The chief arguments against mandatory continuing education for professionals (MCE) are as follows: it violates adult learning principles, MCE is punitive to those who participate voluntarily; evidence that it results in improved practice is lacking; programs are not consistently and uniformly available; and professionals should be accountable for…

Canadian Safeguards Support Program established performance-based training for International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors. The approach is based on actual tasks performed on the job, the most efficient and effective means of achieving the highest performance in situations with complex training requirements. (SK)

This document, which is part of a series of training materials explaining the benefits and use of performance-focused learning, examines the goal-based learning approach to education and training as a means of accelerating performance change. Each page of the document consists of a graphic and bulleted list of information pertaining to one of the…

This workbook explains the process of using the goal-based learning (GBL) approach to accelerating performance change to design an education or training program. The first half of the workbook, which focuses on the nature and benefits of GBL, discusses the following topics: shifting the focus of education; differences between lecture-based and…

A major initiative in Australia is a general and pervasive obsession with competency-based training and assessment. There is a real danger that the selling of competency-based training (CBT) and competency-based assessment (CBA) is greater than what it can offer. One criticism focuses on CBT, the other on CBA, although in most instances where CBT…

This workbook explains the principles and benefits of the integrative learning model and outlines a systems approach to developing an integrated learning-based education/training program. First, the integrative learning model is discussed in the contexts of the shift from teaching-focused to learning focused education and client-based environments…

This publication introduces an assessment instrument to help programs implement management competencies. It discusses development of management competencies and describes the Management Competencies Assessment Instrument (MCAI) designed to help managers verify and validate their competencies and use the information for planning professional…

This publication identifies a set of recognized skills and knowledge areas possessed by effective professional development (PD) coordinators. It is designed to enable PD staff and their supervisors to think reflectively about their PD system, to identify how the system builds on the strengths of the coordinator and the PD staff, to identify where…

This book, which focuses on actual practitioners' experiences, outlines a systematic approach to improving individual workers' performance as part of an overall strategy for organizational change. Frameworks are provided for conceptualizing and implementing exemplary training practices. In addition, steps in achieving the practices and pitfalls to…

The implementation of competency-based assessment (CBA) under Australia's National Training Framework was evaluated to provide indicators for improvement in CBA policy and practice. The evaluation included three data collection activities: a survey of 258 teachers, trainers, and assessors (response rate, 43%); a survey of 68 Industry Training…

This document contains three papers from a symposium titled "Competence: Fuzzy Concepts to Context.""Sales Superstars: Defining Competencies Needed for Sales Performance" (Darlene Russ-Eft, Edward Del Gaizo, Jeannie Moulton, Ruth Pangilinan) discusses a study in which an analysis of 1,688 critical incidents revealed 16…

This document examines the origins and content of Ohio's Automobile Technician Training Certification Program, which is designed to improve the quality of training offered at secondary and postsecondary schools throughout Ohio. The document begins with a brief overview of the certification program, which is under the oversight of the Board of the…

Foremost among efforts over the last decade to improve the work-related skills required of all young people to meet the demands of American's workplaces was the Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills Commission (SCANS). Integral to SCANS were its three-part foundation (basic skills, thinking skills, and personal qualities) and these…

This book examines the rhetoric surrounding the notion of informal learning in order to expand debate about the uses of informal learning in workplaces and about attempts to "recognize" it through competency-based standards. The following topics are among those discussed in the book's eight chapters: (1) the nature of informal learning…