Interviews with 45 key informants involved in development of Britain's National Vocational Qualifications attributed failure to achieve better implementation to institutional constraints: political imperative to manage high youth unemployment, inadequate accountability and supervision, lack of mechanisms to compel implementation, and weakness of…

As part of the development of a scoring algorithm for a simulation-based dental hygiene initial licensure examination, this effort conducted a task analysis of the dental hygiene domain. Broad classes of behaviors that distinguish along the dental hygiene expert-novice continuum were identified and applied to the design of nine paper-based cases…

The continuing disparity between employer expectations and graduates' skills may be attributed to the language used in competency-based education. "Generic skills" may have several interpretations, and their transfer to the workplace is not automatic. Cultural differences between education and work also influence transfer. (SK)

Observations of two learning groups of young women studying office administration identified one group as middle-class Anglo-Celtic, the other as working class, varied ethnic groups. They had different cultural assumptions about the teacher's role in assisting student learning; one group recognized their own lack of familiarity with group work.…

Case vignettes of competency-based training's links with industry depict four cultures of practice emphasizing technique, enterprise, craft, or critique. Multiple concepts of competence and multiple cultures of competence development interact and create tensions that are brokered more or less successfully by vocational education practitioners. (SK)

Reports that in 1999 the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) established a task force to develop competency standards for higher education. Paying particular attention to learners of all levels, adaptable standards were developed that directors of learning resources centers can adopt as part of their institutions' strategic…

Defines critical academic skills that should be the hallmark of Kansas community college graduates, in anticipation of a legislative mandate for a common accountability measurement system. Presents five key critical competencies: oral and written communication skills, interpersonal and team skills, critical thinking and complex problem-solving…

This article identifies competencies needed by paraprofessionals working in early childhood special education including ways to document various mastery levels. It describes use of the competencies in Oregon's early childhood special education personnel development program. It explains the process used to identify needed competencies and also…

Presents a two-phase instructional design model that focuses on optimizing step size in whole-task approaches to learning complex, mainly non-recurrent, cognitive skills. Step size in a multiple-step whole-task approach-needed for the process worksheets-is determined on the basis of estimated part-task complexity. A developmental study of the…

Interviews with 195 Australian training managers found that competency-based training is effective for workplace-relevant learning, organizational development, and standardization. However, it marginalizes cultural, conceptual, and tacit knowledge. Although it achieves some stakeholders' objectives, it privileges certain enterprises, workers, and…

Engineering curricula are increasingly focused on developing student competencies. Many new competencies needed by engineers today are professional skills (sometimes called the "soft skills"). Among the new competencies for engineering graduates is global competence, the ability to work knowledgeably and live comfortably in a…

This publication is part of a series of self-instructional teacher training manuals designed to assist vocational-technical educators or industrial trainers to develop and implement competency-based vocational education (CBVE) programs. The purpose stated for this manual is for the instructor to learn to construct performance and written…

This self-instructional, self-paced module is the fourth of five in a series, Competency Based Education Inservice for Part Time Community College Occupational Education Teachers. (See note for other modules.) Its purpose is to enable teachers to select and evaluate learning activities and to implement them in the classroom using suitable…

This unit of the Flexible Learning System (FLS), designed for teachers of children aged 4-8, introduces the concept of psychological integration and its application to language curriculum in early childhood education. Techniques for helping children use and extend their personal experiences in language arts activities are described, and the use of…

Reports results of a survey of industrial teacher education departments in colleges and universities to ascertain the number involved in competency-based teacher education and the extent of their involvement. Responses indicate that the majority of the departments are preparing teachers to develop and conduct competency-based education programs.…