competency-based education

Definition

An approach where students advance by demonstrating mastery of specific skills rather than accumulating seat time, theoretically allowing faster progression for quick learners. Revolutionary in concept, nightmarish in accreditation paperwork.

Example Usage

Western Governors University uses competency-based education, so I finished my entire IT degree in 18 months by testing out of everything I already knew.

Origin

Roots in vocational training; formalized for higher education in the 1970s, resurging with online education in 2010s

Fun Fact

Despite enthusiasm, only about 3% of US undergraduate students are enrolled in fully competency-based programs, largely due to financial aid complications.

Source: Competency-Based Education Network standards

Related Terms

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feeder school

An institution that regularly sends graduates to a particular university or program, creating a pipeline that's either a mutually beneficial relationship or an old boys' network, depending on your perspective.

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FERPA

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act - federal law protecting student privacy that professors constantly violate by accident. It's why you can't discuss a student's grade with their parent even when said parent is paying tuition.

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lecture hall

A large tiered classroom where hundreds of students gather to experience the medieval teaching method of one person talking while everyone else pretends to listen. Modern ones feature uncomfortable seats and terrible acoustics for the authentic alienation experience.

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Dean

The person who runs a college within a university, serving as a middle manager between the professors who hate administration and the administration that hates professors. Their primary skill is nodding thoughtfully during meetings while thinking about lunch.

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Advanced

Differentiated Instruction

The pedagogical philosophy that every student learns differently, which teachers acknowledge by continuing to teach the exact same way but feeling bad about it. It's the thought that counts, assuming the thought is documented in a lesson plan.

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Credit Hour

A unit of academic measurement that bears no relationship to actual hours spent learning, crying, or staring blankly at a textbook. One credit hour equals roughly fifteen hours of lecture and four hundred hours of existential dread.

🎓 Education / Academia

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