Southwestern College tests new 6 months associate degrees “In this new education model being piloted at eight campuses across the state, the only thing students will be evaluated on is their competency” https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/southwestern-college-will-try-offering-associate-degrees-without-grades-or-mandatory-attendance/3308716/
That's one way of managing grade inflation. It does raise the question what impact there will be on graduates who want to apply for further study at competitive institutions.
Well, it COULD work. One of the first programs out of the box is an Auto Tech degree. If the student can binge-watch or be sporadic about lecture-viewing -- I'm OK with that. The one MUST-HAVE is frequent attendance and work in the campus Auto Shop. Without that, the student will be unlikely to gain, or acquire the hands-on skills to demonstrate competence. Like just about anything else, done right - this could be a winner. Done wrong - it could be disastrous and mess up lives. With skill classes like this - that will pay the bills - I'm not unduly worried about how the education will be viewed for further study. Stuff like this is an end in itself - to provide the means to make a fairly good living. A student who gets that done is in a good position to find what he needs, if he wishes to advance further academically. That's a whole separate issue to me. A grad who gets through this and does well for themself, obviously has (or can quickly get) what it takes to find the way through further-school hoops. If I worked in admissions, anywhere, I'd want all the successful grads of these programs I could get! Proven go-getters!
I don't understand how it's like Netflix. At the same time, I'm a fan of competency-based education (CBE) rather than assignments for the sake of assignments. I had classes in undergrad where I told the professor I'd show up for the first class and the tests only, and otherwise be responsible for my own learning. I consistently got As, and I spent that 3 hour lecture period studying in the library. I'm surprised they chose Auto Tech, such a hands-on program to demo this model. I'm reminded of the parallels of online Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) training: you can complete most of your curriculum through online courses but then you need to do 40 hours of practical skills. If you've done an in-person program, you've likely had the opportunity to begin building those skills but in an online (technically hybrid) your only opportunity to prove yourself is your week of clinicals and your NREMT licensing test. You arrive at your first job with a potential disadvantage over those who chose a different modality. If it works, though, great! WGU has shown CBE can effectively teach skills from accounting to education to IT.
