The posting below looks a one of several models for a
three year bachelor's degree presented in the book, Saving Higher Education
The Integrated, Competency-Based Three-Year Bachelor's
Degree Program, by Martin J. Bradley, Robert H. Seidman, and Steven R.
Painchaud. It is from Chapter 1, The Need for Change: Why some Institutions
Will Embrace New Pathways to the Bachelor's Degree. Copyright ? 2012 by John
Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Published by Jossey-Bass, a Wiley
Imprint. 989 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94103-1741 www.josseybass.com
The third model employs an integrated, competency-based
curriculum approach. A predetermined set of competencies are foundational to
the students' educational experience. In addition to the set of competencies,
the curriculum is redesigned and integrated wherever possible to maximize
student learning opportunities throughout their entire educational experience.
Teaching faculty that participate in the program receive an orientation
outlining the curriculum design and are mindful of the program competencies, as
well as accreditation standards and expectations. Utilizing a collaborative
approach, faculty members deliver courses over a period of six semesters (120
credits), with no summer sessions or winter intersessions needed. The content
is configured in a way that facilitates collaboration by faculty across
disciplines.
The competencies serve as guideposts for the content of
all the academic experiences within the curriculum. Because the development of
competencies occurs at varying levels of intensity throughout the three years,
a key strategy is the use of master planning documents for each academic
experience. For each of the educational experiences, an academic plan is
developed that details the overarching strategy for addressing the competencies
within the experience along with specific implementing activities that the
faculty can employ. These academic plans are regularly reviewed and updated as
part of an ongoing assessment of the program. The academic plans serve as the
basis for the development of model syllabi that demonstrate the relationship
between the academic requirements, assignments, and the competencies.
For reasons that will become evident in Chapters 2 and 3,
we use the term module instead of course when speaking of the integrated
three-year-degree program. Each module that a student takes has an academic
plan developed by faculty experts. These academic plans provide a strategic
framework allowing faculty, administrators, accreditation organizations, and
other interested parties to see how each of the courses in a given semester or
year support the program-level competencies and learning outcomes. These
academic plans and model syllabi are discussed further in Chapter 3.
Each semester concludes with an innovative week-long,
credit-bearing "integrating experience." These experiences place
students in academic work teams in which they are given challenging case-based
problems related to their major. Teaching faculty hold special consulting hours
to provide guidance and support to the student teams.
Integration of academic content throughout the three
years is achieved in a number of ways, including program themes, joint
assignments across modules and between various disciplines, end-of-semester
integrating experiences, and experiential learning opportunities. During the
last week of each of the first four semesters, students engage in a
team-intensive activity exercising their newly acquired knowledge and skills to
address real-world case studies. Each experience focuses on the competencies
stressed during the semester and culminates with a formal presentation to the
faculty and invited members from the internal university community as well as
invited guests.
Accelerated versus Integrated, Competency-Based Models
A major perceived advantage of the accelerated three-year
model is that very little curriculum modification needs to occur. In fact, in
most instances the curriculum does not change at all. Only the time frame for
delivering the curriculum is modified in order to meet the thirty-six-month timetable.
So for traditional institutions, launching an accelerated curriculum might be
politically feasible although it might not be the most attractive scenario for
potential students. Because curriculum changes can be very time-consuming and
must navigate various university governance mechanisms, working with a
curriculum that is already in place more easily meets faculty needs and stays
within many administrators' comfort zone.
On the other hand, designing and implementing an
integrated, competency-based, or outcomes-focused, curriculum model requires
faculty to collaborate and to be flexible in their pedagogical approaches. An
integrated model requires that traditional courses be thought of in new ways,
such as modules that are premised upon the principles of student knowledge
acquisition and skill development. Further, an integrated curriculum is
premised on a set of programmatic and school-based competencies. These
competencies influence and in some cases drive the choices of content
acquisition, delivery, and demonstration.
Building an integrated curriculum can by its very nature
be labor-intensive and will likely meet with resistance at some institutions.
On the other hand, creating an integrated curriculum can inspire faculty to
collaborate and think of education in new ways, such as placing the student at
the center of learning (Barr & Tagg, 1995; Tagg, 2003). Implementing an
integrated curriculum also demands that administrators think in new ways
regarding programmatic delivery needs such as classroom space, awarding of
credit hours, and the coordination of the course registration processes. The
curriculum redesign also requires the support of key institutional leaders in
order for the curriculum to survive the academic governance process.
Changing the Way We Think about Higher Education
Changing the way we think about the design and delivery
of the higher education experience demands that university leaders think in new
ways. This means that modules will look different in an integrated curriculum
than in a traditional three-credit, one-hour-and-15-minutes, twice-per-week
course. For example, faculty may deem it educationally beneficial for students
to spend more class time on a particular subject area. Thus the module might be
delivered in a two-hour class that meets four days a week over seven weeks as
opposed to the more typical two-day-a-week, one-hour-and-15-minute class that
meets for fifteen weeks.
Accelerated-curriculum models fit more easily into a
traditional administrative mindset because typical tuition and seat-time
practices remain undisturbed. On the other hand, an integrated curriculum
requires administrative leaders who are willing to break decades of traditional
practices in order to create new value for their students. Providing the
leadership to promote true innovation is no easy task. As Collins (2001)
reminds us, "good is the enemy of great," and many institutional
administrators are happy to be just "good enough".
One of the clear challenges facing university presidents and
other senior leaders is to envision new ways in which to construct the college
experience?ways that promote learning and create new value for their students.
Successfully meeting this challenge requires a willingness to examine long-held
assumptions regarding administrative practices such as credit hours and seat
time. Instead, a new focus on learning, competency attainment, and
demonstration should drive how we design and deliver the curriculum.
As competition increases, more colleges and universities
will look to offer new ways for students to earn a bachelor's degree. The
accelerated model will be attractive given that initially, institutions will
see the model as a means of retaining tuition income because students will be
required to complete the same number of courses. Yet many universities already
offer full-time students the option of adding up to one course above the
standard load (that is, six instead of five three-credit courses per semester)
at no additional cost. These students can shave six courses off the total in
six semesters, thereby needing to complete the remaining four courses by some
alternative means, such as night school, intersession term, and summers.
In these scenarios, institutions will lose tuition
revenue without cutting delivery costs, thus speeding up the downward financial
spiral. Many institutions will need more students in order to balance their
budget. Thus, many small, less-selective institutions will experience increased
pressure to lower entrance requirements as a means of attracting more students.
At the same time, these institutions will feel growing pressure from the
competition whose size or scale will continue to increase price pressure in the
market place?pricing more cheaply for credit courses.
Reducing Price for Students and Costs to Institutions
The integrated, competency-based model will be
particularly attractive and useful to small and mid-sized institutions that
seek to enhance current enrollments or that are interested in attracting new
enrollment segments. In the subsequent chapters, readers will learn how
institutions can launch an integrated, competency-based program that reduces
delivery costs.
This book puts forth an already proven model of a
three-year integrated, competency-based curriculum that by design offers
students a faster pathway to graduation while protecting tuition revenues. This
model significantly reduces delivery costs by integrating content and focusing
on learning outcomes and the attainment of program competencies. Philosophically,
the act of learning supersedes seat time. This model eliminates unnecessary
redundancies within the curriculum, and it adds semester-ending credit bearing
summative experiences. This model does more than rearrange existing curriculum;
it leads to a complete redesign that enables institutions to pass along a 25
percent savings to students and their sponsors. It is a win-win for all
concerned.
The integrated, competency-based model offers a
legitimate response to the criticism of the continued high expenses of
postsecondary education. Addressing the issue of cost while improving quality
will prove to be the formula that saves many colleges and universities over the
next several decades. But will institutional leaders be able to leave their
comfort zones and challenge many of the basic assumptions that American higher
education has held on to for so long? It seems to be clearer now than ever before
that institutions need to embrace new practices or pay the ultimate price for
their lack of will.
As the knowledge economy continues to rapidly expand,
college graduates will need new skill sets in order to participate and
successfully compete. Colleges and universities can and should play a central
role in the preparation of citizens but only if the institutions have rethought
the way that students acquire, tie together, and demonstrate new knowledge.
Compartmentalized and silo-driven learning, so often redundant, is no longer
meeting organizations' needs in today's global marketplace. The integrated,
competency-based model that is discussed in detail in this book offers a proven
approach that answers the growing chorus of concerns being expressed by business
leaders, government officials, students, their sponsors, and academicians. The
learning process can and must change in ways that improve its effectiveness
while offering a clear solution to the continued escalating tuition crisis.
Three-Year Degrees in a Global Context
Today, there still remains substantial confusion as to
what a three-year degree equals when comparing degree programs of various
countries from around the world. For example, some believe that a three-year
bachelor's program in the United States would be similar to degrees long
offered in Europe and other countries globally. Although it is true that many
Europeans can and do earn their bachelor's degree in three years, it is
important to note that these students have participated in a system that
requires thirteen years of elementary and secondary education: examples include
the United Kingdom, Germany, and Italy. Indeed, in these instances the European
model introduces students to many components of general education/liberal arts before
they begin their bachelor's degree work. As a result, the bachelor's degree
earned in Europe can be much more technical or professionally focused. Yet
educators in the United Kingdom are quick to point out that the graduates of
the system are
equally if not
better prepared for a well-rounded life, given the rigorous exit examination
process that is required of all students.
In Europe today, forty-seven countries have agreed to the
Bologna Process, a nongovernmental initiative designed to provide students with
a more standardized or common educational experience (European Higher Education
Area, 2011). One of the proposed benefits of the Bologna Process is to improve
transferability of students' educational experiences across Europe. However, in
some parts of Europe, students participate in a twelve-year elementary and
secondary experience as opposed to the thirteen years of pre-university
education. The harmonizing that is sought through the Bologna Process will be
tested in these situations. Yet if the Bologna Process is successful, some have
suggested that such a shift in educational strategy will assist Europe in
regaining its educational might. In order to achieve the aims of the Bologna
Process, countries will need to adopt common frameworks and measurable learning
outcomes (Gaston, 2010).
In India, liberal arts degrees and courses receive less
emphasis than subjects in technology, engineering, and business. Earning a
bachelor's degree in technology or a bachelor's degree in engineering (both of which
are four-year programs) provides students with a strong technical foundation.
Students who then go on to earn an MBA from a different university compete
strongly in the professional marketplace. Still, many three-year bachelor's
degrees are available to students, such as the Bachelor of Commerce, Bachelor
of Science, and Bachelor of Arts. However, U.S. institutions often require
students with these degrees to complete an additional thirty credits of general
education in order to earn a U.S. bachelor's degree.
The educational approach in India has been influenced by
the rapid growth of that county's population. Because of the many thousands of
outsourced jobs that have come to India from around the world, there is a
premium on the development of technical skills and practical applications.
In Southeast Asia, the educational systems continue to
show the influence of other nations: the British system in Malaysia, the French
system in Vietnam, and the U.S. system in both Thailand and China. With that said,
there remain fairly significant differences in the specific educational
practices employed around the region. For example, outcomes assessment is not
often used to demonstrate educational success. Rather, country-wide proficiency
examinations have been used for decades in order to determine which students
will have access to limited university educational opportunities. More
recently, countries such as Thailand and China have placed greater emphasis on
advancing their university-level educational systems in order to compete more
effectively in the global economy.
Educational systems vary from country to country and have
been developed and shaped over many decades by a multitude of factors including
governmental structure, economic need, cultural norms, and political beliefs of
the ruling party. What seems to be clearer today is that world leaders see the
importance of strengthening regional educational systems in order to advance
the opportunities that come with increased globalization. These proposed alliances
have exciting possibilities, particularly with the Bologna process, given that
one of its core focuses is on developing measurable outcomes. This approach
will be discussed as this book examines the details of the integrated
curriculum model and its reliance on competency demonstration (Keller, 2008;
Wildavsky, 2010).
References
Barr, R. B., & Tagg, J. (1995, November/December).
From teaching to learning: A new paradigm for undergraduate education. Change,
l3-25.
Collins, J. (2001). Good to great. New York, NY: Harper
Collins.
Keller, G. (2008). Higher education and the new society.
Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
European Higher Education Area. (2011). About the Bologna
Process. Retrieved from http://ehea.info
Gaston, P. (2010). The challenge of Bologna. Sterling,
VA: Stylus.
Wildavsky, B. (2010). The great brain race. Princeton,
NJ: Princeton University Press.
Tomorrow's Professor Blog: Integrated, Competency-Based Three-Year Model (for bachelor's degree completion)
