The Journal of Competency-Based Education最新文献

APA citation: Hoffman, N. & Collins, M. L. (Eds.) (2020). Teaching students about the world of work: a challenge to postsecondary educators. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.

Community colleges are on the front lines on the training for our modern workforce. These institutions offer various educational opportunities, including 2-year degrees, credit-bearing certificates, industry-recognized certifications, and continuing education programs. As society began to question massive student loan debt versus the value of college education, community colleges began offering more industry-recognized certifications to quickly reduce student loan debt and move students into the workforce. Employers are starting to see that industry certifications are not enough to sustain employability and growth as these programs do not offer students the habits of mind, employability skills, or a mechanism for lifelong learning.

Teaching Students About the World of Work, A Challenge to Postsecondary Educators, addresses a topic that many postsecondary institutions seem to overlook. Sustainable employability is not a paradigm built upon technical skills; indeed, many employers said that students with soft skills are more desirable because if they have mastered the art of social capital, then they can be easily trained on technical skills (Gauthier, 2020a, 2020c). Thus, the pendulum seems to be swinging back toward a time when a college degree was essential for workforce success. Several studies have been conducted which reveals that integrating soft and hard skills develops students holistically (Deming, 2017; Hamilton, 2020; Hora et al., 2016). As the text's central theme is predicated on the idea that all students enroll in higher education to find work eventually and that in order for them to be successful when they do, work must be part of higher education curriculum.

The claim that community colleges tend to rest student success solely on access to higher education tends to align with institutional behavior in terms of curriculum development, which in some cases omits the habits of mind and seems to ignore the purpose of a community college, leading to what the author refers to as “structural discrimination in the labor market” (Collins, 2020, p. 33).

During a panel discussion on NPR’s OnPoint with then host Tom Ashbrook, Bunker Hill Community College President Pam Eddinger talked about the social fabric students need to be successful (Eddinger, 2014). In Chapter 2, Eddinger and co-author Richard Kazis discuss how experiential learning opportunities play a significant role in helping students build a social capital network; thus, the social fabric to support sustainable employability. They profile various organizations that promote structural interns

Due to a lack of buy-in from multiple stakeholder groups, institutions of higher learning may struggle to reorient their entire course and program offerings to embrace the full breadth of competency-based education. One such way of overcoming these systematic issues to make incremental progress toward competency-based education is to consider practices such as grading that single professors can implement without the need of full institutional support. Few college instructors are likely to have received any formal grading training. As such, they may rely on institutional norms and their personal experiences as students. In response to historical grading challenges in higher education, some faculty members have adopted models working against the status quo such as mastery grading, specifications grading, and standards-based grading, which all promote students demonstrating their learning on criterion-referenced tests in a more flexible time frame. The purpose of this paper is to describe alternative forms of grading as an entry point for faculty incrementally progressing toward competency-based education axioms in higher education. The authors recommend a multiple-step course design framework and areas for future research.

The use of the 1–4 grading scale is gaining popularity as schools transition to competency-based education. However, independent interpretations and percentage conversions have led to general confusion and sometimes outright rejection of competency-based assessment. The first step to establish clear communication is to anchor the existing four-point GPA scale in cognitive performance, which provides a strong framework for improved student engagement. Applied research into the learning brain is shifting classroom expectations to actively engage learners with stimulating cognitive challenges, such as synthesis and creative transfer. When the cognitive performance curve is consistently applied in the development of assessment rubrics, educators will provide stronger analytical feedback through meaningful common grades.

High standards for assessment practices are essential in all institutions of learning. The role of assessment is arguably even more significant in competency-based education (CBE) institutions since credits and degrees are earned solely based on the demonstration of mastery of competencies through the assessments, and not, as in traditional schooling models, on an average that includes the accumulation of seat time (attendance) and points for activities that do not necessarily indicate competency (e.g., classwork, discussion participation) in addition to assessments.

CBE institutions making the claim that graduates are competent in stated competencies have a responsibility for making the quality of competency assessments a high priority in continual institutional improvement because “in CBE—unlike most traditional programs based on the credit hour—the institution must state with authority that its graduates have demonstrated the learning outcomes required for a degree” (Klein-Collins, 2013, p.7), and “the value of CBE credentials hinges on the reliability and validity of those assessments” in determining graduates' competence (McClarty & Gaertner, 2015, p. 3).

There are commonly accepted standards and best practices for the assessment of learning that apply to all learning models in general as well as assessment concepts that may be specific to the CBE model. One aspect of CBE assessment “best practices,” which was evident in assessment policies and anecdotally in conversations with colleagues at various CBE institutions, was the concept of “double assessment.”

Similar to how the “double jeopardy” clause in the Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution prevents a criminal defendant from being prosecuted more than once for the same crime, a prohibition against “double assessment” in CBE means that once a student has been assessed and has successfully demonstrated mastery of a competency on an assessment, that student should not be assessed on that competency again. “Double assessment” only applies to successful demonstration of mastery of a competency—it does not prohibit or preclude multiple attempts of an assessment when students fail to meet competence on the assessment. Allowing students multiple attempts to pass a competency assessment is a central tenant of CBE.

In addition, “double assessment” is only in reference to summative assessment, which is “conducted to help determine whether a student has attained a certain level of competency” (National Research Council, 2001, p. 40) or “to certify, report on, or evaluate learning” (Brookhart, McTighe, Stiggins, & Wiliam, 2019, p. 6). Using multiple types of formative assessment, or informal assessment that is used to monitor student progress and does not equate to a grade or credit, is common in higher education and viewed as best practice. There is, however, debate over whether using more than one summativ

The Davis Technical College pioneered competency-based vocational/technical education. The institution's early model allowed students freedom to create their own schedule and to move at their own pace, but proved ineffective at encouraging students to be efficient in completing their training. A sharp increase in enrollment in the early 2000s drove the college to revise the model which resulted in increased efficiency and, thus, higher throughput.

Winston-Salem State University's (WSSU), Master of Healthcare Administration (MHA) program, answered the call of the University of North Carolina system to offer education at an equal or higher quality than currently provided at a cost that is consistent with the state's constitution. As such, WSSU converted its MHA program to a competency-based education (CBE) platform. The American College of Healthcare Executives (2017) states that this is an exciting time for healthcare management. The field requires talented people to help introduce and manage the changes taking place in health care. Implementation of the CBE program resulted in increased enrollment, increased student satisfaction through more flexibility to complete an advanced degree, and greater ease in balancing work–life student demands. WSSU's CBE program is designed to ensure that graduates have training and expertise they need to promote career readiness. This article will discuss the journey of transforming a hybrid MHA program to CBE.