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Archives for Competency-based Education (CBE)

Competency-based Education (CBE)

Competency-based Education (CBE)

Deb Bushway: 2022 Flex Faculty Symposium Keynote Speaker

By Jessica O'Neel
April 22, 2022

April 22, 2022

Deb Bushway
Deb Bushway

Deb Bushway currently serves as the president and CEO at Northwestern Health Sciences University in Minnesota. In the past, she has worked in public, for-profit, and not-for-profit organizations such as the Competency-Based Education Network (C-BEN), the Office of the Undersecretary at the US Department of Education, the Lumina Foundation, the University of Wisconsin–Extension, Capella University, and Metropolitan State University in Minnesota. Throughout her career, her focus has been on access, innovation, and quality in higher education.

In a 2012 Huffington Post article, she spoke of the changing dynamics of the average higher education learner, stating that “At my institution, Capella University, the average student is a 39-year-old woman seeking a post-graduate degree.” She went on to outline five focus areas to address the needs of these learners and meet economic needs in a changing knowledge economy:

  1. Reduce barriers to entry into higher education for working adults by focusing on resources to assist with degree completion and balancing education, work, and family demands
  2. Integration between private sector employers and educational institutions to focus on needed skills
  3. Public policy encouraging innovation in higher education along with private sector risk-taking to increase efficiency and drive down costs of obtaining a degree
  4. Support from regulators and accreditors as institutions pursue innovations that switch focus from inputs like seat time to outputs like career outcomes
  5. Focus on outcomes assessment and measurements to hold schools accountable for whether or not students learn skills that can be translated into the workforce

Bushway has advocated for competency-based education (CBE) as a key pathway to meet the needs of today’s learners. She played a key role in the development and implementation of the competency-based FlexPath at Capella University. Five years after this program was implemented, there have been positive outcomes as seen in this graphic from the report:

FlexPath Statistics
From: Moving competency-based education forward by Capella University and Whiteboard Advisors.

 

Her drive to meet learners where they are was demonstrated when Northwestern Health Sciences University (NWHSU) welcomed students and faculty after the sudden closure of Argosy University. About 200 students found themselves in a position where they were unable to transfer their credits to other programs and were facing the possibility of starting over completely. Bushway remarked in an article from KSTP-TV: “We were able to tell students, ‘hey, we have a home for you,’ you can pick up where you left off, you’ll get the degree you signed up for, there’s no re-doing.” In partnership with the Higher Learning Commission, five new degree programs taught by former Argosy instructors were added to NWHSU’s curriculum to make this transition work for students.

Moving forward, Bushway has her sights set on reforming financial aid and federal funding processes to be more inclusive of CBE programs. She noted in testimony before the US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, “In the past, federal aid went to some unscrupulous players, and students ended up being harmed. We don’t want to repeat those mistakes. We’re talking about responsible innovation.” She has called for a federal demonstration project on CBE and direct assessment. The results of the demonstration could be used in revising federal aid requirements. It could also remove doubts among college officials about CBE and direct assessment.

Hopefully, you will join us at the Flex Faculty Symposium to learn more about Dr. Bushway and her leadership in higher education. You can also read more about creating and scaling CBE programs in A Leaders Guide to Competency-Based Education: From Inception to Implementation, co-authored by Dr. Bushway.


References

Bushway, D. (2012, January 8). A national imperative: 5 ways America can succeed in the new knowledge economy. HuffPost. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/a-national-imperative-5-w_b_1074843

Fain, P. (2019, August 28). Positive returns for direct assessment. Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2019/08/28/students-move-faster-and-spend-less-direct-assessment-programs

Long, C., Klein, J., & DeSchryver, D. (n.d.). Moving competency-based education forward. Capella University and Whiteboard Advisors. https://www.capella.edu/content/dam/capella/PDF/moving-competency-based-education-forward.pdf.

Northwestern Health Sciences University. (2019, April 30). Dr. Bushway advocates for students & responsible innovation in higher education. https://www.nwhealth.edu/news/dr-bushway-advocates-for-students-responsible-innovation-in-higher-education/

Northwestern Health Sciences University. (2019, June 28). NWHSU to accept students from the closed school. https://www.nwhealth.edu/news/nwhsu-to-accept-students-from-closed-school/

Faculty Spotlight: Terry McGovern Interview

By Eric Peloza
December 2, 2019

December 2, 2019

In recent years, High-Impact Practices (HIPs) have gained popularity in online education, and it’s easy to see why. Strategies from HIPs encourage student engagement and motivation by going beyond the typical assignment types of essays and multiple-choice quizzes to foster authentic assessments such as portfolios, internships, capstones, and project-based learning. The UW–Parkside Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) focuses on project-based learning and is a great example of how HIPs can be used in Competency-Based Education (CBE) to great success.

I sat down with Terry McGovern, DBA, DM, who facilitates several BSBA projects, which includes the BSBA Capstone. We discussed how High-Impact Practices are used in the BSBA program, his insight a faculty member, and personal experiences he had with students. If you are unfamiliar with the BSBA project-based learning, just consider projects as courses. If you want more detail, you can learn more in Eileen Horn’s blog post Developing and Working in Project-based CBE!

The BSBA program aligns with HIPs by focusing on the value of projects, real-world situations, and high levels of feedback. These assignments are authentic and complex, and Terry finds a lot of value in “hands-on activities that reflect what students would see in the working world.” They can approach and work though tasks or problems in a natural manner and work together, all while receiving feedback on multiple occasions instead of only receiving it once which is common in the traditional education model.

The Value of Feedback and Reflection

In competency-based education, students can improve their assignments after they receive feedback and then resubmit it. This also strengthens the connection between students and faculty because they interact with the faculty multiple times through feedback. Terry finds this aspect of working in CBE very meaningful because “the faculty member doesn’t just walk away from it after one grade; I can work with student until they demonstrate mastery.” Another benefit of this model is that students may feel less intimidated by an assignment, especially if they are having trouble with it. Terry said that “if someone turns in a project and it needs a lot of work, choose not to overwhelm them and do it piece meal. I can say, ‘Let’s work on this, and then let’s focus on this next,’ which reduces the chances of students feeling overwhelmed.” Because assignments are broken into smaller pieces, it gives students the ability to gain confidence throughout the process of obtaining mastery.

As a faculty member, CBE assessment exchange is much more meaningful. The faculty member doesn’t just walk away from it after one grade; you work with the student until they demonstrate mastery.

Because there are so many opportunities to work with students in such a close manner, Terry does recognize the time commitment it can take. With multiple iterations of feedback, faculty need to spend more time on review and grading. That said, Terry doesn’t see this as a larger time commitment, saying that “faculty member’s time allocation is set up to allow them to work much more with students on submissions.” This is also offset because a faculty spends less time on the traditional aspects of education such as lectures because of the self-paced model and the utilization of open educational resources.

The multi-step feedback also process ensures that students are on the correct track and that the capstone project is properly framed. Another key element of HIPs that is used in the capstone project is built-in reflection points where students are given time to consider where they are in the project and what they have learned. Terry said that this helps students think strategically on what they’ve seen before, what a company has tried in the past, and what the company’s best ideas were and why. This reflection time is especially important because it gives students the time to make deeper connections and really identify areas of need in their current situation.

Connecting Education to the Real World

In addition to the standard project load, the BSBA Capstone project allows students to display the accumulation of skills mastered within the program. Terry said that the BSBA Capstone is both flexible and strategic because students have the opportunity to examine a case study from a primary industry or even start an initiative at their current work place! Because of this, most students apply their capstone project directly to their workplace. This motivates students because they can examine an issue at their workplace that they may not otherwise have time for and gives them the ability to show how they can critically assess an issue. Terry encourages students to “take the approach that they are consultant to their company by identifying a problem and tackling it as a consultant would. They can apply different models, research elsewhere in industry for best practices, present options for course of action, and recommend an action.” Students can show what they have learned, along with the value they bring to their workplace. As with previous projects and assignments, the capstone involves a multi-step process. Terry works with students through a series of drafts and feedback to produce a “consulting” report.

Students can take the approach that they are a consultant to their company by identifying a problem and tackling it as a consultant would.

Terry found that the projects used in the BSBA program do a wonderful job of gaining student engagement and fostering motivation because students are able to see a clear connection between their assignments and the working world. One success story Terry gave was when one of his students told him how helpful the BSBA program was during interviews. Because of BSBA, they were able to refer to the projects they completed in an interview as well as talk about important topics like strategic thinking, project management, and resource allocation. In addition to the program as a whole, the capstone is especially powerful tool. Terry spoke of a student who he recently worked with on their capstone project. Through this project, “the student was able to identify, real, large dollar savings for his company, which is the type of initiative that could get someone promoted.” These are great examples of how relevant high-impact projects are because students can demonstrate their mastery of a concept by recalling examples from their studies in the BSBA program.

What are some ways you can incorporate High-Impact Practices into your courses and projects to engage your students and help them grow in their careers?

Learner-Generated Instruction and CBE Micro-Credentials

By Justin Mason
December 18, 2017

December 18, 2017

Comic. Three men under the banner “A public service message from the Society for the Preservation of Normal Looking Higher Education.” The man on right says, “Friends, please consider these two questions. 1) Are learners capable of creating quality instructional content? 2) Would a university ever validate learner-generated content by associating it with a credential?”

“In other words, if a student passes a course that contains learner-made content in its curriculum, should the student learn a university backed credential? The answer, of course, if NO!!! I mean, in what topsy-turvy universe does learner equal teacher? This spells one thing: TROUBLE!!” The man in the middle says, “It also spells mutiny.” The man on the left says, “Students aren’t qualified to teach. Their work contains inaccuracies and lacks substance. This has all been documented before. Now someone in the competency-based micro-credentialing world wants to rehash the idea of learner-generated, or worse, wiki-generated, instructional content and pretend it’s something new.” The man in the middle says, “Please, we thought of that and didn’t do it years ago!”
The man on the left says, “Frankly, it’s naïve to think that instructional content made on a wiki, whether by learners or interested professionals, could lead to any of the following… Curriculum that is up to date, transparent, and validated, a student experience improved by user testing, a way for industry to directly voice its needs, lower development costs (leading to more affordable credentials), or empowered learners.” The man in the middle says, “This is open-source constructivist nonsense at its worst—some real ds106-level malfeasance!” The man on the right sighs and says, “No one understands you when you talk like that.”

Call to Action

At the University of Wisconsin–Extension CEOEL, we are trying something new: a pilot course that uses learner and user-generated instructional content. The experimental pilot will be offered through our competency-based micro-credentialing platform the University Learning Store. You, along with students and other interested professionals, can help us build the course!

The subject of the course is Human Resource Management: Creating a Training Plan. An unfinished draft of the course is available for editing now on Wikiversity (a sibling of Wikipedia). We sincerely hope you will take a look and contribute.

https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Create_a_training_and_development_plan

Why Are We Doing This?

There are several reasons we believe learner- and user-generated content is worth investigating in the context of micro-credentialing. First and foremost, we want to offer learners affordable credentials that employers value. Instructional content that is user-generated yet also validated by experts might be a way to offer learners high-quality university-backed credentials at a price they can afford.

A second reason has to do with giving industries and employers a voice in the education of potential future employees.

Third, wouldn’t it be great if there was a sustainable way for higher education to create OERs (open educational resources)?  Learner- and user-generated wiki content could do that!

What Is the University Learning Store?

A first in nonprofit higher education, the University Learning Store offers a practical and affordable way for learners to earn credentials that hold real value in today’s job market.

The University Learning Store is a partnership among a prestigious group of universities to create a new kind of credential. ULS credentials…

  • Are competency-based and verified by employers
  • Use authentic assessments to prove learner proficiency
  • Can be completed in just days or weeks
  • Contain competency summaries that tell employers exactly what you know and can do

 

* For instance:
Keen, A. (2007). The Cult of the Amateur: How today’s Internet is killing our culture and assaulting our economy. London: Nicholas Brealey Publishing.

Developing and Working in Project-based CBE

By Eileen Horn
November 20, 2017

November 20, 2017

We are now deep into Fall as leaves and temperatures continue to drop. The excitement of back-to-school season has now given way to mid-terms and the routines of mid-semester academic work for students and faculty. But what if you’re working in a self-paced, competency-based education (CBE) program? There’s nothing routine about CBE, whether you’re a student or faculty member. Competency-based education is a big change for everyone, from administrators to students. As we approach the one-year mark since launching the Flexible Option business administration degree, I wanted to check in with the academic director and faculty developer, Suresh Chalasani, to talk about the Flex faculty perspective. I asked Suresh to reflect on his experience, focusing on a few questions about how he approached the CBE change as a faculty member.

What was your approach to designing projects for the business administration degree?Flex Business IS305 Database Design and Development Description that says "This project gives you the opportunity, via a realistic business scenario, to develop and demonstrate your ability to build information systems that can be used for decision making. You will use database software to build database tables, create queries, and define reports for the ultimate goal of helping businesses to make crucial decisions."

In a traditional course, I used to select a textbook, and assessments were designed to align with the textbook materials. In the Flex model, assessment design is completely centered around competencies. Assessments are designed to measure students’ performance on competencies. As faculty we were all striving to create assessments that are authentic in the sense that they measure students’ performance in a practical scenario—a scenario they are more likely to encounter in a work setting.

Read more »

Designing for Self-Directed, Self-Paced Learners

By Eileen Horn
February 24, 2017

February 24, 2017

BLE 200 Homepage
Homepage sample illustrating the standardized layout and support resources that contribute to student success.

At CEOEL, we are starting to work on developing a new degree for UW System’s Flexible Option. Before embarking on this new journey, I wanted to take some time to reflect on the last one. I had the opportunity to work with a great group of faculty and instructional designers this past year while developing UW–Extension’s first degree, a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA). In this post, I’ll highlight just a few ways that this degree incorporates research-based recommendations for designing and delivering learning experiences to self-directed, self-paced learners. These practices address factors such as learner characteristics, assessment methods, and presentation of materials.

Read more »

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