IMPLEMENTATION FRAMEWORK SYSTEM FOR ACCREDITATION OF PRIOR EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING (APEL) IN HIGHER INSTITUTIONS IN MALAYSIA

Abstract

Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL) is a systematic process that involves identification, documentation and assessment of prior experiential learning.  APEL has great potentials to widen access and increase mobility for higher education. However, APEL in Malaysia is practically quite unknown in the higher education (HE) sector. There are yet many barriers and this pose a great challenge to implement it in Malaysian higher education institutions (HEIs). These barriers need to be addressed in order for APEL to be in place in HEIs. Since APEL in Malaysian HEIs, is rather immature, therefore, this research focuses on the development of APEL implementation framework for Malaysian HEIs. This research also identifies the barriers and strategies to the effective APEL implementation in Malaysia. This qualitative research employed questionnaires, which were later triangulated with interviews from 62 respondents comprises staff from MQA and six (6) local universities. Three(3) experts from Unirazak, OUM and MQA were also involved in the interview. The findings of this research indicates that the biggest barrier in implementing APEL system in Malaysia is the assessment system, followed by quality assurance, assessor and APEL promotions. This study also indicates that among the effective strategies are to coordinate advising services from local and international experts and implementing research studies for improvement. Finally, the sustainable APEL implementation framework developed is flexible, interactive as well as user-friendly and consisted of four main phases, i.e. student responsibilities, assessor responsibilities, exemption sub-committee and students (approval and decision).