Non-traditional Learning

New Platform Melds Course Content With College Credit Exam

• By Rhea Kelly
• 04/27/17

The Center for Educational Measurement at Excelsior College and Cengage have come up with a new way for adult learners to earn college credit. The institution and ed tech provider partnered to launch CourXam (pronounced korzam), a personalized mobile platform that combines course content with a college credit exam.

"CourXam ... is an innovative educational product developed by Excelsior College and Cengage that addresses the critical concerns of today's higher education students: portability, convenience and affordability," explained Nurit Sonnenschein, general manager of Excelsior's Center for Educational Measurement, in a statement.  "A CourXam is a college option where a student can learn when they want and how they want — on their laptop, their tablet and even their phone." 

The product is launching with five CourXams focused on criminal justice, with MBA CourXams planned for 2018. Each criminal justice CourXam costs $450, which includes learning materials, an e-book, a full-length practice exam and the college credit exam. All learning materials — lessons, activities, readings, videos and graphics — are "built to the exacting specifications of a team of criminal justice professors from several colleges, including Excelsior College," according to a news release. Students have up to six months to complete the CourXam; those who earn a grade of C or better on the college credit exam get three credits that can be used toward earning a degree in criminal justice at Excelsior College.

Features of the platform include:

• A "Learning Path" that welcomes and guides students through each CourXam;
• "Show What You Know" quizzes that help students focus only on material they need to learn;
• Pacing guides to help students make the most of their time;
• "Check Your Knowledge" quizzes for showing which learning objectives need further study;
• "Dig In!" sections that provide a deeper dive into each lesson's content;
• Module quizzes for assessing mastery of all lessons in module; and
• Proctoring options that allow students to choose their own proctoring solution (for an additional fee, paid directly to the proctor company).

For more information, visit the CourXam site.