Disrupting the Carnegie Hour: A Three-Year Journey to Create a Blended Competency-based Program in Higher Education

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Brief Abstract

Join us as we share insights and challenges from a three-year journey to design, develop, and implement a blended Competency-based Education program for higher education. Attendees will examine elements of a CBE framework and gain access to a resource site containing an interactive journey map to aid their CBE journey.

Presenters

Lead Presenter: Kim Chatham, Metropolitan Community College

Kim is an experienced educator, trainer, developer, and technologist with over 10 years of experience across a variety of fields including education, retail, and the technology sector. In her role as a Workforce Instructional Designer at Metropolitan Community College, Kim strives to create engaging, high-quality digital learning experiences for students and business partners.

Additional Authors

Extended Abstract

Topic + Relevance
Competency-based Education (CBE) has received increased attention in recent years as one way to address the need for highly skilled workers as the cost and relevance of higher education is questioned. CBE meets the growing need for active, personalized, adaptive teaching and learning approaches that will engage students and improve student persistence and completion. To what extent can these outcomes be achieved? And what institutional efforts are essential and impactful?

Recent interest has resulted from an evolution of instructional innovations that began in the 1960s as well as vocational education programs that were prominent in the 1970s. Some of those factors include:

  • Challenges to the relevancy of the traditional credit hour
  • Evolving student and employer expectations around employability
  • Industry changes requiring workers to reskill or upskill
  • The cost of training and/or ongoing education
  • Advances in teaching and learning strategies

This Discovery session provides a brief overview of and insights from a three-year journey to implement an innovative, blended, Competency-based Education program at a community college. Join us to learn more about our CBE journey which impacts multiple stakeholders and has provided an opportunity to establish foundational CBE systems, policies, and processes at our community college.

Interactivity + Engagement
In this Discovery session, asynchronous conversations at planned discussion points via VoiceThread serve as the primary method of participant engagement. Attendees will have an opportunity to engage with an interactive journey map that allows for non-linear exploration of session content. Attendees may also access and explore our curated CBE resource site that contains infographics and other project-related items.

Takeaways
Individuals choosing this micro-learning experience will be able to discuss CBE and its role in the evolution of best practices in Higher Education. Attendees will discuss the merits and challenges of a real-life CBE implementation that is ongoing. And lastly, attendees will be able to examine foundational elements of a CBE framework that may be effective at their own institutions.