THE NEXT BIG THING:
COMPETENCY-BASED EDUCATION
SESSION 6: BUILDING STACKABLE CREDENTIALS AND A NATIONAL CREDENTIALING
SYSTEM
DR. DANIEL PHELAN, PRESIDENT
JACKSON COLLEGE, MI
A
A-
A+
A, B, C, D, & F
Carnegie Unit
62 Credit Hours
Associates Degree
ISSUES OF VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY…
FORMIDABLE PRACTICES & ASSUMPTIONS…
•
An ‘A’ represents a maximum level of knowledge in a course;
•
A degree represents a common level of knowledge for that credential level;
•
There is reliability and validity among grades, and among teachers;
•
Lecture is the best way to transmit new knowledge;
•
A 15/16 – week semester is the best way to learn;
•
Seat-time in the classroom is the best way to gain new knowledge;
•
A transcript represents student learning; and
•
Credit hour-based revenue model is a proven business model.
WHAT IS CBE?
BENEFITS?
CHALLENGES?
BROADLY SPEAKING, CBE IS…
• PERSONALIZED LEARNING.
• a practical alternative to the traditional Carnegie Unit of a strictly
seat-time-based reference for measuring educational attainment.
• create flexibility, allowing students to progress as they demonstrate
mastery of content, regardless of time, place, or pace of learning.
• designed to acknowledge the student’s prior learning and skill sets.
BROADLY SPEAKING, CBE…
• can include online and blended learning, dual enrollment and early college
high schools, project-based and community-based learning, and prior
learning assessment.
• Demonstrated skills are recorded as competencies through direct assessment.
• Competencies align with either industry standards expected by employers,
or knowledge-based standards expected by transfer institutions.
• Demonstration of competencies represent high-level learning (Bloom).
DEMAND FOR CBE…
• 96% of faculty believe that their students are well prepared for the
workplace;
• Only 11% of corporate leaders strongly believe colleges and
universities are effectively preparing their graduates for the world of
work.
• 87% said they believed that students should get credit for knowledge
and skills acquired outside of the classroom
(see: www.luminafoundation.org)
NATIONAL POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION
COOPERATIVE’S REPORT: “DEFINING AND ASSESSING
LEARNING”
• Traits and characteristics - these are the
intrinsic elements of individuals
• Skills, abilities, and knowledge - learning
experiences through formal education, job
experiences, and co-curricular elements.
• Competencies - knowledge, skills, abilities,
are concentrated task performance.
• Demonstrations, the application of
competencies.
BENEFITS OF CBE…
• Students have a clearly defined learning outcomes;
• Provides for modular/stackable credentials;
• New value proposition for both student and employer comprised of
learning objectives that provide demonstrable and portable skillsets.
• Allows for reduced cost and the time needed to earn credentials; and
• Enhanced student engagement due to personalized and relevant
studies tailored to each student and their unique needs.
CBE BARRIERS & CHALLENGES…
• Limited use currently;
• Time in development (i.e., employer and university work);
• Faculty support and buy-in;
• Technology needs;
• Personalization implications;
• Registrar translations with grades and transcripts;
• Union contract implications for load;
• Federal academic year requirements;
• Federal Title IV aid payment periods; aid recalculation;
• Direct assessment regulations – equate to credit/clock hours; and
• Transfer issues.
COMPETENCY-BASED
EDUCATION
TODAY
CBE IS HERE TO STAY…
• Time to evaluate our old system of grades which are becoming increasingly
irrelevant;
• Important to develop a business model that allows for sustainability and
monetization;
• Students see relevant and personalized education; and
• With approximately 36 million Americans who have started postsecondary
education and didn’t finish, CBE programs are emerging even more to help
meet the need of the students we serve.
Source: http://www.usnews.com/education/online-education/articles/2014/07/11/competency-basedlearning-provides-perks-for-online-students
ROLE OF FACULTY IN CBE…
• Increased need for faculty to work with the employing community;
• Clear, curricular competency linkages with transfer institutions are needed;
• Direct Assessment of student knowledge and learning;
• Serve as facilitators of learning and support content-related questioning;
• Directed study/learning;
• Adjunct faculty preparation;
• Professional development;
• More faculty needed with specialized roles; and
• Advising
DESIGN PRINCIPLES FOR A SUCCESSFUL MODEL…
•
Involve faculty early in the process;
•
Involve employers, advisory committees, and transfer IHEs early;
•
The credential program must mirror valid competencies (broad & granular) and must
be stackable;
•
Students must be able to progress at their won pace with milestones along the way;
•
Current learning resources available any time and place;
•
Clearly mapped and documented competencies with valid direct and correlative
assessments;
•
Consideration of disaggregated faculty duties; and
•
Incorporate technology.
GETTING TO GRANULARITY…
• Create granular (i.e., distinct, finite), units of content, with multiple-levels of
complexity that a learner can master at his/her own pace;
• Courses designed to ensure sufficient to clearly capture essential skills, but not
so granular as to result in significant updating;
• Courses should be reviewed and revised regularly to reflect expectations of the
current labor market, as well as transfer institution expectations;
• The modularization of competency-based learning provides for the construction
of stackable credentials for a wide variety of industries.
COMPETENCY & DEGREES OF FREEDOM…
Mastery
Proficiency
Fluency
Developing
Competence
LANDSCAPE…
DOCUMENTING CBE…NAU
http://www.insidehighered.com/sites/default/server_files/files/Competency%20Transcript%20Draft%20v12.pdf
COLLEGE FOR AMERICA…
• Founded in 2012 with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation;
• Addresses the skills gap faced by employers across the country;
• Takes an online competency-based approach in helping employers develop
talent and build leadership;
• Employees can immediately apply skills to their jobs; and
• Curriculum is built to address competencies that commonly need development in
frontline employees across high-demand industries.
Source: http://www.ccdaily.com/Pages/Academic-Programs/Its-all-about-competencies.aspx
COLLEGE FOR AMERICA’S EFFORTS…
• •
• • All-You-Can-Learn Model with 6-month terms
$1,250 per term or $2,500 per year
Title IV Financial Aid Approval
120 AA/240 BA competencies build around Lumina’s DQP
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS…
• Institute for Transformational Learning: Personalized Credentials
• The CBE curriculum will involve multiple institutions around the state, reaching
from high school, or even middle school, all the way to medical school.
• Mobile-First” content designed to be delivered on mobile devices and will be
adaptive, and respond to individual students.
• The goal is to customize the learning experience for students while also
creating a path that is “cross-institutional.”
WGU…
• ‘Prove It’ philosophy of credit for prior learning;
• Each degree program is developed by a council of experts in the field who define
"competencies" which form the curriculum;
• Objective and Performance Assessments;
• Four degree areas: business, information technology, teacher education and health care;
• Students are assigned a mentor, who helps with classes and helps them maintain progress;
• Six-month term students are scheduled for a full load of courses;
• Tuition is a flat-rate of $2,890; and
• Collaboration with community colleges
KENTUCKY COMMUNITY &
TECHNICAL COLLEGE SYSTEM…
• Worked in this space for many years
• Recently awarded $10MM Job-Driven Training Grant (TAA-CCCT)
• Expansion of their online Learn on Demand program;
• Creating a personalized competency-based learning system, called Enhancing Programs
for IT Certification (EPIC).
•
EPIC will create four major information technology (IT) pathways in computer and medical
information curriculum that will lead to five degrees and 13 certificates, all of which will be
developed in concert with regional and national employers.
PROJECTS SPONSORED BY THE LUMINA
FOUNDATION
CBE JUMP START
•
The Council for Adult and Experiential
Learning (CAEL) has selected 14
colleges across the country to receive:
•
on-site ½ to full day training and
assessment of faculty and staff;
•
Follow up support with webinars and
technical assistance.
COMPETENCY BASED EDUCATION
NETWORK (C-BEN)
• A consortium of higher educational
institutions with more experience in
competency-based learning who are
sharing challenges and solutions.
Sources: http://www.cael.org/What-We-Do/Competency-Based-Education
http://www.skilledup.com/blog/is-competency-based-education-finally-becoming-mainstream/
DESIGNING DEGREES…
•
A faculty-led process, between two and four-year institutions, within a state, wherein they identify what a student
should know and be able to do in a chosen discipline;
•
It involves creating a framework that establishes clear learning expectations for students in each subject area and
sets forth clear responsibilities for institutions to invite all stakeholders to have input into the process.
•
Designed to make higher education outcomes more transparent to students, employers, and parents, and to ensure
the quality of degrees across institutions;
•
A process of assessment of what skills are needed for occupations or degrees;
•
Translate these profiles into learning outcomes and competencies & formulate in a relevant, curricular approach;
•
Express in direct assessments, learning modules, and instruction; and
•
Incorporate monitoring, evaluation, and improvement elements.
The Institute for Evidence-Based Change (IEBC) is facilitating implementation of the Tuning process in the U.S.
CSW…
• Engaged in a multi-year initiative to increase the use and interoperability of quality
CBE credentials across the country.
• Collaborated with many partners who share a commitment to build large-scale use of
competency-based credentials by businesses, educators, employees, and students.
• Report: Making a Market for Competency-Based Credentials - analyzes credentialing
work underway, explores promising practices, and suggests ideas for a solid
credentialing system.
• Report: Competency-Based Credentials Case Studies – provides a review of many of
the approaches being undertaken in different industries, domestically, and abroad.
DEGREE QUALIFICATIONS PROFILE…
•
The Degree Qualifications Profile initiative, supported by the Lumina Foundation for
Education, is a framework for illustrating what students should be expected to know and
be able to do once they earn their postsecondary degrees.
•
Five dimensions:
•
Applied learning: used by students to demonstrate what they can do with what they know
•
Intellectual skills: used by students to think critically and analytically about what they learn
•
Specialized knowledge: the knowledge students demonstrate about their individual fields of study
•
Broad knowledge: encompasses all learning in broad areas through multiple degree levels
•
Civic learning: enables students to respond to social, environmental, and economic challenges
MANUFACTURING SKILLS CERTIFICATION SYSTEM
•
A structure of stackable credentials indicating that workers have attained competencies
for increasingly sophisticated levels of work across many areas of manufacturing;
•
The essential elements of the Skills Certification System are:
•
•
A collection of competencies that together defines a successful, high-performance manufacturing
workforce;
•
•
Industry-driven certifications that align with competencies; and
Best-in-class curriculum to articulate into for-credit education pathways that will ensure students
achieve the competencies necessary to achieve industry credentials.
National Association of Manufacturers is partnered with the University of Phoenix, in
which the association’s competency-based curriculum and credentials will form the core of
a bachelor’s in management at the online university.
ANSI ACCREDITATION OF CERTIFICATE ISSUERS
• In 2009 ANSI started a program to certify organizations that provide
education programs yielding one-year certificates to improve quality and
rigor in this sector.
• The criteria being used to ensure quality emphasize agreed upon learning
outcomes and competencies and maintain that:
• Learning outcomes are based on industry input and have market value
• The content taught is aligned with measureable learning objectives
• Assessment tools measure learning outcomes
• Infrastructure assures the continual success of the certificate program
• A process ensures the continuous improvement of the training
• In its initial rounds of certification, ANSI has accredited 30 organizations,
mostly professional associations, as promoting quality certificate programs.
OTHER CBE LEADERS…
• Some 200 IHEs currently working with CBE programs.
• University of Michigan
• University of Wisconsin
• Purdue University
• Capella University
CBE AT JACKSON COLLEGE
ADOS…
Associate Degree Outcomes
Learning Objectives
ADO 1
Write clearly, concisely and
intelligibly
Understand that the writing process has several
stages that may be repeated. Use the process to
respond to the rhetorical demands of purpose
and audience and use evidence to support
central ideas.
ADO 2
Speak clearly, concisely and
intelligibly
Communicate effectively; use evidence to support
central ideas and select the delivery methods best
suited to purpose and audience.
ADO 3
Apply arithmetic skills and mathematical reasoning
Demonstrate computational skills by solving problems, documenting process,
and mathematical reasoning
interpreting results and evaluating the
reasonableness of outcomes.
ADO 4
Demonstrate scientific reasoning
Demonstrate 1) quantitative and abstract reasoning
in solving complex scientific and technological
real-world problems, 2) knowledge of and ability to
apply the scientific process, and 3) understanding of
the connections between scientific concepts and
technological developments, their impact on
society, and the cultural and historical contexts in
which they emerge.
COURSES FULFILLING ADOS…
ADO 1: WRITE CLEARLY, CONCISELY AND INTELLIGIBLY (3 CREDITS)
ENG 131: WRITING EXPERIENCE
ADO 2: SPEAK CLEARLY, CONCISELY AND INTELLIGIBLY
MAY BE EMBEDDED IN COURSES IN PROGRAM OR MET BY TAKING ONE OF THE FOLLOWING:
SPH 231: COMMUNICATIONS FUNDAMENTALS
SPH 240: INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION
ADO 3: DEMONSTRATE COMPUTATIONAL SKILLS AND MATHEMATICAL REASONING (3-5 CREDITS)
CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING:
MTH 120: BEGINNING ALGEBRA
MTH 131: INTERMEDIATE ALGEBRA
MTH 133: INTRODUCTION TO PROBABILITY AND STATISTICS
MTH 140: PRE-CALCULUS
MTH 145: FINITE MATHEMATICS
MTH 151: CALCULUS
ADO 4: DEMONSTRATE SCIENTIFIC REASONING (4-5 CREDITS)
CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING:
BIO 110: INTRODUCTORY BIOLOGY
BIO 131: GENERAL BIOLOGY
ADO 1: PROFICIENCY…
Skills & Behaviors
Proficient
Complete this area when reporting assessment outcomes:
Course Section: _____________
Term: _________________
Name:________________________
Date:__________________
Assignment/Measures
Success
Criteria
Student
Outcomes
Process
Demonstrates writing as a recursive
process including pre-writing, drafting,
revising, editing, and evaluating
sources when used.
# of #
students met the
success criteria.
Purpose & Audience
Addresses purpose effectively,
engages audience, establishes
credibility.
# of #
students met the
success criteria.
Organization &
Development
Shows control of organization;
develops and supports a central idea
using abundant examples,
comparisons and facts.
# of #
students met the
success criteria.
Meaning/Understanding
Demonstrates in writing a relationship
between prior knowledge and new
information.
# of #
students met the
success criteria.
Use of Sources &
Documentation
Integrates sources fluently and shows
command of documentation
conventions.
# of #
students met the
success criteria.
Employs correct grammar and
mechanics with attention to word
choice; sentences show variety and
complexity.
# of #
students met the
success criteria.
Language
Revisions/
Improvements
To Course
CBE AT JACKSON COLLEGE…
• Establish required competencies;
• Repackaging;
• Incoming credentials assessment;
• Direct Assessment Model;
• Granular Competency transcript;
• Independent study assignments;
• Project-based work;
• All courses with documented competencies and assessments in began in fall 2014 and
full course-level implementation in fall 17.
• Developing a methodology to monetize this undertaking…creating a new, sustainable
business model.
JACKSON COLLEGE’S DIRECTION…
Time as a proxy for learning
Achievement defines learning
Faculty centered
Student centered
Teaching model
Engagement model
15 week semesters
OE/OE
Transcript
Credential of skills/knowledge
ADOs
Granular competencies
Broad assessment of knowledge
Captures prior & new knowledge
Grades and grade levels
Competency & Mastery
CBE at Jackson College
Jackson Preparatory and Early College, a competency-based public charter
school located on JC’s campus opened this fall
• The yearly calendar will align with Jackson College:
• Three 60-day instructional terms
• Three 10-day instructional interim sessions
• The academic year allows for more instructional days and instructional
hours than state minimums:
• State of Michigan: 1,098 hours and 170 days
• JPEC: 1,470 hours (+372 hours) & 210 days (+40 days).
http://www.jacksonpec.org/index.html
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS…
THOUGHTS…
• It’s easier to build a new building on an empty lot than retrofit an existing one.
• This has the potential to be a major disruptive innovation.
• Faculty must be involved from the beginning, as does industry, & other IHEs.
• Occupational programs are a good place to start.
• It will take time and the process will be untidy at times.
• Collaborate - There is help all around.
• We are all still learning.
• Get started now.
PROPOSITION: COMMUNITY COLLEGES AS
‘CREDENTIALERS OF LEARNING’
DISCUSSION