Full Description
Intended as a toolkit for academic administrators, faculty andresearchers to deal effectively with the rapid emergence ofcompetency-based learning models across higher education, thisvolume provides practical advice and proven techniques forimplementing and evaluating these models. Drawing from a recentNational Postsecondary Education Cooperative project that examineddata and policy implications across public and private institutionsas well as an industrial setting, readers will find an inventory ofstrong practices to utilize in evaluating competency-basedinitiatives. Issues discussed include practical concerns ofmeasuring and reporting competency; the critical connectionsbetween the skills employers seek and student preparation for them;the connections between distance education, accrediation, andcompetencies; and the difficult procedure of setting appropriatepassing standards for assessments. With a bibliography oncompetency literature and a framework for creating competencymodels, this volume is an invaluable tool to researchers andpractitioners alike.This is the 110th issue of the Jossey-Bass series NewDirections for Institutional Research.
Contents
EDITOR'S NOTES (Richard A. Voorhees).1. Competency-Based Learning Models: A Necessary Future (RichardA. Voorhees).This chapter provides an overview of the movement towardcompetency-based learning models. It is this new paradigm that willultimately redefine the roles of faculty, institutions, andaccreditors.2. Working in Partnership with Faculty to TransformUndergraduate Curricula (Elizabeth A. Jones).Specific issues involved in defining and embedding competenciesacross courses and other learning experiences in order to enhancestudent performance are examined. Strategies are offered forfaculty and institutional researchers who want to work together toimprove student learning.3. Measuring and Reporting Competencies (Trudy H. Bers).Measuring and reporting competencies requires the implementation ofnew and innovative processes that often conflict with existingsystems of measuring and reporting learning outcomes. Examining theways that some institutions have addressed these issues can be auseful starting point for educators as they begin planningcompetency-based programs.4. Using Competencies to Connect the Workplace and PostsecondaryEducation (Karen Paulson).To maintain viability, postsecondary institutions must preparetheir graduates to enter today's performance-driven labor market.This chapter examines the use of competencies in business andsummarizes skill and competency resources that institutions can useto ready their students for successful entry into theworkforce.5. Standard Setting (T. Dary Erwin, Steven L. Wise).Higher education assessment is moving steadily toward increasedaccountability. Assessment practitioners, institutionalresearchers, and faculty must be able to set defensible standardsby using systematically followed procedures. This chapter discussestwo methods that practitioners can use to set standards.6. Competencies, Regional Accreditation, and Distance Education:An Evolving Role? (Dawn Geronimo Terkla).This chapter provides an overview of the link between competenciesand current accreditation standards and examines the influence ofdistance education on the accreditation landscape. Techniques aresuggested that institutional researchers can use to position theirinstitutions advantageously in the contemporary accreditationprocess.7. Creating and Implementing Competency-Based Learning Models(Alice Bedard Voorhees).Institutional researchers can take the lead in addressing thepublic and workplace call for greater institutional accountabilityby educating their colleagues about the possibilities inherent incompetency-based learning models and by assisting with theevaluative efforts to implement these models.8. An Annotated Bibliography on Competencies (KarenPaulson).This chapter surveys the published literature and Internet-basedresources on competencies. It provides a valuable touchstone forfurther research in this area.INDEX.
