Thinking about competency-based education

Several years ago, I had the chance to work on a committee implementing competency-based education (CBE) in several programs at my university of record. We had already gone through a process of “modularizing” courses, and now we were working on creating single-credit courses. Let me explain a few things before I continue.

A degree—associate, bachelor, master, or doctorate—consists of a certain number of credit hours, depending on whether those credits are offered based on semesters or quarters. In a semester system, courses are usually offered in three, 15-week terms per year. In a quarter system, the academic year is divided into—you guessed it—four terms. Semester hours are worth about 1.5 times quarter credits (or quarter credits are worth about two-thirds semester credits) (Tilus, 2012). Thus, it generally takes fewer semester credits to earn a degree. For example, most institutions require 120 semester credit hours for a bachelor’s degree, which converts to 180 quarter credits (Johnson et al., 2012). This is NOT an assessment of rigor, but rather on the time spent in class.

Each course a student takes is worth a designated number of credit hours. For more than a century, institutions have used the Carnegie Unit to establish credit hours. Under the Carnegie system, one credit hour equates to one classroom period taught 5 days per week (International Affairs Office, 2008). In simple terms, a three-credit course would meet for three hours each week. Under the semester system, you could assume for a three-credit course the student would spend three hours in class each week and another six hours of preparation, or out of class, time. 

As we further evolve into the information age, the traditional structures of higher education are inadequate to gauge student progress and learning. Seat time—or the hours spent in class—do not truly represent what the student learns or how hard the student works. This is becoming painfully obvious as traditional brick-and-mortar institutions are forced online in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic. What, then, is the solution? How do we calculate or evaluate learning in the absence of seat time?

The answer is simple and complex. The simple answer is that we evaluate learning on the basis of competencies. Many of you are probably nodding your heads. In fact, several institutions (including my own) are doing this. The complex part is how to determine what constitutes a competency. This is where instructional design theory comes into play. Stay tuned for further thoughts.

International Affairs Office. (2008). Structure of the U.S. education system: Credit systems. U.S. Department of Education. https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/credits.doc

Johnson, N., Reidy, L., Droll, M., & LeMon, R. E. (2012, July). Program requirements for associate’s and bachelor’s degrees: A national survey. https://www.insidehighered.com/sites/default/server_files/files/Program%20Requirements%20-%20A%20National%20Survey%281%29.pdf 

Tilus, G. (2012, September 27). Semester vs. quarter: What you need to know when transferring credits. https://www.rasmussen.edu/about-rasmussen-college/news-center/semester-vs-quarter-need-to-know-when-transferring-credits/