a set of Short Answer Questions, we advise that she jump into a corresponding Project and do as much of it until she gets stuck, then return to the Short Answer Questions.
  • Repeating this process will enable Susan to complete the course in line with her preferred learning style.

Elaine – Disability Services Worker/Part Time TAFE Teacher

Elaine has worked in disability support for 8 years. She has received lots of training for that role, and has recently accepted the role of part-time teacher at TAFE to share her experience. She is keen to get as much of her studies completed before the term starts in 3 weeks.Her Disability Services Worker role involves supporting people with disabilities to live within the community. She has qualifications at the Certificate IV and Diploma level in Aged Care, as well as completing 3 years of a 4 year Bachelor of Education degree. Elaine is a Theorist.

Elaine’s Course

Based on the details provided, Susan is advised to plan her studies in line with her TAFE calendar. Further conversations reveal that TAFE will be providing a mentor for Elaine for the first 6 months of her work with TAFE. As a part-time staff member she is not required to attend departmental meetings where validation and moderation occurs.

Elaine completes all Short Answer Questions prior to commencing the next term.

Projects related to the Design, Deliver and Assess components of the course are renegotiated with Elaine to allow them to more closely align with the work she is doing. Instead of separate projects, the new task takes the form of a portfolio of items that Elaine develops as she moves through her first term of teaching. This includes:

  • Term planning documents.
  • Session planning documents.
  • Term planning documents.
  • Session planning documents.
  • Sample resources.
  • Feedback from students.
  • Assessment instruments, including completed ones showing feedback to the student.
  • Elaine negotiates with her mentor and current employer to attend the TAFE departmental meetings, during which time she participates in the two validation meetings required.
  • A Third Party Report from Elaine’s mentor is also obtained, to offer further evidence of her currency of competency.