Learning processes focused on acquiring specific skills and developing specific abilities. Competency-based learning can happen in any context, whether or not it is part of an educational program or happens in a classroom or formal educational setting. Learning outcomes can be demonstrated through many different types of assessment, learning artifacts, and/or verified evidence of mastery. In competency-based learning, as distinct from competency-based education, the focus is on learners and their experiences in learning environments.
Published in Chapter:
Opportunities for Innovation With Competencies as Currency
Deborah Everhart (Georgetown University, USA) and Deborah M. Seymour (Higher Education Innovation Consulting, USA)
Copyright: © 2021
|Pages: 26
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-1928-8.ch016
Abstract
Learners' needs are changing rapidly, driven by innovations in technology and the world of work. Increasingly, learners need flexible education options and the ability to verify their own competencies as valuable currency for careers. Multiple trends are putting pressure on postsecondary education to be more flexible and competency based. Credit hours as a basis for defining credentials will drive postsecondary practices for some time, but there are opportunities for innovation with competencies as a parallel and complementary currency. Credit hours define degree attainment, financial aid, and other critical functions. Competencies articulate learning that has value both within and outside educational institutions. This chapter analyzes how credits and competencies provide value for stakeholders in learning ecosystems, including education providers, employers, and learners. Effective changes in postsecondary practices can be achieved through focusing on competency-based learning and credentialing practices that incorporate the value of competencies into credit hour-based processes.