The effects of competency‐based education delivery methods on competency level: A quantitative study

AbstractBackgroundCompetency‐based education (CBE) is a quickly evolving, new concept to higher education. Within the CBE context, new delivery methods for course materials create an atmosphere that is highly supportive of learning and allows flexibility for learners who may have already acquired certain knowledge and desire to move on to unknown curriculum. Although many programs, faculty, and students can and do benefit from this new concept, data must also be present to support the validity of this new method as CBE continues to grow in popularity.AimsThe research presented tested 3 hypotheses:

H10: No change was found in the overall competency level of students on the pre‐and post‐assessment
H1a: A decrease was found in the overall competency level of students on the pre‐and post‐assessments
H1b: An increase was found in the overall competency level of students on the pre‐and post‐assessments
MethodPre‐ and postself‐assessments were given to a group of graduate students currently enrolled in a CBE program.DiscussionThe results did support one of the hypotheses showing a change in the overall competency level of students on the pre‐ and postself‐assessment. The results support successfulness of the CBE methods.ConclusionsIt is recommended more research be completed to include different degrees, curriculum, and CBE methods. This data can be combined to form a big data set to conduct more valid studies.