Survey of the Shared Design Elements & Emerging Practices of Competency-Based Education Programs

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Lumina Foundation, and Public Agenda have released a research brief on what competency-based education programs look like in the U.S. The survey was completed by 179 individuals part of CBE programs in higher education during summer 2015.  

Respondents were asked questions on their use of the Shared Design Elements document, published by the Competency-Based Education Network.  This resource includes 10 elements that should be part of any effective CBE program. Each design element description includes examples of CBE programs carrying out that element.

The research brief gathers baseline data from CBE programs about CBE programs, gauges program levels of adoption of various CBE practices and design elements, and measures how important those elements and practices are to individual programs, as well as the level of difficult in their implementation.