Assessment of Student Learning Through an Online, Competency-Based University

摘要

WESTERN GOVERNORS UNIVERSITY (WGU) WAS FOUNDED BY THEngovernors of sixteen western states to help meet the challenges presented bynescalating enrollments and rising costs of higher education in their states. AtnWGU, we promise to help our students “achieve their dreams for a degree and careernsuccess by providing a personal, flexible, and affordable education based on real-worldncompetencies.” We do this by offering online degrees that are competency-based. Byncompetency-based, we mean that students only make academic progress and graduatenby passing a series of assessments. Assessments consist of objective exams, performancen(written essays and other electronically transmitted artifacts), observation, portfolios,nand capstone projects. At WGU, students do not make academic progress by takingncourses; knowledge and performance are organized not by hours of coursework but bynmastery of competencies.