For decades, BYU Continuing Education has produced high-quality online courses, but the marketing and academic product development teams are constantly looking for ways to improve. In recent years, BYU CE has created a new standard for BYU Online High School and BYU Independent Study high school courses known as Knowledge, Skills, and Attributes (KSA).
Years ago, former high school product manager John Bushman began asking how the online learning experience offered by BYU CE products could be improved. In pursuit of answers, he spent significant time meeting with current and potential customers, gathering feedback to help define a new direction for the product. Collaborating with BYU CE high school instructional designers, they closely analyzed the Utah State Board of Education’s “Portrait of a Graduate,” which outlines the key skills and abilities students should develop by the time they graduate from high school.
“Every course contains knowledge,” explains BYU CE Associate Director of Instructional Design Sherry Cowen. “But we got to thinking, what is something else that students, families, and administrators might also find valuable?” Thus, the idea for KSA courses was born.
The KSA format seamlessly integrates the development of skills and the cultivation of attributes with the acquisition of knowledge, thereby providing a more holistic approach to high school education. KSA courses offer the opportunity to develop twenty-three different skills from four categories: collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking. Additionally, each course embodies and assists students in developing one of nine attributes, including diligence, integrity, respect, and responsibility.
Sherry Cowen explains the process of assimilating skills and attributes into the already existing course material: “For each of our courses, we look at the content and identify to which skill it lends itself naturally.” For example, in a world geography course, students are tasked with researching and presenting on a specific country. In doing so, they master the skill of delivering presentations (under the category of communication).
Attributes are incorporated in a similar manner. In the case of world geography, students will develop the attribute of respect as they learn about diverse foreign cultures and perspectives. Throughout the course, students complete activities such as defining respect, looking at positive and negative examples, and completing personal reflections, including creating goals to become more respectful individuals.
The combination of knowledge, skills, and attributes in each course requires that students do more than just memorize information to pass an exam. Instead, KSA courses facilitate the personal growth and development of each student.
To track a student’s progress in developing these skills, the KSA courses utilize an electronic badge system. “If a student achieves a certain grade, they can claim that electronic badge,” Cowen elaborated. These badges can be used on resumes and college applications as proof of proficiency in important twenty-first-century skills.
In developing the KSA course format, BYU CE was grateful for the help of the Juab County School District. After analyzing the Utah State Board of Education’s “Portrait of a Graduate,” BYU CE identified Juab County School District as a provider that was excelling in the implementation of these standards. “We went and talked with their teachers and administrators to see how they were doing it,” Cowen recounted. “They were great partners.”
Another organization that offered help along this journey was The Good Project, a research initiative from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education that aims to prepare students to become good workers and good citizens who contribute to the well-being of society. “We would meet with them once a month as designers and learn about how they were inserting good values into the classroom,” Cowen stated.
With help from these organizations and lots of work from BYU CE’s team of instructional designers, KSA courses have turned out to be a massive success. Already, all core subject courses have been modified to adhere to the KSA standard, and many elective courses have been developed to meet KSA criteria or are in the process of being updated.
The KSA curriculum is blazing trails in the field of online learning. Time will tell the impact that this comprehensive take on education has on students’ educational and professional success.