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/

War on Grad Students

These are my thoughts on the political attempts to restructure the tax code and the impact on higher education. It is only tangentially related to technology insofar as technology benefits from the research often completed at universities. The catalyst for this post is a segment last week from NPR.

While we sit around and vilify higher education, and make huffy statements that "not everyone needs to go to college" (not everyone does -- less than 70% of high school graduates enter college; BLS, 2017a), our government is attempting to assault graduate students by taxing their assistantship benefits. Certain grad students pay for their degrees by accepting positions as teaching and research assistants at universities. In exchange for their service, the students receive tuition remission and a small monthly stipend (typically $1000 to $3000 per month, depending on the institution). In doing so, they are able to complete their degrees with little or no loan debt and they earn valuable experience as teachers and researchers. The institution benefits by having an affordable source of assistants to support their research professors. The more research professors and institutions are able to contribute to the body of knowledge, the more funding they are able to bring into their departments. So it's a win-win for grad students and the institution.

Our Congress, in attempting to retool the tax code, wants to treat the tuition remission graduate students receive as taxable income. (Stipends are already taxed.) This could have a massively detrimental impact to graduate students, particularly those at more prestigious universities with higher tuition. Imagine having a $30,000 salary and then suddenly having an $80,000 salary (on paper) on which you have to pay taxes. The result is that your spendable income from the stipend gets eaten up to pay the tax on your tuition benefit. Now you have no money left for living expenses.

I hear you thinking, "Well, that's too bad. Maybe they don't need to go to grad school. The world needs ditch diggers, too." Yes, the world does need ditch diggers. We also need sanitation people (thank goodness for those folks -- possibly the most important job in society), mechanics, plumbers, electricians, cosmeticians, phlebotomists, and a whole host of other tradespeople. You might not think much about sociologists, who study societal behavior, or philosophers, who study the nature of human thought and its relationship to the universe, but people in those disciplines seek to understand the issues, problems, and complications of humanity and find ways to improve society. They also seek to preserve a history of humanity. Think also about scientists and mathmaticians, who work on complex problems that exist in health, the environment, engineering, space, and other fields. We need these people. You might not think so, but think about what could happen if we ceased trying to document, understand, and improve our society and culture.

Across all occupations, those who have attained a master's degree account for about 10% of the population; doctoral degree holders account for just 4% (BLS, 2017b). Only a small percentage of those people accept assistantships. (For example, I earned both of my advanced degrees part-time while working. I borrowed for one, and paid on-the-go for the other.) The tax gain for the government would be small, while the negative impact to graduate students and their institutions would be significant. We do need people with advanced degrees in this society. They are the thought-leaders who seek the answers to the problems in our world and help to educate future generations. If you are so inclined, I encourage you to contact your congressional representative and stand up in defense of graduate education.

References:

Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). (2017, April 27). College enrollment and work activity of 2016 high school graduates. Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/news.release/hsgec.nr0.htm

BLS. (2017, October 24). Educational attainment for workers 25 years and older by detailed occupation. Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_table_111.htm

Microlearning -- making use of your spare time

I have a hate-hate relationship with my mobile device. In other words, I hate it. It's a necessary evil, though, and I know I'm in the minority. Almost everyone has a mobile device, and most people at least like theirs. But let's face it, all that time spent texting, playing games, tweeting, and surfing social media is mostly wasted.

What if you could do something other than play solitaire in your free time? What if you could actually learn something while waiting for your Chinese takeout?

Great news -- you can!

The concept is called microlearning. It consists of bite-sized chunks of learning that you can easily digest in a few minutes -- learning while you wait. Check out my August blog post for LxD Insider Guide on using microlearning in organizations.

Using Twitter to Support the Learning Process

Twitter is getting lots of attention these days. While political battles and celebrity slap-downs are all the rage, Twitter still has a multitude of useful functionality. Recently, I reached out to my colleagues in the instructional trenches to see how they are using Twitter in their educational practices. The results were interesting. I compiled their input into a blog post for a client. Check it out and get inspired by the creativity!

Buy or Build?

When it comes to creating training, most organizations have faced this dilemma: do we buy it or build it ourselves? What do we need to consider? While I can't tell you how to solve that conundrum, I CAN give you some points to ponder. Check out the post I just wrote for a client on this very topic.

Revisiting Low-Threshold Apps

Several years ago, low-threshold applications (LTAs) were all the rage. As the web became more interactive and more producer-driven, little tools and technologies emerged that allowed users to create and share information quickly. Most were free, although a few charged a nominal fee. Popular tools were Jing®, VoiceThread®, and Prezi®. Jing is still free, but both VoiceThread and Prezi have moved to subscription-based models. The rates are quite affordable, and include individual and education options. Prezi also still offers a free basic account.

LTAs were fun to use. I loved them because you could experiment with different ways to present media without making a huge investment. If you didn't like an app, you just abandoned the account. No love lost. Using LTAs is also an easy way to get learners involved in creating media. Again, LTAs are low risk for student use.

Recently, a client asked for a blog post on a learning-related topic. I decided to brush off my LTA info and see what's still available (quite a bit, actually). I was pleased to see that many LTAs have kept up with the times without sacrificing the cheap/free options. Check out the full article here.

What's the opposite of a MOOC?

Okay, friends in higher education. I am reaching out to you for a little help. As I am working on my capstone proposal, I need  a term for standard online courses. My study surrounds MOOCs. I need to distinguish between MOOCs and "traditional" online courses. (As if online courses are traditional.) The literature isn't really helping. An instructional designer from Vanderbilt (see http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/2013/08/lessons-learned-from-vanderbilts-first-moocs/), reflecting on Vandy's first attempt with MOOCs, refers to "closed courses" and "traditional settings," but is referring to both the on-ground and online classrooms. A white paper published by the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (available at http://agb.org/sites/agb.org/files/report_2013_MOOCs.pdf) refers to "traditional online learning" and "other forms of online education." Much of the literature I've read focuses strictly on MOOCs and does not attempt to make a distinction.

MOOCs, as most of us know, refer to "massive open online courses." The courses allow anyone to enroll with no fees, no participation requirements, and no prerequisites. Enrollment is not capped or limited (hence, "massive"). I need to differentiate between MOOCs and online courses that are commonly offered as part of a degree, with class size limitations, prerequisites, participation and completion requirements, and -- usually -- tuition. Would it be enough to call these simply "closed online courses"? The term "traditional" doesn't seem appropriate, given that we are talking about maybe 20 years in the scheme of thousands of years of higher education studies.

Thoughts? Suggestions? No pressure, but I'm trying to complete my revisions by Tuesday night. :) I've spent several hours reviewing literature again, and I'm still no closer to a term.