FlexPath: A case study in building competency-based, direct assessment offerings

Jeff Grann, Ph.D.

• Accredited, online university for working adults

• Nearly 35,000 students from all 50 states & 59 countries

• 34,977 alumni

• Over 135 bachelor’s, master’s & doctoral specializations

& 17 certificate programs

•Headquarters: Minneapolis, MN

•Founded: 1993 – First online degree institution

•FlexPath 2013 – First direct assessment program

•Information technology

• P–12 education

• Psychology

• Public administration

• Public safety

• Social work

• Nursing

• Health care

• Business management

• Counseling

• Higher education

• Human capital management

Capella University Fact Sheet

@JeffGrann

External Context

IncreasingHigher Ed Costs

Degree CompletionChallenges

InflexibleLearning Models

National Economic Competition

Workforce Skills Gap

@JeffGrann

Employer University

The Higher Education Conundrum

Degree ProgramPosition

CourseDesired Skills &

Abilities

ActivityDemonstrated Competence

GradePerformance

History

Employers seek skilled workers

with industry’ relevant &

current skills

practical experience

and a record of accomplishment

Universities confer degrees

for completing a series of courses

in which students learn

and are assessed

How do we connect the conferral of a degree

with the ability to apply relevant, in-demand, employable skills?

@JeffGrann

Employer University

The Capella Way

Industry Alignment

Graduate Preparedness

Degree ProgramOutcomesPosition

CourseCompetenciesDesired Skills &

Abilities

ActivityCriteriaDemonstrated Competence

GradeFaculty

JudgmentsPerformance

History

Employers seek skilled workers

with industry’ relevant &

current skills

practical experience

and a record of accomplishment

Universities confer degrees

for completing a series of courses

in which students learn

and are assessed

@JeffGrann

6

A competency is:

“A combination of skills, abilities, and knowledge needed to perform a specific task in a given context.”National Postsecondary Education Cooperative (NPEC) (2001)

ASSESSMENT OF PERFORMANCE

ACQUIRED SKILLS, ABILITIES, & KNOWLEDGE

DEVELOPED IN THE LEARNING PROCESS

FOUNDATION

DEMONSTRATIONS

COMPETENCIES

SKILLS, ABILITIES, & KNOWLEDGE

TRAITS & CHARACTERISTICS

Integrative Learning Experiences

Learning Experiences

Competency Defined

@JeffGrann

Fully-embedded Assessment Model

7

Grade

Content

Course

Program Learning Outcomes

Competencies

Sub-Competencies

Authentic Assessments

Criteria

Sub-Competencies

Authentic Assessments

Criteria

@JeffGrann

Alerts

• Transparent

• Efficient

Campus Portal

Tasks

• Clear instructions and expectations

• Coaching and support

Courses

• Efficient

• Flexible experience

• Mobile delivery

Dr. Sue Hanson

@JeffGrann

Superior Learning Outcomes

Course Home PageSimple and Clear Navigation

• Interaction tools

• Weekly units of learning

• Learning resources

• Learning outcomes

Mon -Thurs Weekend

Traffic Pattern (concurrent users)

Friday Saturday Sunday8:00am | Noon | 5:00pm | Midnight

7,500

10,000+

Our fully-online asynchronous model fits the needs of the

working-adult professional

@JeffGrann

Authentic Assessment

10

Adaptive Challenge Project

• Create a presentation for your employees and stakeholders

• Present your plan for meeting the next challengesof HCL technologies

Course Project – Adaptive Challenge Project

• Imagine yourself as the new leader of HCL Technologies. Your task is to create a 10-minute presentation for your employees and stakeholders in which you present your plan for meeting the next adaptive challenge that HCL Technologies will face. They will need to understand what the future holds and what next practices will be needed to meet that future through innovation.

• The Unit 4 discussion presented you with an opportunity to test out audience response to the core themes of this final presentation. Use that feedback to shape your final project.

• Your presentation must include the following content elements:

MBA6006 – Leading Innovation in the Global Organization

@JeffGrann

Faculty provide feedback to learners on their course papers and other assignments

Faculty Formative Feedback

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Criteri-referenced Assessments

Criteria specific

comments

Overall assignment comments

Auto-calculated score

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Transparent Learning Outcomes

CapellaResults.comCapella has proudly led a national conversation on accountability in higher education. Shows student:

• Program outcome demonstration

• Satisfaction & engagement

• Career advancement

Used by:

• Prospective students

• Capella faculty

• Accreditators

@JeffGrann

Competency Map

Learner Reports

• Relevant Learning Experience

• Transparent Progress Reporting

• Career Support via print & social share

Coaching and Support

• Faculty

• Passive interactions based on student questions

• Advisors

• Proactive interactions based on predictive model score

@JeffGrann

FlexPath – Direct Assessment Offering

@JeffGrann

Differentiating CBE & DA

Competency-Based Education (CBE)

An educational approach focuses

on outcomes of learning & based

on a predetermined set of knowledge,

skills, and abilities that the student

is expected to accomplish.

Direct Assessment

An instructional program that, in lieu

of credit hours or clock hours as a

measure of student learning, utilizes

direct assessment of student learning,

or recognizes the direct assessment

of student learning by others.

CBEDirect

Assessment

@JeffGrann

Direct Assessmemt Orientation

• New model with low public awareness

• Covers a lot of content

• Assessment required

• Advisor follow-up conversations

• Despite media and commercials, no gains in knowledge of direct assessment

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FlexPath Course Timeline

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Learner Support Structure

• Disaggregation of the faculty role ensures the academic and support needs of FlexPath learners are addressed and barriers to successfully achieving individual goals are minimized

FlexPath Faculty Tutoring Faculty Coaching Faculty

• Focus on assessment and

evaluation

• Emphasis on substantive

feedback to learners

• Schedule that allows for 24 - 48

hour turnaround on

assessments

• Less direct interaction with

learners

• Close relationship with coaches

and tutors

• Content experts

• Assigned to each course

• Roles filled by Capella

doctoral learners

• Proactive/visible resource

within the courseroom and

iGuide

• Close relationship with

coaches and faculty

• 1:1 coach to learners

• Focus on learner progress

and holding them accountable

• Moving from a reactive

customer-service focus

(transactional) to a proactive

coaching relationship

• Close relationship with faculty

and tutors

1 2 3

@JeffGrann

FlexPath Transcript

• Official FlexPath transcripts are competency-

based & display performance results for each

competency in the program

• Competencies are grouped by course but

performance results at the course level are

not reported on the transcript

@JeffGrann

Credit-Based Transcript

• A more “traditional” course-based

transcript, with letter grades, credits

earned, cumulative statistics, & a GPA

is available to learners upon request

• Developed to support learner needs

such as employer reimbursement

processes or transcript requests for

other institution

@JeffGrann

• Viable model with 1,000+ students

• FlexPath students completing more courses per quarter than credit-based peers.

• Many prioritize flexibility

• Comparable competency demonstration

• Strong qualitative testimonials

• 95% would recommend FlexPath to others

• Productive model with over 50 graduates

FlexPath Performance

@JeffGrann

Take Home for Learning Analytics

• Learning analytics as a field needs better measures of student learning than grades and credits to scale.

• Direct assessment programs require high quality assessments of student learning.

• FlexPath built upon a fully-embedded assessment model, prioritizes faculty assessment practices.

• FlexPath students save time and money compared to credit-based programming.

@jeffgrann

More info?

• Ask questions

• Come to Technology Showcase

• Check out LACE case study

• Email jgrann@capella.edu

• Twitter @jeffgrann

• Thank you

@jeffgrann