Terms for Understanding Competency and Project Based Education

Academic Competencies: Academic competencies are explicit, measurable, transferable learning objectives drawn from established college- and career-readiness standards and course content.

Blended Learning: Blended learning combines the use of online resources and technology tools with team-learning activities and traditional teacher-directed instruction. The hallmarks of blended learning are personalization, student agency, authentic audiences, connectivity, and creativity (Tucker, Wycoff, & Green, 2017).

Cognitive Rigor: Cognitive rigor encompasses the complexity of the content, the cognitive engagement with that content, and the scope of the planned learning activity (Hess et al., 2009).

Competency/Proficiency: The terms competency and proficiency are often used interchangeably. As defined by Achieve, Inc., competencies include explicit, measurable, transferable learning objectives that empower students. Competencies fall under two broad categories: academic and personal/soft skills.

Competency-Based Education (CBE): Competency-based education is a school- or districtwide structure that replaces the traditional structure to create a system that is designed for students to be successful (as compared to sorted) and leads to continuous improvement.

Depth of Knowledge (DOK): Norman Webb’s Depth of Knowledge Levels (Webb, 2002) describe the depth of content understanding and scope of a learning activity, which manifests in the skills required to complete a task from inception to finale (e.g., planning, researching, drawing conclusions).

Differentiation: Differentiation choices (content, processes/thinking, or products) are designed by the teacher, based on the learning needs of a whole class or small groups of students. Teachers can differentiate by adjusting the curriculum materials, teaching strategies, and classroom environment to meet the needs of students.

Performance Assessment/Performance Task: Performance assessments can be used for a variety of purposes—instructional/formative and evaluative/summative. Performance tasks are generally defined as multistep assignments with clear criteria, expectations, and processes that measure how well a student transfers knowledge and applies complex skills to create or refine an original product. They are assessments that may be completed individually or with others (Hess, 2018).

Project-Based Learning (PBL): Project-based learning is designed to make learning more meaningful and relevant to students. Projects require that students go beyond the textbook to study complex topics based on real-world issues (e.g., examining water quality in their communities or the history of their town). Project-based classwork is generally more demanding than traditional book-based instruction, where students may just memorize facts presented in a single source.

Student-Centered Learning (SCL): Student-centered learning involves shifting the traditional role of teacher and student so that students are more engaged and more responsible for their own learning.