Running head: COMPETENCY-BASED EDUCATION

Collegial Conversation and Annotated Bibliography

Hannah Wenzelburger

October 17, 2016

SPA 510
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Competency-based education (CBE) is on the rise and growing exponentially. Western

Governors University, an institution that solely uses CBE, has more than doubled its student

population, growing from 23,500 students in 2010 to 53,800 students in 2014. The demand for

more competency-based programs is increasing as is the supply of these programs (Nodine,

2016). In the past five years, the number of institutions offering competency-base programs has

grown from a handful to over 600 colleges and universities either having or developing CBE

options (Berrett, 2015).

The idea of competency-based education started in an era after the end of the Vietnam

War. Colleges and universities needed to cater to a new demographic of students. These people

did not have the luxury of attending classes all day as they had jobs and families that required the

majority of their hours a week. In the late 1990s, Western Governors University (WGU) was

founded (Berrett, 2015). This university was instrumental in the growth of CBE. During the

reauthorization of the Higher Education Act in 2005, WGU was able to convince the government

to tweak the policy to allow student in CBE programs access to financial aid. However, it took

until 2013 for an institution to apply for and be awarded financial aid for their students in CBE

program.

This financial aid aspect prompted me to think about how competency-based programs

would benefit those students who can no longer attend ITT Technical Institute as it is closing.

Since this college did not have regional accreditation, many institutions would not accept these

students transfer credits. Given the chance, I am sure some of these students would like to prove

their competencies so they would not have to sit through the same class again at another

institution. I decided to talk to Erica Whitesell, who is a credit evaluator at Concordia University

Ann Arbor, to find out if she had come across any students trying to prove their competencies.
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Erica has received many inquiries from students asking about proving their competencies

to transfer credits, however the students were not referencing competency-based programs

directly. In fact, competency-based education was a concept that she had heard about, but had not

researched until our conversation. She has looked into a CBE teacher preparation program that

has garnered a lot of attention. Ms. Whitesell felt the instruction method of the program was set

up well, but she had reservations about the exposure the students would receive if they did all the

work via online. Overall she was a fan of the program, but Mrs. Whitesell believes that there are

still some skills that a student needs to be in a classroom to learn.

Erica and I both agreed that competency-based programs would greatly benefit certain

demographics of students. She specifically works with a large number of Veterans. One such

student was a medic over in Afghanistan, yet he was required to take the Health and Human

Performance 101 class as a core credit. The veteran was frustrated that he had to take this class,

especially since the majority of the students did not take it seriously. Unfortunately for our

veterans, their joint service transcripts can only transfer elective credits and will not cover the

core classes the students are required to take. This situation would be a perfect example of when

being able to prove a competency would greatly help students. However, this would only help

them in a strictly CBE program as competencies cannot be transferred into credit hours.

Competency-based education was created as a way to bypass credit hours and create

access to education for people who cannot commit to a traditional college class schedule. In this

line thinking, Erica and I realized that these students are restricted to CBE programs and would

not be able to transfer their work over to a program that is credit hour based. Another issue with

CBE is that many of the programs are not accredited yet (Eaton, 2016). Mrs. Whitesell and I both
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agreed that accreditation and transferability are two areas competency-based education needs to

grow before becoming a reliable option for higher education.

The value of learning in a classroom is also an aspect Erica and I agreed upon. There are

intangible skills that cannot be learned if a student is not interacting with peers. When Mrs.

Whitesell had originally heard of competency-based education, she thought it was for students

who were already coming to higher education with experience and not for new freshman. Both

she and I believe that high school graduates need to experience learning in a college classroom.

Mrs. Whitesell herself had eye-opening experiences when she first attended a college class. One

of the most important lessons she learned was not the subject matter of the class but rather how

to respectfully interact with her peers.

Learning how to interact respectfully with someone that has an opposing opinion is an

important intangible skill. The opposing points of view are most readily available in the general

education classes that students are required to take in addition to their classes for their specified

field of study. In these class, students points of view can range greatly and can help create

awareness for different ways of interpreting events and ideas. In Mrs. Whitesells opinion, it is

integral in becoming an adult for students to learn how to confront opposing points of view

respectfully. If a student is taking all their classes at their own pace and only interacting with one

person, their professor, this benefit is lost.

Erica believes there are also other intangible skills society expects higher education to

provide that are lost in online courses, whether they are credit-hour or competency-based

programs. Some of these include socialization, integrity, responsibility and more. When working

from a distance, a student is not forced to deal with other people. They do not have to learn how

to respond when one of their peers says something that makes their blood boil. The students can
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take quizzes and tests by looking questions up online to get the answers. These are all life lessons

that cannot be taught in an online, self-paced setting.

I completely agree with Erica about how valuable time in the classroom can be. During

the conversation after my presentation, the class discussed this concept in depth. Jessica was able

to validate this concept from her own experience. She is already working in a student affairs

position in higher education. Many of the classes we have taken thus far have talked about issues

and concepts that she has already been working with on a daily basis. Jessica certainly would

have the skills needed to prove her competencies and pass these classes quickly, however she

said she would not trade her time in class for anything. Sitting in class and hearing the different

points of view from her peers has helped her grow and understand situations in ways she never

expected. Sometimes it has been frustrating to work off a case study in class when she is actually

dealing with the situation in real life, but conversations had have been more beneficial and

outweigh any frustrations.

When I shared this story with Erica, she agreed that it was a perfect example of the

benefits on in-class work. Competency-based programs are an area of education that both Erica

and I need to learn more information. These programs are still in their infancy and need to be

evaluated. Nodine (2016) calls for colleges and universities to work together to create a body of

knowledge that will help CBE programs to grow and become sustainable.

As someone who will be working as a student affairs representative in higher education,

competency-based education is a current issue where I need to pay attention. I will be working to

give students the best possible college experience while they are learning, developing, finding

their voices and who they want to be. This new format of education may be what some of these

student will need to succeed and get their degree. If they are in these programs, they will need
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support. Wisconsin has already set up success coaches to help their students in the Flex Option

flourish (Carlson, 2013). Nevertheless, these students may need more help than just with their

classes. This CBE program creates a whole new level of need for support in different ways. The

students will still be developing and forming paradigms that they will need safe spaces to

discuss.

One aspect I love about the Student Personnel Administration in Higher Education

program that is at Concordia is that we are able to network with other students in the program

from different cohorts. I think this concept would greatly benefit the students of CBE programs if

it was applied. It would allow them to talk with other students in the program and learn about

different points of view that could inform the work they are currently doing. This is just one

example of how I need to learn more about the support options of CBE. As this field develops, I

am confident there will be more research that will help institutions provide their students with

well-rounded degrees that will prepare them for working in the world as responsible adults.
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References

Berrett, D. (2014, July 14). College, on your own. Retrieved from The Chronicle of Higher

Education, http://www.chronicle.com/article/College-on-Your-Own/147659/

Berrett, D. (2015, October 28). How a 40-Year-Old idea became higher educations next big

thing. Retrieved from The Chronicle of Higher Education,

http://www.chronicle.com/article/How-a-40-Year-Old-Idea-Became/233976

Carlson, S. (2013, September 30). Competency-based education goes mainstream in Wisconsin.

Retrieved from The Chronicle of Higher Education,

http://www.chronicle.com/article/Competency-Based-Education/141871/

Chronicle Staff. (2016, January 6). Public colleges lead in adopting competency-based programs.

Retrieved September 27, 2016, from http://www.chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/public-

colleges-lead-in-adopting-competency-based-programs/107667

Eaton, J. S. (2016). Accreditation and competency-based education. The Journal of Competency-

Based Education, 1(1), 1216. doi:10.1002/cbe2.1006

Nodine, T. R. (2016). How did we get here? A brief history of competency-based higher

education in the United States. The Journal of Competency-Based Education, 1(1), 511.

doi:10.1002/cbe2.1004