The following community colleges are currently implementing innovative competency-based education programs for their learners:
Parkland College
Parkland College offers competency-based education courses in electronics, industrial maintenance, and welding. Learn more.
Rend Lake College
Rend Lake College currently offers Welding Fundamentals and Welding Technology for At My Pace (A.M.P) completion. The introductory courses have been broken into one-credit-hour chunks to allow learners to work at their own pace and personalize their learning based on needs or goals.
Shawnee Community College
Shawnee Community College offers a welding basics certificate that is a study of welding processes used by industry, concentrating on safety, practical welding tasks, and the use of hand and power tools that support welding. All courses are delivered in the competency-based education modality, with the exception of OSHA for general industry.
Spotlight
Rend Lake College’s Use of Existing Materials for Industrial Maintenance CBE
Rend Lake College designed its competency-based industrial maintenance program by strategically leveraging existing industry-aligned courseware and credentials. By integrating Amatrol and SACA resources, they created a streamlined, scalable model that reduces development time while maintaining high-quality, skills-focused learning. Key takeaways include:
- Leveraging established content providers:
- Rend Lake minimized new content development by relying primarily on Amatrol courseware and trainers and SACA (Smart Automation Certification Alliance) standards.
- Blending multiple resources for assessment:
- Amatrol supports instruction and formative assessment (interactive content, self-reviews, auto-graded quizzes, and lab activities).
- SACA provides summative knowledge assessments tied to industry-recognized micro-credentials.
- Faculty-developed hands-on assessments complement these for skill validation.
- Using ready-made, high-quality instructional content:
- Amatrol’s multimedia lessons (graphics, narration, text) allow students to learn independently at their own pace, reducing faculty content creation workload.
- Integrating theory and hands-on labs:
- Online learning is paired with structured lab activities using Amatrol trainers.
- Students follow skills-based PDFs and complete labs in scheduled sessions to ensure equipment access.
- Centralizing access through LMS integration:
- Amatrol content is imported into Canvas via SCORM, providing single sign-on and a seamless learner experience.
- Using built-in data and tracking:
- Amatrol’s reporting tools allow instructors to monitor student progress and completion of formative assessments.
- Aligning with industry credentials:
- Passing SACA exams gives students immediate micro-credentials, adding value before completing the full certificate.
- Focusing faculty effort strategically:
- Faculty only develop new materials where gaps exist, significantly reducing development time.
- Bulding a scalable and sustainable model:
- Continued investment in Amatrol equipment and content supports program growth while maintaining consistency and quality.