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- 1. 1 The Currency of Higher Education: Credits and Competencies Dr. Deborah M. Seymour Assistant Vice President Center for Education Attainment and Innovation American Council on Education Dr. Deborah Everhart Strategist and Innovator @Ariadne4444
- 2. The Currency of Higher Education: Credits and Competencies bbbb.blackboard.com/CurrencyofHigherEducation Clarifying Competency-Based Education Terms: A Lexicon bbbb.blackboard.com/Competency-based-education- definitions Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- ShareAlike. Reuse and remix, with attribution, are encouraged.
- 3. What is a competency? A competency is a specific skill, knowledge, or ability that is both observable and measurable.
- 4. What is Competency-Based Learning? “Transitioning away from seat time, in favor of a structure that creates flexibility, allows students to progress as they demonstrate mastery of academic content, regardless of time, place, or pace of learning. Competency-based strategies provide flexibility in the way that credit can be earned or awarded, and provide students with personalized learning opportunities.” -U.S. Dept. of Education
- 5. What is Competency-Based Education? “Competency-based education (CBE) is an alternative to the credit hour-based system of credentialing. Student progress is based on demonstration of proficiency and/or mastery as measured through assessments and/or through application of credit for prior learning. In competency-based education programs, time is the variable and student competency mastery is the focus, rather than a fixed-time model where students achieve varying results. In competency-based education, as distinct from competency-based learning, the focus is on academic programs, practices, and policies.” - Clarifying Competency Based Education Terms: A Lexicon
- 6. Potential benefits of competency based learning • Focus on learning outcomes • Learning activities and assessments aligned to outcomes • Credit for prior and experiential learning • Motivated and engaged students • Efficient, flexible, and lower-cost credentials • Increased student retention and completion rates • Lifelong learners’ portable evidence of learning • Employers’ visibility into graduates’ competencies • Outcomes-based frameworks for continuous improvement
- 7. SWOT of Competency Based Education Strengths • Focus on learning outcomes • Flexible • Transparent • Paths for post-traditional students • Potentially shorter time to completion • Potentially lower costs for students Opportunities • Options for workplace preparation & professional development • Building lifelong learning pathways • Opens options for alternative credentials & micro-credentials • Valuing outcomes over inputs • Educational reform & renewal Weaknesses • Challenges for scalability • Manual processes for mapping competencies to credit hours due to rigidly time-based SIS systems • CBE students need different/more support • Lack of understanding among stakeholders Threats • Credit-hour based financial aid conflicts with competency based models • Disaggregation of faculty roles may lead to resistance • Possibilities for over-simplification • Potential for cannibalization of traditional programs
- 8. American Council on Education and Blackboard Mutual interest in: • Credit for prior learning and credit mobility • Serving post-traditional students • Digital badging and alternative credentials • Expanding CBE dialogue
- 9. ACE-Blackboard collaboration outcomes • Published Clarifying Competency Based Education Terms: A Lexicon • Leadership roundtables with CBE practitioners • Blackboard blog series • ACE publications • Public Forum releasing research paper: The Currency of Higher Education: Credits and Competencies
- 11. What’s in a name? The need for definitions
- 12. Clarifying Competency Based Education Terms • 94 terms defined • 11 classifications – Overview – Competencies & Learning Outcomes – Assessment Processes – Evidence of Learning – Credentials – Badges – Instructional and Supporting Roles – Student Support – Regulations & Accreditation – Validation
- 13. Competencies and Learning Outcomes Credentials Instructional and Supporting roles Student Support Regulations and Accreditation Validation Focus on institutions and educational programs Competency-Based Education (CBE)
- 14. Learning Processes Assessment Processes Evidence of Learning Badges Validation Focus on learners and learning processes Competency-Based Learning (CBL)
- 15. Competency Occupational Skills ONET Learning Outcomes Program Outcomes Institutional Outcomes Accreditation Standards Focus on institutions and educational programs CBE Competency Definitions and Frameworks
- 16. Credentials Certificates and Degrees Stackable Credentials Credit for Prior Learning Focus on institutions and educational programs CBE Educational Structures: Credentialing
- 17. Instructor Coach Assessor Advisor Tutor 360 Help and Support Focus on institutions and educational programs CBE Educational Structures: Instructional Roles
- 18. Attendance Credit Hour Seat Time Title IV Direct Assessment Experimental Sites Accreditation Focus on institutions and educational programs 18 CBE Federal Regulations and Accreditation Requirements
- 19. Differentiated Learning Authentic Assessment Project-Based Learning Mastery Proficiency Levelling Up Focus on learners and learning processes CBL Learning Processes
- 20. Badges Micro-credentials Open Badge Standard Portable Evidence of Learning Badge Backpack Portfolio Profile Focus on learners and learning processes CBL Badges and Portable Evidence of Learning
- 21. Digital Badges Badges are a form of credential signifying a person’s achievement at some level of competency. Badges are issued by organizations to individuals who then use their badges as representations of accomplishment or achievement.
- 22. Credit-hour processes are likely to remain deeply embedded in post-secondary systems for some time, but there is ample opportunity for innovation with competencies as a parallel and complementary currency.
- 23. Competencies provide representations of learning outcomes that are more flexible and transparent than credits. Competencies are more prone to change over time than the fixed-unit representation of credit hours.
- 24. Students need to know how they can evaluate the quality of CBE programs, but little structure is currently available to help students in this regard.
- 25. Employers are key stakeholders both in the definition of CBE credentials and in the credentials’ marketability.
- 26. Badges and other micro-credentials can be useful bearers of competencies achieved, and as employers begin to accept their value, they can become part of the framework for competency exchange value.
- 27. Implementing CBE practices in credit-hour environments is complex, but CBE faces fewer barriers and can more rapidly provide benefits to large numbers of students when outcomes-based approaches are compatible with credit-hour systems and processes.
- 28. Credits and competencies both reflect important structures of value for diverse stakeholders: • government agencies • educational leaders and administrators • faculty • assessors • students • employers
- 29. University Context Which programs and credentials are strong at your institution? How do you evaluate this strength—by reputation, graduation data, employment of graduates in their field of study? Similarly, which programs and credentials are weak? What external pressures are likely to have the largest impact on your institution in the next 2-5 years? What is your strategy for addressing these pressures? How can a focus on learning outcomes help?
- 30. Government Stakeholders Are there new legislative incentives or penalties to which your institution is reacting? Do you have plans for how to implement effective changes in response? Are there legislative initiatives that would benefit your institution with which you can get involved or even influence the development of? How can you stimulate discussion about the relationship between educational learning outcomes and legislative actions?
- 31. Economic Development Context What market and economic trends call for innovation in your institution’s programs and credentials? Do your students have a clear sense of how your programs and credentials align to employment and career opportunities? Do you map competencies achieved in your programs to workplace needs, not only for specific jobs, but also for current and future career opportunities?
- 32. University Leader Stakeholders Are there clear governance structures at your institution for new program initiation and the improvement of current programs? If you are undertaking competency-based program development, are strategies and goals for such programs and credentials clearly defined? Are university leaders at your institution invested, both fiscally and motivationally, in a focus on learning outcomes and student success?
- 33. Subject Matter Expert Stakeholders Are existing curricular models successful, by what criteria, and how could they be improved or replaced? Who has the expertise to research, define, and organize competencies and curriculum for specific programs and credentials? What types of frameworks provide a holistic structure for competencies and curriculum, and how well are these aligned not only across programs and credentials within the institution, but also with external standards and industry/employment requirements?
- 34. Teaching Faculty Stakeholders Are existing teaching models successful? By what criteria, and how could they be improved or replaced? Who has the expertise to research, define, and organize learning materials and activities that support the mastery of specific competencies? How can learning activities be aligned to mastery of competencies, not only within specific courses or modules, but also across programs and credentials within the institution and in relation to industry/employment requirements?
- 35. Assessment Stakeholders Are existing assessment models successful? By what criteria, and how could they be improved or replaced? Who has the expertise to research, define, and apply assessments that reliably evaluate the mastery of specific competencies? How are assessment processes aligned to mastery of competencies across programs and credentials within the institution and in relation to industry/employment requirements?
- 36. University Administrator Stakeholders Are university administrators engaged in changes to programs and credentials sufficiently to address the impacts on administrative processes? Who is leading the processes for program and credential approvals by accreditation agencies? For regulatory compliance? How can academic changes that better support learning outcomes also improve administrative functions, research, and reporting that both support students while they are learning and document what they have learned?
- 37. Student Stakeholders Are existing programs and credentials successful for our students? By what criteria, and how could they be improved or replaced? How can our programs and credentials best meet the diverse needs of post-traditional students?
- 38. Employer Stakeholders Are employers and industry associations involved in the improvement of programs and credentials? Do students have clear pathways to job and career success? Does your institution prepare students not only for specific jobs, but also for future careers and innovative lifelong learning?
- 39. Thank you! Contact the researchers: Deb Seymour (ACE) dseymour@acenet.edu Karen Yoshino (Blackboard) karen.yoshino@blackboard.com Deb Everhart, everhart@georgetown.edu, @Ariadne4444 American Council on Education: http://www.acenet.edu/ CBE Lexicon, Research Paper, and Blogs: http://blog.blackboard.com/
Editor's Notes
- We use this image as a metaphor for the diverse and often winding pathways students take on their learning journeys, so it’s a good backdrop for talking about alternative credentials.
- The importance of definitions for getting on the same page to start collaborations Share our discoveries and contributions, and encourage new collaborations to realize the potential of CBL in the landscape of higher education.
- Similar to the definition of a learning outcome, and often the terms are used interchangeably.
- The rise in interest in competency-based learning coincides with the rise in learner-centric educational approaches, which is in turn driven by many different social and economic pressures. Competency-based learning provides learners with the ability to learn at their own pace and focus on mastery of valuable skills and knowledge. At its core, competency-based learning focuses on mastery rather than time. In traditional educational programs, students are bound to the weekly structure of a term, and at the end of the term, their grades are variable, with some students succeeding and some failing. In competency-based educational programs, time is the variable and student success is the focus, such that all students are expected to achieve mastery.
- CBL has the potential to yield many benefits Efficient and potentially lower-cost degree/credential options for students Greater understanding of learning outcomes throughout the academic institution Courses, learning resources, and assessments aligned to well-defined goals Motivated and engaged students Increased student retention and completion rates, particularly when prior learning can be applied to degree progress Learners’ improved ability to recognize, manage, and continuously build upon their own competencies and evidence of learning Employers’ improved ability to understand graduates’ competencies and learning achievements Outcomes-based frameworks for continuous improvement at course, program, and institutional levels
- Research has shown that we, as an education industry, need much more research, outreach, communication, and collaboration to achieve and scale the benefits of CBE, and you can see some of the factors influencing this in the SWOT. Strengths: While a focus on learning outcomes is a strength because of its transparency, many institutions struggle with clearly articulating, accurately measuring, and effectively using assessment data Weaknesses: Even though the need for new and different instructional support for students is cited as a weakness, many creative and innovative strategies (such as disaggregating faculty roles) are evolving to provide that support. Opportunities: While CBE provides options for workplace preparation and professional development, which can also be opportunities for institutional growth, this opportunity requires academia to have strong collaborations with employers. This calls for faculty-employer dialogue and collaboration that in some cases will be disruptive and change perceptions about the value of higher education. Threats: While the potential for cannibalization of traditional programs is seen as a threat, targeted program design and marketing can easily avoid this potential problem.
- As a result, in August 2014, Blackboard and ACE published “Clarifying Competency Based Education Terms: A Lexicon” to address the need for common vocabulary. We’ve convened a series of roundtables gathering CBE thought leaders to discuss barriers to scalability and broader adoption of CBE. Blog series, publications, and public forum and white paper.
- Another outcome from our research is this infographic published by ACE. What is clear from this work is that CBE is not one thing. It takes many forms, varying in approaches to Educational models Faculty roles Technology Support structures Fee structures Level of flexibility Curricular components and many other aspects, each on a sliding scale from less to more disruptive. One key point is that CBE does not need to be any more disruptive than you want it to be. And it can be designed to be highly supportive of the core mission and values of the institution or program.
- As we spoke to CBE stakeholders, one practical impediment in our discussions was that not everyone was using the same terminology. We quickly realized that one of the impediments to realizing the benefits of CBL was a lack of common understanding of the vocabulary, which in turn led to a lot of confusion and miscommunication about the concepts and approaches. This led to our development of Clarifying Competency-based Education Terms: A Lexicon, released last August, to contribute to the field a shared vocabulary for discussion. Clarifying the terminology of CBE and CBL helps us illustrate the concepts and have a better understanding of how to achieve the benefits, so I’m going to walk through some of the key terms and related concepts
- The lexicon is designed to provide a framework for further discussions, particularly among those considering CBE programs at their own institutions. It’s organized into topic areas to foster discussion, particularly among sets of stakeholders who might have different perspectives on CBL, to make it easier to explore and understand CBE concepts. This work carries a Creative Commons license, and reuse and remix with attribution is encouraged, because we want everyone to use this material in their own ways. I’d like to credit Karen Yoshino, Principal Strategist at Blackboard, who is also a co-author of the Lexicon and white paper
- First of all, we make a distinction between competency based education and competency based learning. This takes a cue from Joi Ito, Director of the MIT Media Lab, who emphasizes an important difference between learning and education– this difference changes your perspective when you focus on the learner or on the educational program or institution. Learning is something you do, education is something that’s done to you. Competency-based education is an educational process or program designed to provide competency-based learning. In competency based education, time and place are the variables and student competency mastery is the focus, rather than a fixed-time, fixed-place model where students achieve varying results. A key element of competency based education is progress toward a credential or certification based on demonstration of mastery.
- Competency-based learning is *learning processes* focused on acquiring mastery of specific skills and developing specific abilities. Competency-based learning can happen in any context, whether or not it is part of an educational program. So when we focus on the learner, we need definitions that help us understand learning processes and why different approaches are important for the learner as a whole person.
- At educational institutions, CBE is embedded in curriculum, program, and credential structures that require different definitions of goals. For example, the “backward design” of a competency based education program takes into consideration not only students’ learning outcomes, but also program outcomes, institutional outcomes, and accreditation standards. Accreditation standards are used by institutions and programs to evaluate quality and effectiveness and foster improvement. Competency based education programs seek accreditors' approval through some combination of regional, professional, or trade-based accrediting agencies. Institutional outcomes are observable and measurable statements about what an institution delivers and expects to see in its graduates. They reflect the design and delivery of the co-curriculum and curriculum for the institution’s degree programs, guiding the mission and activities of the institution and providing a framework for institutional evaluation and improvement. Competency based education programs are designed to support and align with the institution’s overall goals. Program outcomes are similar to institutional outcomes, but defined at the level of specific academic programs. They describe what a student knows, thinks, or is able to do as a result of their experience in the program. Program outcomes often roll up to institutional outcomes, both of which often support accreditation standards. Competency based education programs are generally designed to meet the goals of academic programs. Student learning outcomes are observable and measurable statements of what a student knows, thinks, or is able to do as a result of an educational experience. Student learning outcomes are generally at the same level of granularity as competencies, and sometimes the terms are used interchangeably. A competency is a specific skill, knowledge, or ability that is both observable and measurable. Occupational skills are the knowledge, abilities, and skills required to perform a job. O*NET is the Occupational Information Network sponsored by the U.S. Dept. of Labor. Its database includes standardized descriptions of skills, knowledge, and abilities mapped to occupations. Effective management of goals takes into account these interrelationships and the need to analyze and measure performance at multiple levels of the institution.
- For this audience, there’s no need to explain credentials and degrees, except to note the importance of a couple of considerations that are increasingly important: Stackable credentials, which are part of a sequence of credentials that can be accumulated over time to build up an individual’s qualifications and help them to move along a learning or career pathway or up a career ladder. The term "leveling up" is often used in the context of stackable credentials to mean starting with one credential achievement and working up to higher level credential achievements by building skills. And credit for prior and experiential learning can help students get academic value out of learning that has taken place in other contexts. Credit for prior learning (CPL) is the practice of awarding institutional credit for demonstrated competency mastery earned in other settings. In competency based education, this practice is an important factor in placing students so as to avoid repeating unneeded content and advancing the student toward completion as quickly as is appropriate to do so. Credit for experiential learning is similar but is used to give academic credit or competency mastery for experiences, often work experience, at any time, including during a degree program.
- Some institutions are redefining instructional roles and responsibilities as the design CBE programs, such that different people are responsible for different components. For example, instructors might serve as subject matter experts and student mentors, while evaluation of students’ assessments is done separately, by designated assessors. Coaches help students with the business of being a student, and advisors provide guidance for getting through academic processes to meet all the requirements for a credential. And 360 help and support is critically important, taking into account all aspects of a student’s relationship with the academic institution, even factors such as transportation and child care that can impact student success.
- Returning to a focus on competency based learning, we take a look at concepts and terms related to learning processes. Differentiated Learning refers to a variety of methodologies that give students choices or direct them along different pathways based on their needs and mastery of competencies. Differentiated learning reflects the fact that people learn in different ways and at different paces. Authentic assessment is the use of methods to evaluate competencies through means other than standardized tests and other types of objective tests. Project-based learning is one type of authentic assessment, where learners do projects to demonstrate their competencies, often working in teams or in real-world circumstances. Mastery is a term used to signify demonstration of a specific competency. Mastery of specified competencies in competency based education is the mechanism by which a student progresses through the program. Proficiency is a term used to signify achievement of a competency at a base level. In competency based education, "proficiency" is sometimes used in conjunction with "mastery," where proficiency is the level of achievement that is considered "passing" (e.g. 60%) but a higher level of achievement (e.g. 85%) is required for mastery and progression through the program. Levelling up refers to a learner's process of moving from one level of achievement to a higher level of achievement. Leveling up is commonly used in gaming and can provide motivation for progress as the learner achieves a lower level with less effort and is challenged to move up with more effort.
- Open badges are micro-credentials representing a learner’s competency achievements. Organizations and educational institutions issue badges to learners who have successfully completed the criteria for the badge, and learners can display their badges in multiple contexts as portable evidence of learning from multiple sources. The learning represented by badges can take place in any environment, within and outside formal educational programs. Badges are important for competency based learning because they provide an open, standards-based framework for representing competencies, criteria for assessment, and portable evidence of learning, as well as verifiable information about the organization issuing the badge, and an endorsement structure for third parties to vouch for the value of a badge. Micro-credentials are small components of verified learning. Badges are sometimes referred to as micro-credentials. Badge backpack is a repository for badge earners to collect, store, manage, and display their digital badges. Portfolio is a compilation learning artifacts or evidence of competencies, skills, and abilities. Profile refers to a learner's documentation of their own skills, competencies, accomplishments, and talents, collected with personal information, artifacts, evidence of learning, badges, and credentials. Profiles are generally created for sharing with specific audiences, such as mentors, collaborators, or employers, and different profiles could be created for different purposes and audiences.
- Thank you! We welcome feedback on the lexicon and on our other work to advance understanding and practices in competency based learning