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CBE NEWSLETTER - CNM · Partner directly with employers to bring frontline workers a college degree...

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CBE NEWSLETTER In This Issue You will see how CBE is imple- mented in the following institu- tions: College for America Westminster College Southern New Hampshire Univer- sity University of Wisconsin Kentucky Community and Tech- nical College System Western Governors University Sinclair Community College Broward College Northern Arizona University Excelsior College “There is a new breed of students in higher education today. While tra- ditional college education is still alive and well, many students are now demanding degrees that are faster, more affordable and straight to the point. And, they are finding what they want in competency-based edu- cation, a model of learning that awards students based on what they know, rather than how many hours they have spent in a classroom.” The Complete Guide to Competency-Based Education Issue 2 March 2015
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Page 1: CBE NEWSLETTER - CNM · Partner directly with employers to bring frontline workers a college degree ... UW Flex is a direct-assessment competency-based education model launched in

CBE NEWSLETTER

In This Issue

You will see how CBE is imple-

mented in the following institu-

tions:

College for America

Westminster College

Southern New Hampshire Univer-

sity

University of Wisconsin

Kentucky Community and Tech-

nical College System

Western Governors University

Sinclair Community College

Broward College

Northern Arizona University

Excelsior College

“There is a new breed of students in higher education today. While tra-

ditional college education is still alive and well, many students are now

demanding degrees that are faster, more affordable and straight to the

point. And, they are finding what they want in competency-based edu-

cation, a model of learning that awards students based on what they

know, rather than how many hours they have spent in a classroom.”

—The Complete Guide to Competency-Based Education

Issue 2 March 2015

Page 2: CBE NEWSLETTER - CNM · Partner directly with employers to bring frontline workers a college degree ... UW Flex is a direct-assessment competency-based education model launched in

100% online

Target working adults

Project-based learning: Students learn by mastering competencies

through real-world projects, not through lectures or classes.

Students cannot fail a project. They can resubmit their projects until they

demonstrate mastery of the required competencies.

No semesters, classes, tests/exams, or letter grades.

Self-paced and self-directed

Tuition Model: $2,500 per year, all-inclusive

Partner directly with employers to bring frontline workers a college degree

Use curated e-learning resources and open educational resources

Student Support Model

Learning Coach: Guides students through the program; first line of con-

tact for students.

Grader/Reviewer: Grades students’ projects and provides detailed feed-

back.

Online Network: Peer networks, facilitated through social media, to foster

community and provide social interaction and peer support.

Learning Partner: An individual identified by students whose role is to

support and encourage students.

Mentor: An employer or community partner identified

by students with help from College for America who provides encourage-

ment, support, and guidance.

BRINGING HIGHER EDUCATION TO WHERE STUDENTS LIVE AND WORK

Degrees Programs:

BA in Communications

BA in Health Care

Management

AA in General Studies

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The hallmarks of

the emerging com-

petency models are

self-paced courses,

on-demand

academic help,

mentoring,

validated

assessments, and

all you can eat or

subscription pricing

models.

—Burck Smith,

CEO and Founder of

StraighterLine

Westminster College (Salt Lake City, Utah)

Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration

70 program competencies

Project-based curriculum

Five project sequences including 20 projects

—Professional Development

—Consumers and Markets

—Enterprise Performance

—Strategy and Leadership

—Business Planning

Projects might include financial analysis of firms, market studies for new prod-

ucts, marketing plans, or a business plan for a company student would like to

start.

Student progress is measured by successful completion of project sequence

rather than grades.

No lectures. No exams.

Students are provided with a faculty mentor and an online knowledge data-

base.

Each project sequence is preceded by a two-day, on-campus residency that

includes workshops, seminars, and tool-building sessions. Student use these

resources to learn on their own to complete each project.

Each project sequence has a full-time faculty expert who is in charge of that

sequence: evaluating student learning and progress, adjusting projects, and

coaching other faculty coaches who work with students on an individual basis.

The program typically uses part-time faculty, each of whom works with 5-10

students per semester.

There is no

single blue-

print for CBE.

Page 4: CBE NEWSLETTER - CNM · Partner directly with employers to bring frontline workers a college degree ... UW Flex is a direct-assessment competency-based education model launched in

Southern New Hampshire University

Three-year Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration

Designed from the bottom up around a set of competencies.

Classes are interdisciplinary “modules” rather than traditional three-credit courses.

Each module integrates course content into unique learning experiences and satisfies general education and major re-

quirements at the same time.

E.g. instead of taking Public Speaking as a separate course, students fulfill the public speaking requirement through re-

quired module-- client and public presentations.

Each semester, students participate in a week-long “integrating experience,” which is a group project in which students

use what they have learned to solve real business challenges. Faculty hold special consulting hours to provide guid-

ance and support to the student teams. Students present their team project to faculty and earn college credits.

University of Wisconsin Flexible Options (UW Flex)

UW Flex is a direct-assessment competency-based education model

launched in November 2013. UW Flex focuses on assessment rather

than credit hours. Students progress toward their degrees not through

structured courses or accumulated credits, but by demonstrating mas-

tery of competencies through rigorous assessments. Students must

pass assessments and prove mastery before they can move on. They

prepare for these assessments as they like and at their own pace,

through flexible pathways, whenever and wherever they want. If they

don’t pass the assessment the first time, they can take the assessment

again.

Mastery and time are at

the heart of competency

-based education:

A clear definition of

mastery, along with

procedures and tools

for tracking that mas-

tery

Flexible use of time,

releasing students

from seat time

Page 5: CBE NEWSLETTER - CNM · Partner directly with employers to bring frontline workers a college degree ... UW Flex is a direct-assessment competency-based education model launched in

Kentucky Community and Technical College System

KCTCS implemented the Learn on Demand format to offer students a higher education on their own terms.

Learn on Demand offer both parent courses and bite-size courses. A parent course is a regular, 15-week

course. A bite-size course, also called a module, is usually three to five weeks long and it covers a portion of a

parent course. Each parent course is broken into three or more modules. Students may sign up for the whole

course or enroll module-by-module, and they may earn partial credit for each successful completion. Students

can start their learning at the time of their choosing whenever they are ready and students are free to pick and

choose the courses or modules that meet their educational goals .

Learn on Demand also honors prior learning. Students can test out of a class or a module and receive credits

immediately if they have substantial educational and professional experience. With credit for prior knowledge, stu-

dents don't have to complete any of the regular class assignments or work for weeks to receive credit. Students

quickly get the credit they deserve and are free to move on to the next class .

Western Governors University

Disaggregated Faculty Role Model

Traditionally, a faculty member plays multiple roles at the same time—instructional designer

and subject matter expert and lecturer and assessor and grader, etc. WGU has adopted a

new staffing model that unbundled the faculty role, which means discrete activities typically

performed by one faculty member in a traditional institution would be handled separately by

several different individuals . At WGU, faculty and staff work in different capacities to guide

and assist students:

Student mentor: the primary faculty support assigned for each student. The student

mentor provides advice, coaching, and support from the moment a student enters

WGU to the time he or she graduates.

Course mentors: these are the subject matter experts who provide specific discipline

support for students as they engage in specific section of the curriculum. They are

knowledgeable and can address any issue that might arise related to a course, a

learning resource, or an assessment.

Program faculty: their major responsibilities include curriculum and assessment devel-

opment as well as program management.

Evaluators: they are responsible for evaluating assessment submissions.

Page 6: CBE NEWSLETTER - CNM · Partner directly with employers to bring frontline workers a college degree ... UW Flex is a direct-assessment competency-based education model launched in

Sinclair Community College

AAS degrees:

Network Engineering Associate

Software Development

Secure System Administration

Short-term Certificates/Nationally Recognized

Certifications:

Network Engineering Associate

Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate

Fast Track Programming

IT Fundamentals

Network +

Network Security +

What’s Different?

Rolling starts:

New classes start every Monday. Students can begin a new course as soon as the previous one is

finished. Although students are allowed to enroll in a new course any Monday through the 12th

week, they are expected to complete all coursework by the end of a traditional term.

Work at your own schedule

Flex-paced courses are fully online. Students can start class any time, with the option to finish early.

Students have the potential to finish more courses per semester for quicker program completion

80% mastery

Students are presented with ordered topics. Students advance to next topic only after demonstrating

mastery of the previous topic and the mastery is set at 80%.

Case management model

A faculty mentor and an academic coach is assigned to each student to provide support.

Page 7: CBE NEWSLETTER - CNM · Partner directly with employers to bring frontline workers a college degree ... UW Flex is a direct-assessment competency-based education model launched in

Broward College

Accelerated IT Training Programs

Multiple options

The program offers students the opportunity to earn an AS degree in Computer Systems Specialist,

nine IT Industry Certifications and two technical certificates: IT Analyst and IT Support Specialist.

Flexible

Mini sessions allow students to begin more classes each semester; you can take one course at a

time, or up to 4 courses simultaneously. There are multiple start dates,

Accelerated completion

Except for the Computer Literacy Course, all of the other courses allow students to demonstrate mas-

tery of competencies by passing a series of exams.

Competency-based learning

—There are NO due dates. Students submit assignments and assessments at their own pace.

—Only Unit Evaluations in a course count toward the final grade. All Unit Evaluations in a course must

be passed in order to pass the course.

—81% or greater is considered passing.

Five guiding principles for the development of high-quality CBE programs:

1. The degree reflects robust and valid competencies.

2. Students are able to learn at a variable pace and are supported in their learning.

3. Effective learning resources are available any time and are reusable.

4. The process for mapping competencies to courses, learning outcomes, and assessments is explicit.

5. Assessments are secure and reliable.

Page 8: CBE NEWSLETTER - CNM · Partner directly with employers to bring frontline workers a college degree ... UW Flex is a direct-assessment competency-based education model launched in

In Personalized Learning, students will receive an education that is:

Flexible – You set your own timelines and decide when, how quickly, and in what order you wish to learn key concepts. Competency-based – Lessons are built around concepts and learning outcomes with your

prior experience factored into your education plan. Self-Paced – Lessons and assignments are designed to encourage self-directed learning.

You also have access to “social’ spaces for collaboration. Mentored – In addition to regular access to discipline faculty, you will have a dedicated faculty “mentor” whose primary role is to help you succeed. Innovative – A cutting-edge user interface allows you to control every part of your online education, from course selection to tuition payment. Affordable – Your tuition for a six-month term is $2,500 with no program fees, textbooks or extra costs.

How Mastery Of Concepts Is Determined • Pretest before a lesson to determine if you can opt-out of the lesson • Posttest after the self-paced lesson is complete • Minimum 86% test score required to opt-out or advance • Optional mastery assessment to earn an “A” grade • Faculty mentors are there to help.

Competency, Not Grades

The grading scale is different when deadlines and time are

taken out of the equation. Here’s how it works:

1. You cannot fail. Instead, you return to the lesson for

continued study. A grade of 86% on the pretest or post-

test is the lowest passing grade. This translates to a “B” on

the NAU grading scale.

2. Score 86% or higher on a pretest or posttest and you

then have the opportunity to attempt Mastery.

The Mastery can be a certification, a test, a presentation, a

paper, case study, or other assessment. Achieve 95% or

higher and receive Mastery Status—or an “A” on the NAU

grading scale.

3. You will receive a traditional official transcript with

standard credit-hour courses that can be used to apply to

graduate school or transfer to another institution. Addition-

ally, you’ll receive a report that describes the skills you’ve

learned and competencies you’ve mastered.

Degrees Offered:

Computer Information Technology (B.A.)

Liberal Arts (B.A.)

Small Business Administration (B.A.)

Page 9: CBE NEWSLETTER - CNM · Partner directly with employers to bring frontline workers a college degree ... UW Flex is a direct-assessment competency-based education model launched in

Contact Me

Fang Chen

Presidential Fellow in CBE

[email protected]

505-224-4000*50304

Excelsior College

Online Associate Degree in Nursing

The program provides a pathway to a RN for LPNs, LVNs, paramedics, and military corpsmen. Students

who register for this program must have existing experience in the medical field.

The program offers a combination of online courses and credit-bearing assessments.

Credit By Exam: The school offers many exam-based options to fulfill degree requirements.

Students work on their own schedule, at their own pace.

Students can get academic support from Excelsior's learning resources, study guides, and exam-

preparation materials.

Students take the assessments whenever they are ready.

My Observation:

As you can tell, the implementation of competency-based education

varies from school to school and from program to program. There is

no single blueprint for designing a CBE program. However, that is

also one of the exciting features of CBE—it can evolve and adapt to

fit different design parameters.

—Fang Chen


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