The University of Guelph in Ontario is promoting the development of employability skills through its learner-centred strategy.
Guelph’s learner-centred strategy is based on four key concepts: self-reliant learning; the research-teaching link; skill development; and experiential learning.
This facilitator’s guide is part of the Portfolio for Youth Development Kit, designed to help young people make the connection between both formal and experiential learning, and the Essential Skills required in a variety of occupations.
The kit is based on four underlying concepts: identifying multiple intelligences; identifying learning styles; examining occupations; and identifying occupational Essential Skills.
This document offers an analysis of 35 research studies that looked at the impact of experiential learning (EL) on student achievement, secondary school graduation, and students’ preparation for life after high school.
This report looks at both the links and the differences between formal, non-formal and informal learning, with particular reference to the field of science and engineering in Canada and the United States.
Prior learning assessment and recognition (PLAR) is the practice of acknowledging the information, skills, and understanding that adult learners have gained through paths other than formal education.
This document offers an analysis of the status of prior learning assessment and recognition (PLAR) across Canada. As well, it includes suggestions about what is needed in order for employers, post-secondary institutions, and government to recognize and value experiential and informal learning.
The authors note that improvements in post-secondary educational attainment are an important response to the growing demand for skills in the Canadian labour market. However, in addition to academic skills, employers require their employees to have occupational skills, including both job-specific technical skills and “soft skills” like interpersonal communication and teamwork.
This document is the result of a call from the Canadian Council on Learning’s Work and Learning Knowledge Centre (WLKC) for a synthesis research project on work-related informal learning in order to develop an evidence base about such learning.
Open and distance educational institutions share a commitment to principles of access and flexibility which, in turn, reflect a set of foundational beliefs that shape learning activity. Housed within this broad mandate is an explicit recognition of the presence and value of mature learners’ prior learning.
