The assessment of competencies in a manner that as closely as possible approximates the way in which that competency will be demonstrated in the individual’s professional and/or civic life.

An assessment is generally considered "authentic" if it:

• is realistic

• requires judgment and innovation

• asks the students to "do" the subject

• replicates or similates the contexts in which adults are "tested" in the workplace or in their civic or personal lives

• assesses the student's ability to efficiently and effectively use a repertoire of knowledge and skills to negotiate a complex task

• allows appropriate opportunities to rehearse, practice, consult resources, and get feedback on and refine performances and products

The goal of the Check for Understanding (CFU) is to ensure that students are ready to be successful at completing their Mastery Assessments. Questions should be objective or fact based. Consider what terms, definitions, or facts a student would need to know before applying them in the Mastery Assessment. These are auto-graded with automatic feedback so a student knows whether they can move on to the Mastery Assessment or not. 

In the context of program assessment, CFU assessment results are used to improve program performance. A Check for Understanding is considered an "assessment for learning" while Mastery Assessments are considered “assessments of learning.”

A competency is a clearly defined statement of a specific skill, knowledge or ability that is both observable and measurable acquired by a student in a designated program.

Competencies are student-centered and provide the foundation of any CBE program, including both Course-Based CBE and Direct Assessment CBE. Consisting of observable, measurable statements that describe the specific skills, knowledge or abilities demonstrated by the learner. Competencies are overarching, broad statements and should be aligned with Program Student Learning Outcomes and relevant Student Learning Outcomes, which are then broken down into Learning Objectives and assessed for mastery. 

A Course/Credit-Based PBE approach is one that organizes content according to what a student knows and can do with the knowledge and skills acquired (or competencies) and are embedded into a conventional curriculum through the utilization of courses. PBE course-based programs use assessments that provide measurable evidence of competency attainment. Students may accelerate their learning within the course and defined term. Students receive credit for the course when they have demonstrated mastery of the competencies by passing a summative assessment.

While learning proficiency is determined by mastery of each competency (or set of competencies), the program still uses credit or clock hours as a measure of student progress. This means the PBE program is still subject to Federal requirements for the definitions of credit and clock hours and Title IV eligibility and, therefore, must continue to adhere to traditional course and semester boundaries.

Development in the process of connecting any relevant existing course content to the identified learning objectives and competencies of a course and determining what additional content needs to be created. The goal is to look at what is possible, rethinking the structure and approach to learning to give students an optimal and engaging learning experience. Each course should give students insight into the industry, teaching and assessing skills using methods authentic to what they will experience on the job. Instructional Designers and CMEs work together to complete the Learning Journey and create course content for building courses in Canvas during this process.

In a flipped classroom, learners participate in lessons before class and use time in class to dive deeper into materials through labs and other activities. TSTC's hybrid courses follow this model, and students often watch lectures and do practice activities before they step into a lab environment. 

The systematic design of curriculum and training in accordance with established principles of learning. Focuses on alignment among learning objectives, content, instructional strategy and activities, and assessment items.

Each course uses a learning journey to track alignment between competencies, learning objectives, lecture material, activities, checks for understanding, and mastery assessments. These learning journeys provide an overview of course material and how each piece of the course feeds into the overall course competencies. 

Mastery Assessments are the centerpiece of a PBE course design. Each Mastery Assessment is directly aligned with a course competency, and students must successfully complete the assessment in order to demonstrate their ability for the competency. They should each reflect an authentic task or scenario that students would encounter in industry whenever possible. Mastery Assessment grades go toward the final score for the course, and each Mastery Assessment in the course must be passed at the appropriate department level in order to complete the course.

Practice and Apply activities are formative activities that can take a variety of forms. Sometimes they could ask students to practice doing something from the lessons on their own. They could be a peer-reviewed assignment or an interactive or AR/VR model. These activities are not counted toward the final grade; however, they do provide valuable practice for students who are working toward the mastery assessment.

Rubrics are assessment tools with criteria for evaluating a competency and levels of demonstrated performance. Rubrics are applied to student work with the results used to determine levels of achievement. Rubrics are used to evaluate student, course, and program performance.

PBE courses are expected to have at least 60% of TSTC-generated, original material with 40% of content that can come from outside vendors, YouTube videos, and other sources.