ABSTRACT

There has been a movement across South Africa’s education sector to widen access and participation in higher education. Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) (or Prior Learning Assessment (PLA)) programmes offer an opportunity to do so by providing access to higher education to those who do not necessarily have the prerequisite requirements. Many RPL programmes are still being piloted, and little research has been conducted on the transition of postgraduate RPL students. To better understand RPL student transition, the researcher followed a case-study approach in which the experiences of RPL students enrolled in an online postgraduate diploma programme in management in marketing (PgDipMM) at a South African university were investigated. The programme piloted a novel RPL assessment and selection process which aimed to address criticisms of previous models. Findings indicated that, to a large extent, the novel RPL assessment and selection process appeared to have facilitated RPL students’ successful transition into a postgraduate diploma.

摘要

南非的教育部门开展了一场运动，以扩大高等教育的入学机会和参与度。Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)（或 Prior Learning Assessment (PLA)）计划通过向不一定具备先决条件要求的人提供接受高等教育的机会，提供了这样做的机会。许多 RPL 项目仍在试点中，关于研究生 RPL 学生过渡的研究很少。为了更好地了解 RPL 学生过渡，研究人员采用案例研究方法，调查了在南非大学注册在线营销管理研究生文凭课程 (PgDipMM) 的 RPL 学生的经历。该计划试行了一种新颖的 RPL 评估和选择流程，旨在解决对先前模型的批评。调查结果表明，在很大程度上，新颖的 RPL 评估和选择过程似乎促进了 RPL 学生成功过渡到研究生文凭。