Implementing Competency-based

Education
2017 CELT Vol X
celt.uwindsor.ca
www.stlhe.ca

Lynn Curry, CurryCorp, Inc.

Marcia Docherty, Camosun College DOI: 10.22329/celt.v10i0.4716

The rapid and widespread adoption of competency-based education (CBE) has brought into sharp
focus long-standing tensions built into education systems, particularly for graduate and professional
schools. We all share the desire to produce graduates equipped to respond capably in a rapidly
changing world. However, many of us struggle with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes required to
identify, articulate, deliver, document, assess, assure, and adjust those necessary competencies across
learning engagements, work-study experiences, and into work careers. CBE forces us to alter familiar
pedagogical beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours. The purpose of this essay is to assist faculty, students,
administrators, regulators, and employers in considering the strengths and limitations of competence-
based education (CBE). We also introduce a range of mitigating strategies to address CBE
shortcomings.

E veryone involved in any educational enterprise

shares the desire that graduates be equipped to
respond capably in a rapidly changing world.
The purpose of this essay is to orient
participants—be these, faculty, students,
administrators, regulators, and employers—around
Competency-based (or outcomes-based) education critical concepts required to operationalize
(CBE) is an educational model organized to realize competency-based approaches in their spheres of
these aims by beginning with definitions of desired responsibility and, equally important, to mitigate
endpoints. This approach has a 100-year CBE limitations. We make no argument for or
developmental history beginning in the workplace against CBE approaches; there are after all many ways
efficiency movement (Tayler, 1911) and moving to to produce capable graduates. We focus on the
education by the 1940’s (Tyler, 1949). Interest waxed practicalities of making CBE work. The essay will not
and waned cyclically over ensuing years with CBE dwell on historical development or conceptual
currently enjoying global support at all educational evolution. These are worthy topics and have been
levels from government and policy organizations such addressed in the available literature. Furthermore,
as the US Department of Education (US Department throughout this essay we purposefully conflate
of Education, n.d.), the Conference Board of Canada outcomes-based and competency-based education.
(2009), and the Organisation for Economic Co- These educational models differ in details but share a
operation and Development (Tremblay, Lalancette, central tenet that the content of the educational
Roseveare, 2012). Although there is a large published experience should be derived from pre-specified exit
literature describing CBE, there is not much evidence expectations. Referring to these endpoint
of improved learning effectiveness (Carraccio, expectations as “outcomes” is more common within
Wolfsthal, Englander, Ferentz, & Martin, 2002; general and foundational educational levels whereas
Malone & Supri, 2012; Morcke, Dornan, & Eika, technical and professional schools have a social
2013), and even less about implementing CBE contract to define and provide relevant
successfully. “competencies” related to adequate professional
performance. There is extensive literature on both
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outcomes-based and competency-based models, and

on their subtle differences (Albanese, Mejicano,
CBE: Historical development
Mullan, Kokotailo, & Gruppen, 2008).
CBE has its origins in Taylor’s (1911) behaviour
Our focus in this essay is the gap between
focused approach to performance improvement in
intention to orient curricula towards desired
the workplace. At the same time, educational
endpoint expectations and making that happen in real
movements for social efficiency and essentialism were
time. We address participants seeking an approach to
calling for educational practices that were efficient,
identify, articulate, deliver, document, assess, assure,
effective, and standardized (Schilling & Koetting,
and adjust necessary competencies across prior
2010). Principles from Taylor’s scientific
learning, alternative learning engagements, work-
management were applied to compartmentalize,
study experiences, and into work careers.
sequence, and streamline classroom learning;
An essay is not a workbook. We present no
competency standards were applied to students, and
detailed operational plans or specific solution steps.
teacher preparation focused on efficient instructional
That level of detail is ultimately not helpful because
delivery relevant to those competency standards
specific contexts, constraints, and opportunities play
(Schilling & Koetting, 2010; Tuxworth, 1994). By
a large role at the level of local innovation and
the late 1960s, the US Office of Education formalized
implementation. Our intention is to outline the
the competency-based approach as a direct measure
minimum conceptual set and provide generalized
of student learning (Tuxworth, 1994).
guidance on practical approaches in each of the
By the early 1970’s similar expectations had
critical areas. Illustrations will be primarily drawn
migrated to higher education. McClelland (1973)
from higher and professions education only because
argued that higher education must move beyond
the need for effective CBE operationalization in these
institutional reputation as an indicator of graduate
settings is presently accentuated due to accreditation
competence towards a competency-based approach
mandates and frank competition for student dollars.
reflective of workplace needs. This movement is still
in place today as supported by organizations such as
the Council for Aid to Education (Council for Aid to
CBE: What is It? Education, n.d.) and the Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development (Tremblay et al.,
Educational structures characterized as competency- 2012) that, respectively, set national and
or outcome-based can be identified by various international standards for higher education
manifestations of functioning end points: educational outcomes.
objectives, outcomes statements, competency While CBE has been used to varying degrees
frameworks, task analyses, employability skills lists, in professional, trade, and military training for
performance and grading checklists. What is decades, the medical discipline has recently espoused
common across these tactics is the focus on endpoint CBE at an international level. Heralded as a paradigm
behavioural competence and therefore on assessing shift towards safer and higher quality healthcare
direct indications of attained competence throughout (Carraccio et al., 2002; Long, 2000), CBE is now a
the educational experience. This focus contrasts with requirement for graduate medical program
the still common assumption that competence is accreditation in North America (Accreditation
related to time in courses or service. Similarly, the Council for Graduate Medical Education [ACGME],
CBE approach removes the emphasis on institutional 2016). The medical field defines CBE as:
reputation as a proxy for graduate quality. In CBE an approach to preparing physicians for
both assumptions are replaced with documentation of practice that is fundamentally oriented to
classroom, simulation, and work execution indicators graduate outcome abilities and organized
chosen to reflect demands of the next placement or around competencies derived from an
workplace performance.
analysis of societal and patient needs. It de-
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emphasizes time-based training and promises CBE and achieving functional applications, let alone
greater accountability, flexibility, and realizing desired results.
learner-centredness (Frank et al., 2010, p.
636).
Conceptual Limitations of CBE
Expectations for CBE CBE limitations are not widely acknowledged nor
their ramifications understood. Based as it is in
Authors and agencies endorsing CBE have high behaviourism, CBE measures only observable results,
expectations of efficacy. Real-world relevance, ignoring the complex connections across thought,
marketability, increased mobility, and intrinsic performance, and context. CBE assumes that all
motivation for students, graduates, and faculty competencies can be reduced to statements of
development have all been indicated as objectives for observed performance (Lum, 1999; Morcke et al.,
reorganizing educational structures to follow the CBE 2013), that there is a single, preferred pathway to
model. Collaboration across and within different competency attainment (Delaney, Carslon-Sabelli,
types, contexts, and venues for education should also Shephard, & Ridge, 2011), and that observers or
be easier to initiate and support under CBE raters are always objective (Govaerts, van der Vleuten,
structures. Properly organized, CBE could provide a Schuwirth, & Muijtjens, 2007). It is further assumed
basis for flexible, authentic, learning and assessment that correct performance is a result of correct
activities while de-emphasizing time- and situation- thought/knowledge and will unfailingly produce
based proxies for learning. desired results in all situations. Humanistic
These aspirations are rarely achieved in competencies such as accountability, altruism,
practice for a range of reasons: the measurement of curiosity, empathy, and innovation are not easily
competence is not well understood (Blömeke, reduced to functional indicators as required by CBE
Zlatkin-Troitshcanskaia, Kuhn, & Fege, 2013); (Hodges, 2010). Competencies are stated in terms of
questionable competence identification validity minimally acceptable performance, which promotes
(Shippmann et al., 2000); definitional weakness in settling for “good enough” in direct contradiction to
affective domains (Fish & de Cossart, 2006; Taylor, professional expectations of excellence (Talbot,
Irvine, Bradbury-Jones, & McKenna, 2010); lack of 2004).
faculty training (Calhoun, Wrobel, & Finnegan, CBE rationales (Cooke, Irby, & O’Brien,
2011); and lack of institutional flexibility and 2010) tend to ignore the realities of teaching and
accommodation (Iobst et al., 2010). Furthermore, learning in favor of accountability and assessment. In
many critics complain that the granularity of CBE increasing competitive educational settings, methods
entirely misses the complex selection and that provide accountability for resources used, and
coordination of competencies required for proficient outputs obtained, are appealing in their potential to
practice in real-world situations (Fish & de Cossart, reduce costs and training time. This improved output
2006; Talbot, 2004). Recent reviews (Touchie & ten function (specified outcomes; cheaper throughput) is
Cate, 2016; Morcke et al., 2013) suggest that for achieved through standardization, which does not fit
many CBE programs and participants there is still a well with the known reality of widely variable
significant gulf between embracing the concept of learners, teachers, and application settings.

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Educational Design, Teaching, full involvement of stakeholders. This process can

involve a handful of individuals or a nation-wide
and Learning with CBE community of practice. Outcome definition is a
foundational activity that not only informs
The defining strength of CBE is the attention to downstream teaching, learning, and assessment but
outcome competencies. From those product also details the specifics of program or course outputs
competencies, a full range of supporting learning (competencies of graduates) thus establishing the
goals must be articulated, ordered, and located within reputation of the courses, programs, and institutions
educational programs, individual courses, and involved.
sequences of learning experience. When learning Pragmatic sub-outcomes, transition goals,
goals and outcomes are clear and well organized, a and stage objectives must then be developed that will
conceptual scaffold is created for the work of teachers flexibly support learners reaching the endpoint goals.
and learners (Morcke et al., 2013; Spady, 1994). Such Program design techniques should be chosen that suit
goal-orientation can be used as a rubric to sort, the situation at hand and that match the development
understand and modify how each course or of goals, outcomes, and objectives appropriate to the
experience connects to a larger program of study, learners, the school setting, the expectations for the
personalized learning needs, and requirements of the next learner placement, and eventually the target
next placement or eventual workplace. This workplace market. This process should be supported
connection clarity allows educational program by curriculum designers and educational developers
evaluation to examine all the supporting structures of who can break down the competencies into their
curricula, teaching, learning activity, assessment, and learning components (Brown, 1994).
feedback to confirm alignment to desired goals and CBE has its roots in methods for critically
outcomes. examining work practices to improve work efficiency
Commitment to CBE, therefore, means (Taylor, 1911). It follows that opportunities should
examining in detail how we design, teach, assess, and be taken in all CBE educational design phases to
learn within CBE structured educational programs. A identify and reduce or eliminate ineffective structures,
thorough, systematic, sustained, and integrated practices, and expectations that may have been
approach is required to improve learner outcomes by historically justified but are now impeding the
streamlining all pedagogical components within efficiency of student learning. These structural
courses and programs toward goals defined by impediments abound and are entrenched in social
demands of the next placement, linkage to workplace and commercial expectations: degree programs have
opportunities and requirements for good citizenship. minimum course requirements, and field experiences
have time constraints and work obligations. In fully
operationalized CBE, students who can demonstrate
Design competencies in much less time than expected should
not be paying tuition nor providing unpaid service for
The initial goal of the educational design process is to the same length of time as others in their cohort who
identify transformational endpoint competencies that may need more time to demonstrate the required
satisfy expectations. Those expectations could be to competence. Most higher and professional education
match pre-specified outcome competencies such as structures and work placements are presently ill-
may be supplied by accreditors and professional equipped to respond to these needs for seamless
bodies or to define unique competencies that will flexibility.
distinguish each program of study from competitors. The CBE design phase requires effective
Identifying, ordering, and empirically negotiation and management to produce useful
validating desired endpoint outcomes with acceptable results and adequately serve the multiple stakeholders
rigor requires the marshalling of transparent and unaligned purposes. Successful implementation
processes, application of explicit techniques, and the will require design phases that explicitly include
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elements of situational analysis, consensus building, simple extrapolation from their previous, likely more
common language creation, demarcation of scopes of didactic, teaching or learning experiences. This is
practice, and responsibility (Hodges, 2012). particularly true for sessional faculty and site-based
Designers must also acknowledge the limitations of faculty without academic appointments. With the
CBE and plan explicit mitigations. right support, CBE need not mean more faculty
Regardless of the source of the competence work; its incorporation should be motivated by the
definitions or the general educational plan, each potential of CBE to improve learning, assessment,
program and educational unit, indeed, each courses, and programs.
participant must be actively involved in designing Faculty may require help moving from
how desired competencies will be (or can be) attained teacher-centric to learning-centric practices.
within the complex local realities of teaching, Preparation and support must extend faculty
learning, and practice. capabilities to bring in other pedagogical approaches
(pragmatism, interpretivism) as required to moderate
CBE limitations. It must also assist faculty to
Teaching effectively participate in the assessment requirements
of CBE, which are qualitatively and quantitatively
CBE, if well implemented, provides a framework for different than common experience. Assessment
faculty and students to become true partners in the concerns in CBE are addressed more fully later in this
educational enterprise. CBE design identifies and essay.
structures minimally necessary learning outcomes
connecting the classroom, lab, and experiential
placement to requirements of the next level training Learning
and to real-life practice. Teaching with CBE requires
understanding this learning structure as well as the Even though CBE describes what “learning” is to
knowledge and skill to flexibly adapt it to the needs occur versus the more traditional, what “teaching” is
of each individual learner. Lesson or experience to occur, very little attention has been directed
planning in CBE is informed by well-written and towards how to learn efficiently with CBE. This
well-organized course outcomes and objectives. It also default puts students into a passive learning role and
requires a thorough understanding of the competence reduces the learning experience to checking off
components to be developed, as well as the components that will result in a high or passing grade.
instructional activities, pedagogies, and assessments The concept of CBE designs pedagogical
most likely to encourage that development. features to efficiently move learners toward the
When used effectively, CBE works as an defined endpoint competencies. This should put
advanced organizer and allows teaching (and learners at the centre of the educational enterprise,
learning) to focus beyond simple knowledge, skills, not the course structure, not the teaching or service
and attitude acquisition towards application, transfer, schedules. If CBE is not well implemented, these
and impact assessment. When used ineffectively, legacy structures will remain, and constrain many
CBE becomes a bureaucratic checklist that limits learners. In response, learners must take responsibility
intellectual flexibility and creativity for both learners to understand and optimize their learning
and teachers (Morcke et al., 2013) and will be experiences, much as successful students have done
incongruent with accepted teaching perspectives historically with other educational paradigms.
(Pratt, 1998). As a start, learners must develop an
Faculty must not only be professionally and understanding of the strengths and limitations of
personally engaged but also properly prepared and CBE: why it is being used, and how it is being
supported throughout a CBE implementation. It is deployed in their situation. Learners must recognize
wholly unreasonable to presume that faculty will be how the CBE structure, as locally implemented, will
able to effectively teach and assess using CBE by affect their development and master a range of
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ameliorating strategies to optimize their success both specified standards has resulted in successful legal
in the current experience, in the next level, and action by disgruntled students (The Canadian Press,
eventually in real work settings. Students must learn 2012). Therefore, administrators should attend to the
how to use CBE to inform and organize studying, to development and use of these CBE descriptive
complete activities, and to prepare for, and documents.
incorporate, assessments in the classroom, lab, and Training for, and joint monitoring of, CBE
experiential settings. Ideally, the faculty will see documentation will be helpful for both
themselves as aligned with the students in achieving administrators and faculty as they may not appreciate
these optimized learning strategies. If not, CBE can the full consequence of not complying with these
reduce learners to objects of assessment and administrative components. This supportive
accountability. oversight is challenging whether the administrator is
CBE can outline expected content and a member of the particular discipline or not and may
competence performance reasonably well, but the be perceived as contrary to individual notions of
structure is challenged to communicate the holistic academic freedom. The administrative objective here
components of competence that include tacit is to build partnerships that support CBE
attributes, attitudes, and complex coordination. As a implementation. That will include faculty and
principal defense, learners should leverage and learners as prime stakeholders but also extend more
connect learning opportunities outside the formal broadly to include the sources of the endpoint
defined pedagogical space. Education is vastly aided competencies, and administrators in the next phase
by a host of informal educators, some of whom are placements all the way to real life work placements.
prominent and identifiable in the field placements or Some components of CBE are best managed
workplaces: other professional workers, support and and monitored by administrators directly (liaison
administrative personnel, other learners and clients. with worksites and employers) and others better
Recognizing and engaging these resources is a benefit devolved to faculty teams (innovative personalization
to students trying to navigate and optimize in learning and assessment) or external experts
attainment of both behavioural and tacit (curricular evaluation of fit with program goals and
competencies. These informal educators will be more workplace needs). Administrators must also audit
diverse than the designated faculty and not likely their current organizational processes and procedures
marked nor acknowledged for their true to continually seek improvement in alignment,
influence. Their legitimate involvement will efficiency, and effectiveness. We will return to these
contribute to the learner’s developing sense of change-management challenges later in this essay.
community, comradery, and trust, all hallmarks of
responsibility, a commonly defined outcome
competency.
Assessment and Mastery
Demonstration in CBE
Administering CBE Assessment is the weakest link in CBE structured
programs (Govaerts et al., 2007). Hampered by the
CBE itemizes and defines learning outcomes to
limitations of the behaviourism at its root, rigidity in
support planning for learning and the structure for
progression structures, misplaced faith in the
learning assessment. These defined outcome
universal fairness of raters, and even minimal
competencies also express the standards for
similarity across rating situations, getting assessment
instruction, performance, and grade assignment. As
right in CBE has been widely neglected (Blömeke et
such, CBE documents the contract between the
al., 2013).
educational institution and the student. Failure to
CBE designers and participants must
provide the stated instruction or comply with the
redesign assessment processes to better suit the
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variability of learners, teachers, assessors, and settings. Workplace assessments are complex because
Innovation and complex coordination are also needed they must be applied across different contexts and are
to obtain adequate measures for the full breadth of often administered by site staff, who may or may not
competency requirements. At both national and local have any assessment training or affiliation with the
levels, critical examination is obligatory for current school. Building effective assessments for experiential
assessment practices, assumptions, intended, and placement means combining a variety of assessors
unintended results. Some settings will have access to with a variety of tools from both academic and
professional assessment expertise, others are advised organizational settings. These field assessment
to organize consulting or partnership arrangements to programs must be built to allow student progress to
ensure that new or tweaked assessments are be monitored by faculty, the site, and the student
sufficiently rigorous, reliable, and valid in addition to throughout the placement. The goal is to provide
being practical and useful to learners. maximal corrective information to learners as the
CBE can facilitate this examination of experience unfolds as well as to support any pass/fail
assessments within a course of study or across a or graded decision to be made.
program against established taxonomies of learning Once assessments are in place across a course
and next place or workplace requirements. It provides or program, it is important to continually evaluate the
an organized structure of sequenced outcomes that overall assessment design as well as each individual
allows for the creation, inspection, and integration of component. Because competence assessment is so
formative and summative assessments to ensure an central to CBE methods, it is imperative that evidence
intentional, integrated assessment design with be constantly acquired and considered about the
learning useful feedback as opposed to simple student quality of those assessments individually and
gating decisions. Programmatic assessment collectively. Assessment quality is a requirement for
techniques should link and evolve assessments across any meaningful course or program evaluation. The
the learning journey to achieve overarching program central question is: can we prove that the
goals and outcomes that distinguish graduates as experience/course/program produces graduates with
competent (Schuwirth & Van der Vleuten, 2011). all the requisite competencies?
The clarity of these linkages facilitates a coordinated
and efficient program of study and experience for the
learner. Efficacy evaluation of this same linkage
information can help justify program resources to
Learning Taxonomies Useful in
internal administrators and external regulatory, CBE
accrediting, and advisory bodies.
Experiential placements have always been a The contribution of learning taxonomies is the
central part of professional training and are assistance they provide in organizing competency
increasingly utilized elsewhere in educational assessments to ensure that appropriate levels of
endeavours to provide context and authenticity for complexity have been achieved at each stage (Morcke
school-based learning. These work-site experiences et al., 2013) and that the evaluation schemes are
are often the first occasion that learners are expected appropriate for the learning outcomes specified
to function as part of a workplace team, appropriately (Kraiger, Ford, & Salas, 1993). Familiarity with
contributing their acquired knowledge, skills, and learning taxonomies, and agreement on the
attitudes over sustained, complex interactions in real taxonomies to be employed in local CBE
time. Too often, however, these field involvements implementation is essential across all participants.
are unfocused, the learning outcomes unclear, and the Functional taxonomies will help order the sequence
learner’s performance only informally assessed, if at of learning objectives towards desired endpoint
all. Successful CBE implementation must correct competencies. Importantly they will remind
these errors and optimize the opportunity for work designers, teachers, and learners of the learning and
relevant learning and work contextualized assessment. outcome breadth to be accomplished in any given
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sequence, course or program. Subsuming or ignoring 1964). Attitudes are closer to internal personal
the humanistic dimensions of competence is much dimensions including concepts of identity,
harder if an effective learning taxonomy is agreed personality, values, motivation, responsibility, and
upon. However, not all taxonomies are equally well professionalism. Evidence of the existence or quality
suited to CBE, notably those including an affective of these concepts is not directly visible and can only
domain. be inferred. Although assumed in CBE programs,
Taxonomies of learning were initially created making a connection between observed behaviour
by a group of measurement specialists, led by Bloom and underlying attitudes is even more fraught with
(Bloom, Englehatt, Furst, Hill, & Krathwohl, 1956) potential observer bias than observing applied
with the objective of creating a framework to knowledge or skill. These biases can be reduced by
categorize test bank items. The original taxonomy was triangulating observations across many observers,
created solely for assessment of the cognitive domain many occasions, and many sites.
but subsequently expanded to the psychomotor and Attitudinal assessment sequences should be
affective domains (Bloom, 1968). Within each developed to both observe and appropriately modify
domain, competencies are organized hierarchically attitudes. An underdeveloped method to document
from simple and concrete to complex and abstract. growth in appropriate attitudes is through measures
Cognitive domain assessments originally based in self-reflection. Regular opportunities for
tested knowledge at six nested levels of increasing learner self-examination, reflection, reaction
complexity: knowledge, comprehension, application, documentation, and self-report should be part of
analysis, synthesis, and evaluation (Bloom et al., assessment designs for CBE. These efforts will be
1956) subsequently revised to remember, understand, more effective for learning if feedback on the self-
apply, analyse, evaluate, and create (Krathwohl, reflection can be supplied from within the relevant
2002). Cognitive domains are well suited to CBE learning or work context during the timeframe of
structures as they atomize knowledge allowing attachment there. Building an assessment plan using
discrete assessments. Standard parameters apply for self-reflection must be carefully planned to keep the
test validity and reliability. learner engaged in this challenging and often
Equally adaptable to CBE are the unfamiliar work.
psychomotor taxonomies. Bloom organizes There are learning taxonomies other than
psychomotor skills at seven nested difficulty levels: Bloom’s. For example, the Structure of Observed
perception, readiness, guided response, habitual Learning Outcomes (Biggs & Collis, 1982) assesses
response, complex response, adaptation, and the quality of learning as unstructured, multi-
origination (Simpson, 1971). The validity of structured, relational or extended abstract and Fink’s
competence decisions based on skill testing can be (2003) taxonomy for significant learning blends
improved by incorporating a variety of testing cognitive and affective domains in a non-hierarchical
situations, contexts, and ranges of complexity framework. Bloom’s Taxonomy, however, has been
(Shavelson, 2013). Building an assessment plan using developed to explicitly include all three competence
a variety of approaches over time can confirm that the domains: cognitive, psychomotor, and affective.
student is able to perform target skills competently. Employing this full range of learning domains is
Affective competency is difficult to important if CBE implementation aspires to
operationalize with CBE. Bloom’s Affective accomplish the complex of outcome competencies
Taxonomy lists attitudes in five nested dimensions: needed to function in civil society, to participate in
receive, respond, value, organize values, and social justice and sustainability, to bring critical
characterize by value (Krathwohl, Bloom, & Masia, thinking to everyday challenges, and yes, to perform
well in workplaces.

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Change Management Required or competence. If everyone is simultaneously

learning and applying their learning in workplaces,
for Implementing Successful descriptors of full-time versus part-time learners will
CBE no longer be meaningful nor useful to learners,
teachers, schools or work sites. Flexibility in
educational structures requires new concepts and
Successful CBE implementation requires a thorough
systems for recruitment, admissions, financial aid,
reconsideration of many central aspects of the
learner tracking, monitoring faculty-student
traditional education process. Educational design,
interactions, transcripts, and awards processes.
teaching, learning, and assessment components have
Personalized learning is a step further in
already been addressed. The full range of educational
implementing CBE, and another change
support systems must also be realigned. Commitment
management challenge. Truly individualized learning
to CBE means changing the traditional organization
plans must be routinely designed, adjusted, and
of credits, courses, and semesters, which presents the
delivered to fully realize the potential for learning
opportunity to redesign the educational structure to
efficiency within CBE structures. Prior learning
better suit learners rather than institutions. At a
assessment recognizes the knowledge and skills
minimum, ongoing negotiations, data sharing, and
already possessed by a learner and structures
organizational adjustments must take place to
subsequent learning to minimize the amount of time
optimize operations and results across the full range
spent on areas previously mastered. Adaptive,
of players in a CBE system, including the faculty
individualized, and flexible learning programs
(both academic and site), the learners, administrators,
support learners at any stage of development and are
other personnel and participants in the training
essential to attracting mature, mobile learners,
placement sites and employers, accreditors, and
particularly those already in or acutely sought by the
regulators. Sustained effort must be invested to
workplace.
initiate, nurture, and deepen these relationships. It is
Information access to support learning has
from these partnerships that useful innovation will be
and will continue to change massively, presenting
suggested, supported, and implemented.
more change management issues within CBE.
CBE counters the concept that school
Content is now available on demand anywhere in the
reputation ensures quality. It requires that faculty
world through easily updated open access textbooks,
make their teaching and assessment explicit to the
videos, and other electronic educational resources.
learner, colleagues, administrators, and others. Each
Real-time, multi-media, multi-perspective data
part of the course plan is then subject to scrutiny and
recordings support new ways of learning, monitoring,
external alignment to the program curriculum,
and demonstrating competence. CBE designers and
which, under CBE structures, is aligned to outcomes
participants must regularly review and adapt the
valued by next placement managers and eventually
range of new technologies developed both within
employers. These expectations will be new to many
schools and by commercial vendors to facilitate
participants; successful introduction will require
teaching, learning, and assessment.
careful management.
Another area for continued change
Another area requiring proactive change
management in CBE is the growing range of
management is the possibility, as CBE is
experiential learning, work-integrated learning, co-op
implemented, of re-engineering the current time-
education, credits for prior learning, and other real-
based educational paradigms in favour of more
world experiences. This field orientation is rapidly
flexibility for learners and employers. CBE provides
expanding in higher education due to increasing
direct measures of attained competence regardless of
demands for work-ready graduates with demonstrable
time spent, location, or method used to acquire the
endpoint competencies. All these practical
competence thus uncoupling traditional expectations
experiences must be assessed fairly, and effectively
of time in place (lecture, service, course) from mastery
integrated into the academic curriculum. CBE can
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provide a scaffold to articulate these alignments, but phases for) new competency-based education
they must be continually negotiated and adjusted programs or already had a CBE program in place.
across program specifications, learning sites, teachers, Those numbers are a significant increase over the 52
learners, and assessors to follow the evolving institutions reporting CBE programs in 2014 (Fein,
competencies needed in the workplace. Monitoring 2015). As the US Department of Education approves
workplace change places CBE participants in a more CBE programs for federal financial aid, these
unique position to scrutinize the evolution of numbers will continue to grow, as will the range of
competence requirements and thus maintain the programs offered and the related competitive
relevance of their program offerings. Changing work pressures on institutions, programs, and faculties to
environments highlight needs for updating participate.
knowledge, skills, and attitudes among people already
employed in those settings. These data are critical to
the maintenance of competence and career
advancement programs presenting a dynamic linkage
Conclusion
and relevance opportunity for higher education and
Regardless of conceptual and implementation
professional preparation institutions.
limitations, CBE is directed towards the widely-
One of the biggest challenges in CBE
shared goal of improving workplace performance by
implementation is to manage expectations among
supplying graduates with relevant outcome
senior leaders, both educational and regulatory.
competencies. Achieving this goal will require the
Adopting a CBE approach does not happen by fiat.
pedagogical enterprise to evolve a knowledge and skill
Actualizing the rhetoric of CBE requires a lot of
set not commonly part of the faculty or
intricate negotiation, management work, and
administrative preparation in higher education. CBE
planning, much of which is in new territory for most
implementation will be significantly disruptive to
educational personnel, programs, and institutions.
most current educational programs, faculty, site
CBE implementation will require on-going
personnel, learners, assessors, and administrators.
innovation, trials, modification, and fine tuning.
Recognizing and addressing aversion to this radical
Because these are human systems, there is no
departure from current operating procedures must
guarantee that locally successful strategies can be
first be resolved before a competency-based paradigm
exported. There continue to be significant challenges
can be authentically realized. This evolution requires
in developing site-specific CBE support systems, in
attention to improved techniques of self-awareness,
implementing agreements and expectations for
personal goal setting, and self-appraisal for teachers,
service work, in testing out processes, and in the array
learners, and administrators in relation to demands of
of other management problems that result from
the locally deployed CBE structure. Participating in,
movement towards efficient competency-based
and reflecting on, results from action research,
learning.
teaching, and learning portfolios will be helpful as will
How imminent are these expectations to
training and support for time management, priority
actively manage change towards successful CBE
setting and negotiating performance criteria. Properly
implementation? As already outlined, medicine has
orchestrated, these techniques can help participants
mandated CBE implementation at undergraduate
realize their shared goal to make CBE functional,
and graduate levels on a global basis. In the US, the
efficient, and effective for their individual and
Department of Education and related accreditors are
collective purposes. This essay offers some guideposts
slowly aligning their processes and expectations
for negotiating, supporting, and sustaining CBE so
regarding CBE. Fein (2015) reported that 600 US
that it works optimally for all participants in the
colleges either were actively creating (or in design
educational enterprise.

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