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Sunday, November 1, 2009: 11:00 AM
Learning Objective 1: describe how competency-based education prepares a skillled, competent nursing student.
Learning Objective 2: list 2 strengths and 2 challenges with implementing competency-based education.
Academicians often lament the challenges of traditional education. They espouse the poor tenets of seat time, teacher made tests and students who pass, but do not seem to have mastered the content and skills of a course. One educational approach to address these challenges is through competency-based education. While competency-based education has been gaining momentum in some academic settings, the implementation in highly skilled, hands-on degree programs has yet to become widely accepted. Competency-based education is built on the principles of adult learning that recognizes adult learners come to education knowing different things, learning at different paces and with already established competencies. Western Governors University (WGU) was created specifically to help adult learners fit college into their already busy lives. The adult learner has is the focus of WGU's learning model, unlike other universities that focus primarily on younger college age students. WGU is the first online university in the United States to be completely competency-based. This approach focuses on demonstrating competence to advance in a program versus sitting in a classroom. The essence of competency-based education involves validating what performance by competent practitioners actually comprises. Additionally, competency-based education is learner-centered in that outcomes are clear and thoroughly describe what must be done to demonstrate competency. Distinguishing competency-based education from more traditional teaching methods will be explored. Applying the methods for delivering competency-based education will be demonstrated in highly technical, hands-on programs such as nursing.