Programs What Do People Think Of Competency Based Degrees Such as Texas A&M Commerce

[bhobba]

See:
https://www.tamuc.edu/cbe/

The degree people interested in STEM would do is the degree in General Studies with the free 66 electives done in their STEM field eg Math:
https://www.tamuc.edu/programs/general-studies-competency-based/#tamuc-section-307935

Because it is so cheap and fast, doing a Master's after looks quite doable - they even mention some postgrad can be done undergrad:
https://coursecatalog.tamuc.edu/gra...ience-engineering/mathematics/mathematics-ms/

Thanks
Bill

 

[symbolipoint]

I only read the first paragraph in the first article referenced, so I may be missing on much.

Some attendance in-person in a classroom and some laboratory activity needs to be included. Contracts need to be arranged. Competency-based education does occur for some secondary level instruction, and can be great for some students.

 

[Frabjous]

They say it is designed for

• Career professionals seeking advancement within their industry
• Career movers exploring new industries
• Degree finishers with partial college credit from community college, WECM or the military

It is an interesting idea.

 

[bhobba]

Degree finishers with partial college credit from community college, WECM or the military

These days, many students take dual credit at high school and sometimes even graduate with the 60 credits required for an Associate's degree. They have very flexible credit policies, so you likely will get credit for the whole 60 credits.

It is very efficient for those types of students. Competency-based education is very flexible and efficient.
As was pointed out by Elon Musk, what we do now is subjects are done each semester, with two 14 or 15 week semesters a year. Consider the Calculus 1, 2, 3 sequence. You do one each semester over three semesters or 1.5 years. In the competency model, you have 3 semesters of two 7 week terms each. What can be done is in the one 7-week term, you can do the whole sequence. Rose Hullman, in 5 weeks before commencing your studies, once did just that, so it is certainly doable.

Thanks
Bill

 

[bhobba]

Some attendance in-person in a classroom and some laboratory activity needs to be included. Contracts need to be arranged. Competency-based education does occur for some secondary level instruction, and can be great for some students.

For sure.

I did my degree part-time before the internet was even a glint in anyone's eye.

The way it worked was you attended the lectures where the professor lectured. Of course, you could see him/her after the lecture, especially if you were a shite like me asking questions more suitable for a pure math class than an applied math one (the stories I could regale about that). Then, you had timetabled tutorials where the professors and teaching assistants helped with questions, the exercises handed out at the end of the the lecture, or assignments.

These days, students can easily attend lectures at their convenience, attend tutorials, and complete assignments at their own pace.

But yes, although offered entirely online, I personally prefer the mixed-mode model of online lectures and in-person tutorials.

Thanks
Bill