Maximizing Competency Education and Blended Learning: Insights from Experts

In May 2014, CompetencyWorks brought together twenty-three technical assistance providers to examine their catalytic role in implementing next generation learning models, share each other's knowledge and expertise about blended learning and competency education, and discuss next steps to move the field forward with a focus on equity and quality. Our strategy maintains that by building the knowledge and networks of technical assistance providers, these groups can play an even more catalytic role in advancing the field. The objective of the convening was to help educate and level set the understanding of competency education and its design elements, as well as to build knowledge about using blended learning modalities within competency-based environments. This paper attempts to draw together the wide-ranging conversations from the convening to provide background knowledge for educators to understand what it will take to transform from traditional to personalized, competency-based systems that take full advantage of blended learning

Looking Under the Hood of Competency-Based Education: The Relationship Between Competency-Based Education Practices and Students' Learning Skills, Behaviors, and Dispositions

The Nellie Mae Education Foundation (Nellie Mae), in partnership with the American Institutes for Research (AIR), has recently released a comprehensive analysis of competency-based education (CBE), an instructional approach that emphasizes what students learn and master rather than time spent in a classroom. The study, titled "Looking Under the Hood of Competency-Based Education," examines the relationship between various competency-based practices and increased student learning capacity. Additionally, the study highlights the varying degrees of CBE practices in schools that have an existing reputation for implementation."Schools across the country are increasingly seeking ways to provide a competency-based education for students, yet many educators are not sure of where to begin or how they can implement this approach to learning," said Eve Goldberg, Director of Research at the Nellie Mae Education Foundation. "The framework developed by AIR of learning skills, behaviors, and dispositions and the findings on specific practices can help educators strengthen their practices and gives them the tools to continuously improve their practice. We hope educators interested in making this shift will benefit from this analysis.""Looking Under the Hood" analyzes a variety of competency-based practices to examine how schools implement CBE and determine how it relates to students' learning capacities. Some notable findings include:Learning in contexts outside the classroom (for example, internships) positively relates to increasing students' learning capacitiesThe option for students to learn at a comfortable pace (for example, extra time to finish a topic or unit and the opportunity to retake an exam or re-do a final project) has a positive association with self-efficacy and increasing students' motivation to learnThe option for students to receive both instruction and assessment in a variety of formats, including collaborative group projects, helped students' intrinsic motivationEstablishing clear learning targets was positively related to increasing students' learning capacitiesOverall, the study finds that many students' experiences with CBE-aligned practices were positively associated with changes in learning capacities in several areas, most notably in students' intrinsic motivation for classroom work."Competency-based education varies tremendously from school to school and even across classrooms, so it can be hard to determine if it is working," said Erin Haynes, Senior Researcher at the American Institutes for Research. "This study examined specific CBE-aligned practices, giving us a more finely-honed view of how such practices are related to students' capacity to learn. We hope this research will help inform future efforts to implement competency-based methods across districts, schools and classrooms.

The Learning Edge: Supporting Student Success in a Competency-Based Learning Environment

State by state, our country is revamping our education system to ensure that each and every one of our young people is college and career ready. Over two-thirds of our states have adopted policies that enable credits to be awarded based on proficiency in a subject, rather than the one-size-fits-all seat-time in a classroom. Now states such as Maine and New Hampshire are taking the next step in establishing competency based diplomas in which students are expected to demonstrate that they can apply their skills and knowledge. To ensure high-quality competency education, in 2011 one hundred innovators created a working definition to guide the field. This paper delves into the fourth element of the definition: Students receive timely, differentiated support based on their individual learning needs. Through a series of interviews and site visits, an understanding of how support in a competency-based school differs from traditional approaches emerged. Learning in a competency-based environment means pushing students and adults to the edge of their comfort zone and competence -- the learning edge. Common themes that were drawn from the wide variety of ways schools support students became the basis for the design principles introduced here. It is essential to pause and understand the importance of timely, differentiated support. Our commitment to prepare all of our young people for college and careers demands that we be intentional in designing schools to effectively meet the needs of students of all races, classes, and cultures. It also demands our vigilance in challenging inequity. There is a risk in competency education -- a risk that learning at one's own pace could become the new achievement gap and that learning anywhere/anytime could become the new opportunity gap. Therefore, our goal in writing this paper is to provide ideas and guidance so that innovators in competency education can put into place powerful systems of supports for students in order to eradicate, not replicate, the inequities and variability in quality and outcomes that exist in our current system. Please consider this paper as an initial exploration into what it means to provide support for the individual learning needs of students. It is designed to generate reflection, analysis, and feedback

Hire Education: Mastery, Modularization and the Workforce Revolution

This new research identifies online competency-based learning as the solution to shifting demands for specialized workforce skills and the front runner for disrupting higher education

Applying standard competency assessment in vocational teaching practices

Teaching in vocational education is focused on knowledge and skills. Psychomotor is an aspect that emphasized in teaching competency in vocational education. Teaching based on psychomotor is a way to provide students with the hands on skills. Teachers are the main character in the teaching session. Therefore, this paper explained the differences among teachers in teaching based Standard Competency Assessment with their expertise in particular field. Research used survey design involved 301 teachers from Vocational Colleges specifically teaching practical task in Technology Courses. The focused elements are experienced and qualification of expertise based on recognition by Malaysia Skill Certification. Result showed that there are differences in the application of the teaching methods between experienced and inexperienced instructors teaching at the workshop from the teaching and evaluation aspects. The skills certificates ownership by the instructors shows differences in the aspects of teaching methods compared to the teaching implementation. In summary, teachers or instructors who teaching in vocational courses need the basic requirement especially skills recognition to fulfill competency assessment

An International Study in Competency Education: Postcards from Abroad

Acknowledging that national borders need not constrain our thinking, we have examined a selection of alternative academic cultures and, in some cases, specific schools, in search of solutions to common challenges we face when we consider reorganizing American schools. A wide range of interviews and e-mail exchanges with international researchers, government officials and school principals has informed this research, which was supplemented with a literature review scanning international reports and journal articles. Providing a comprehensive global inventory of competency-based education is not within the scope of this study, but we are confident that this is a representative sampling. The report that follows first reviews the definition of competency-based learning. A brief lesson in the international vocabulary of competency education is followed by a review of global trends that complement our own efforts to improve performance and increase equitable outcomes. Next, we share an overview of competency education against a backdrop of global education trends (as seen in the international PISA exams), before embarking on an abbreviated world tour. We pause in Finland, British Columbia (Canada), New Zealand and Scotland, with interludes in Sweden, England, Singapore and Shanghai, all of which have embraced practices that can inform the further development of competency education in the United States

The Question of Competence: Reconsidering Medical Education in the Twenty-First Century

[Excerpt] The real challenge for those involved in designing competency-based educational programs is to recognize the complexity of competence as a concept. Only then can they effectively delineate the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that learners must acquire to be able to perform within each domain at a predetermined level and to recognize that the expected level of performance within each domain will vary depending on the learner\u27s stage of education and the specialty he or she is learning. The authors of this book help us do just that. They examine the challenges facing medical education and introduce the concept of discourse as a mechanism both for examining the idea of competence and considering how to implement competency-based education. In so doing, they provide us with a new way to ask the questions that are at the heart of every report advocating change, every criticism of medical education, and every conversation that questions why health care is the way it is today

Developing the knowledge-based human resources that support the implementation of the National Dual Training System (NDTS): evaluation of TVET teacher's competency at MARA Training Institutions

Development in the world of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) on an ongoing basis is a challenge to the profession of the TVET-teachers to maintain their performance. The ability of teachers to identify the competencies required by their profession is very critical to enable them to make improvements in teaching and learning. For a broader perspective the competency needs of the labour market have to be matched by those developed within the vocational learning processes. Consequently, this study has focused on developing and validating the new empirical based TVET-teacher competency profile and evaluating teacher’s competency. This study combines both quantitative and qualitative research methodology that was designed to answer all the research questions. The new empirical based competency profile development and TVET-teacher evaluation was based upon an instructional design model. In addition, a modified Delphi technique has also been adopted throughout the process. Initially, 98 elements of competencies were listed by expert panel and rated by TVET institutions as important. Then, analysis using manual and statistical procedure found that 112 elements of competencies have emerged from seventeen (17) clusters of competencies. Prior to that, using the preliminary TVET-teacher competency profile, the level of TVETteacher competencies was found to be Proficient and the finding of 112 elements of competencies with 17 clusters was finally used to develop the new empirical based competency profile for MARA TVET-teacher. Mean score analysis of teacher competencies found that there were gaps in teacher competencies between MARA institutions (IKM) and other TVET institutions, where MARA-teacher was significantly better than other TVET teacher. ANOVA and t-test analysis showed that there were significant differences between teacher competencies among all TVET institutions in Malaysia. On the other hand, the study showed that teacher’s age, grade and year of experience are not significant predictors for TVET-teacher competency. In the context of mastering the competency, the study also found that three competencies are classified as most difficult or challenging, twelve competencies are classified as should be improved, and eight competencies are classified as needed to be trained. Lastly, to make NDTS implementation a reality for MARA the new empirical based competency profile and the framework for career development and training pathway were established. This Framework would serve as a significant tool to develop the knowledge based human resources needed. This will ensure that TVET-teachers at MARA are trained to be knowledgeable, competent, and professional and become a pedagogical leader on an ongoing basis towards a world class TVET-education system

Competency Based Learning in Hospitality Education and Its Impact on Future Leadership Skills

In the past five years, hospitality educational programs have seen a distinct decline in enrollment from year to year (Oakley, 2016). Upon reflection of this decline, there could be many reasons, which caused a consecutive downward trajectory regarding enrollment. First, individuals are finding that a formal degree is not required for entry-level positions in the hospitality industry. Second, people are utilizing technology and videos to substitute for formal education and are finding success in the entry-level hiring process. Third, this generation does not see the value in formal education for entry-level employment. True as that might be, trends have shown that these individuals forego formal education completely and immediately enter into the workforce (Hersh, 2015). However, these individuals work for a short period of time and discover that promotion is not attainable since they lack the proper skill-set essential for leadership roles. Brownell and Chung (2001) argued that hospitality curriculum may not be offering the right knowledge and skills to individuals seeking future work and that a change must be made in higher education to address the issue. Perhaps the notion is that individuals need more than technical skills in order to succeed in their careers. If this statement is true, then putting forth changes to the curriculum in order to fill gaps in education is the first step to accomplishment. This paper examines whether competency based learning (CBL) in higher education is predictive of leadership outcomes in the hospitality industry. Within the higher education framework, competency based learning focuses on theory supported skill development and the application of concepts in scenario-based and problem-based assessments. More importantly, competency based learning emphasizes student advancement via demonstrated mastery of competencies that are specific, measureable and are learning objectives that empower students. In addition, the student learning outcomes stress competencies that include application and creation of knowledge along with the development of important skills and dispositions. Finally, CBL allows students to learn skills vital to leadership success in the hospitality industry

IDENTIFIKASI KESULITAN PELAKSANAAN KURIKULUM BERBASIS KOMPETENSI MATA PELAJARAN PENDIDIKAN JASMANI DI SMA SE-KABUPATEN SLEMAN

This research is aimed at identifying the difficulties in the application of competency-based curriculum of the physical education subject in SMAs in Sleman Regency. This research used the survey method with questionnaires as the data collecting technique. The samples were 20 physical education teachers of SMAs in Sleman Regency. The instrument was in the form of questionnaires on the legibility administered to the curriculum experts. The data were analyzed using the statistic descriptive technique using percentage. Then, the results of the analysis were consulted with percentage reference table by Suhari Arikunto. The results of this research show that 1) there were no difficulties in the application of objective factors in competency-based curriculum of the physical education subject demonstrated by the percentage of 87.50% which was categorized as Good, 2) there were no difficulties in the application of learning material factors in competency-based curriculum of the physical education subject demonstrated by the percentage of 86.25% which was categorized as Good, 3) there were no difficulties in the application of time management factors in competency-based curriculum of the physical education subject demonstrated by the percentage of 81.25% which was categorized as Good, 4) there were no difficulties in the application of evaluation factors in competency-based curriculum of the physical education subject demonstrated by the percentage of 82.50% which was categorized as Good, 5) there were no difficulties in the application of instruction guidance factors in competency-based curriculum of the physical education subject demonstrated by the percentage of 97.25% which was categorized as Good, 6) there were no difficulties in the application of all factors in competency-based curriculum of the physical education subject demonstrated by the percentage of 90.25% which was categorized as Good. Keywords: identifying, competency-based curriculum, physical educatio