Education Commons^™

Not A Horror Story: Competency-Based Education (Cbe) & Writing Instruction, Michelle Navarre Cleary

Michelle Navarre Cleary

“Horrifying,” “dystopian,” “there be wild beasts out there” – these are not descriptions of a terrifying new movie, but recent reactions to competency-based education (CBE) on the Writing Program Administrators (WPA) listserv. However, closing our eyes and pulling up the covers is not going to serve us well.

Unlike credit-hour based programs, CBE allows students to apply learning gained in many ways (including from life experience, classrooms and MOOCS) to demonstrate competence. Many CBE programs also allow students to work at their own pace, freeing those who are ready to move more quickly from the constraints of the academic term. …

How To Teach Grammar, Michelle Navarre Cleary

Michelle Navarre Cleary

Depending on your age, you may have been taught grammar through memorization and diagramming sentences. Kathleen Dunn talks with an educator who says that to instill better grammar, we should encourage more reading and writing.

Toward A "Formula For Success"--Using Oral Histories To Help Students Succeed When Everything Seems To Be Working Against Them, Michelle Navarre Cleary

Michelle Navarre Cleary

Many of the students at Olive-Harvey College, a community college on Chicago's south side, are struggling to balance their education with low income, service sector jobs and family needs while living in communities plagued by drugs and violence. The question is how teachers can help these students to attain their educational goals, despite their life crises. To find the answer, one instructor turned to the students who had successfully completed her English 102 capstone writing course the previous fall--students who are the exception and not the rule. She interviewed 13 out of 20 students in the class and found that …