Empowered Learning™
Take Control of Your Learning
Empowered Learning™ at Rasmussen University puts you in the driver’s seat for your online Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral courses. That means you use your professional and life experience to demonstrate some skills faster, and slow down to work with new material. Empowered Learning™ prepares you for the future by ensuring you master each skill needed to flourish in the workplace.
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"It really focuses on doing rather than knowing. Our assessment philosophy is, ‘Prove you can do it,’ because that’s really what competency means."
Adam S.
Rasmussen University Faculty Innovation Manager
What’s Great About Empowered Learning™?
With Empowered Learning™, you show what you know—at your pace—and stay connected with faculty and peers throughout the course.
Sometimes, the key to progress in your education is giving you control over how you learn.
And that’s where Empowered Learning™ comes in.
In this innovative online learning platform, you learn by doing.
Instead of tests and papers, you create real projects and gain skills you can put to work right away.
You get multiple tries for each project,
To prove that you know what you’re doing—just like real life.
Manage your pace to fit your life,
Because life happens.
Have a busy work week? Or, need more time on a new skill?
With Empowered Learning, you control how fast or slow you go.
You also learn in a supportive community.
Meet one-on-one with your instructor and have group discussions with your classmates.
You’re in this together with your Rasmussen University team.
And we’re here to support you every step of the way.
Giving you the green light with Empowered Learning.
What Do Empowered Learning™ Courses Look Like?
Each course requires you to complete six projects—aligned with specific employer-approved skills—and a seventh final project that combines everything you’ve learned. You’ll use these course projects to create a portfolio that shows what you can do.
You’re not limited to a desk with Empowered Learning. Get an inside look at our innovative platform.
Empowered Learning™ is an efficient way for you to take online courses.
You’ll manage your pace as you create projects for the real world and collaborate with faculty and peers.
This way of learning is often called “competency-based education.” It differs from traditional and online courses, in that you prove what you can do, not just what you know.
When you first log-in to the dashboard, you’ll see your courses.
When you click on your course, you’ll find a “Getting Started” folder and a “Learning Plan.”
Before you dive into your coursework, you’ll define goals and lay out how you will achieve them. This is called your “Learning Plan.”
Once you submit the learning plan, your course modules will open and you can begin the course.
In the “Course Project” folder, you’ll find everything that is due for the course, called “deliverables,” so you’ll know what to expect from the start.
Think of these deliverables as “mini projects.”
To complete the course, you must successfully complete each course project. This gives you the opportunity to demonstrate your growing knowledge. Each project reflects something you would do as a professional in the field.
You'll also see that courses are organized into a series of "Modules," with each Module dedicated to a specific “Competency.”
A "Competency" is a specific skill or knowledge area that is essential not just for completing your degree, but also for achieving success in the workplace.
Students like how Empowered Learning courses at Rasmussen University allow them to apply each competency to a real-world scenario.
You’re not only completing the course projects, but you’re also building on your previous experience and adding your new knowledge of the material.
If there is an area you're already familiar with because of your prior work or life experience, start that part of the project right away. If it's new to you, take your time to explore interactive content, media and other resources.
Remember: You can work ahead. There are no weekly deadlines—and you don’t have to do the projects in order.
You’ll submit small projects for each competency, plus one final project that brings it all together. This shows that you know how to connect the dots—which employers truly value.
As you work on each deliverable, you have complete visibility into the grading criteria that faculty will use to grade your work—called “rubrics.”
Avoid surprises by looking over each rubric before starting your work to know how mastery is defined. Always ask your faculty member for clarification if you have questions.
And remember: You always have the option to submit each assignment more than once after seeing the feedback.
Each module is built to allow you to assess, learn and practice the content before you prove your mastery of the competency, or skill area, through the course project.
Under “Multimedia Content,” you can watch short videos with subject matter experts guiding you through the content and demonstrating how these skills work in the professional world.
You'll find “Knowledge Checks” throughout each course. These are ungraded assessments that help you gauge your understanding of the material.
You’ll also find a variety of course readings, as well as interactive games and activities, to help you explore real-world scenarios.
You can interact with all these content pieces before your assessment. And you’re free to use them as much—or as little—as you want.
An important part of Empowered Learning is to know you're not on your own.
For at least one hour per week, you can meet online with your faculty, and classmates who are also working on that specific competency.
You're encouraged to discuss the big questions and participate, as these live sessions can greatly enrich your learning.
If you need tech support along the way, our Personal Support Center is available 24/7.
And, your faculty are available to answer your course-related questions.
Once you experience this competency-based learning style, you’ll see how beneficial it is to learn by doing ... manage your own pace ... and learn in community.
Thank you for taking a look at the advantages of Empowered Learning at Rasmussen University!
Empowered Learning™ Course Example
Each project below is aligned with a specific skill or knowledge area, also known as a “competency,” that is essential to your degree and career. The entire course is built around one real-world scenario, and builds from one project to the next. In an actual project, you would have a detailed grading guideline called a “rubric” for each project.
Course Name: Leadership and Teams
Scenario: As a leader, you’ve been tasked with building a new team.
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1. Roles and Behaviors of Teams
Competency
Evaluate the roles and behaviors of teams in organizational settings.
Deliverable
Provide a two-page report outlining what habits and responsibilities make for a successful team.
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2. Team Performance and Productivity
Competency
Examine variables, conditions and concepts that influence team performance productivity.
Deliverable
Provide a table of recommendations and methods to improve the productivity of the team in your scenario.
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3. Rewarding and Compensating Teams
Competency
Evaluate methods and systems for rewarding and compensating teams.
Deliverable
Provide a two-page report summarizing how teams within your scenario are compensated, and the reasons for this compensation model.
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4. Building an Effective Team
Competency
Analyze the interpersonal process and structural characteristics that influence team effectiveness.
Deliverable
Create a presentation on what to consider when building your scenario team: internal and external dynamics, diversity, coaching, leadership and more.
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5. Effective Team Communication
Competency
Examine team member communication, collaboration and strategies for developing team intelligence.
Deliverable
Provide a one-page report on your scenario team’s communication challenges and strategies to resolve conflict.
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6. Leading a High-Performing Team
Competency
Analyze leadership roles, techniques and challenges in leading teams.
Deliverable
Provide a one-page report on what makes for an effective leader and the best strategy to lead your scenario team.
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7. FINAL PROJECT: Leading an Effective Team
Competency
Combine everything you have learned in the six projects above.
Deliverable
Create a presentation for your scenario organization for a new performance evaluation system, including best practices, challenges and solutions.
“The flexibility was very essential to being able to fit in personal life, while also working full time, 40 hours a week. I would not have been able to earn this degree if it weren’t for Empowered Learning.”
Alicia D.
Graduate, Master of Human Resources Management, and Rasmussen University Staff Member
Empowered Learning™ Programs
We’re not new to this innovative approach. As a founding member of C-BEN (Competency-Based Education Network), Rasmussen University is a national leader in the field.
See which of our Bachelor's, Master's and Doctoral programs are 100% Empowered Learning™:
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Bachelor's Degree Programs
Business
Design
Education
Health Sciences
Nursing
- Master's Degree Programs
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Doctoral Degree Programs
Nursing
Take the Next Step—Talk to Us!
What is Competency-Based Education?
Empowered Learning™ is our term for competency-based education (CBE). See the answers to other common questions students have about this innovative learning approach and why it’s gaining popularity.
Read more
“Empowered Learning™ taught me how to manage my time. It made me more comfortable to create things on my own. It makes you realize everyone should be doing this. It’s a no-brainer.”
Jorge B.
Accounting Bachelor’s Degree Graduate