Meeting Students Where They Are: Profiles of Students in Competency-Based Degree Programs

Autor/inn/en	Klein-Collins, Rebecca; Baylor, Elizabeth
Institution	Center for American Progress; Council for Adult and Experiential Learning
Titel	Meeting Students Where They Are: Profiles of Students in Competency-Based Degree Programs
Quelle	(2013), (33 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Monographie
Schlagwörter	Competency Based Education; Profiles; Educational Policy; Postsecondary Education; Knowledge Level; Educational Change; Transfer of Training; Reentry Students; Academic Degrees; Peer Relationship; Mentors; Student Financial Aid; Credits; Academic Standards; Educational Assessment; Business Administration Education; Labor Force Development; Education Work Relationship + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Education; Competence; Competency; Competency-based education; Unterricht; Kompetenzorientierte Methode; Charakterisierung; Profilanalyse; Politics of education; Bildungspolitik; Post-secondary education; Tertiäre Bildung; Wissensbasis; Bildungsreform; Training; Transfer; Ausbildung; Zweiter Bildungsweg; Degree; Degrees; Academic level graduation; Akademischer Grad; Hochschulabschluss; Peer-Beziehungen; Finanzielle Beihilfe; Studienfinanzierung; Studienförderung; assessment; Bewertungssystem; Arbeitskräftebestand
Abstract	An educated workforce is one of the bedrocks not just of a strong American middle class, but also of a strong U.S. economy. To ensure that America has the most competitive global workforce, President Barack Obama articulated a goal that, by 2020, every American should continue their educational training after high school so that the United States will increase its proportion of college graduates. This ambitious policy objective will require our postsecondary education system to embrace changes and find new ways to improve student success while maintaining affordability and quality. One way that some postsecondary institutions are innovating is by focusing more on what students learn, rather than where or how long the learning takes place. This can be a more efficient way for students to progress toward a degree, yet it is a very different way for higher education to operate. For more than 100 years, postsecondary education has been designed around the credit hour, a measure of how much time students spend in the classroom. Although it was not originally designed for this purpose, the credit hour is used in higher education as a proxy for student learning, with the student progressing toward a degree by accumulating a prescribed number of these time-based units. An alternative approach is competency-based education, which makes student learning--not time--the focus. This report catalogues stories of average Americans--some who went to college directly after high school, some who are returning to postsecondary education after many years in the workforce, and others who are pursuing graduate studies. All of these students have one thing in common: They are participating in a competency-based education program that tracks their progress by measuring the knowledge and skills they have acquired. This report demonstrates the positive qualities of competency-based learning and identifies commonalities among student experiences that can inform the policy priorities for those looking to expand and reform postsecondary educational offerings. (ERIC).
Anmerkungen	Center for American Progress. 1333 H Street NW 10th Floor, Washington, DC 20005. Tel: 202-682-1611; Web site: http://www.americanprogress.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01