|
Competency Perspective on Teaching
- Common Characteristics of CBE
After reviewing four decades of literature on competency-based education, five characteristics stand out as being particularly descriptive of teaching from the perspective of competency-based education. In CBE, teaching and learning are:
- explicit and clearly aligned with expected competencies;
- criteria-driven, focusing on accountability in reaching benchmarks and, ultimately, competence;
- grounded in “real-life” experiences;
- focused on fostering the learners’ ability to self-assess;
- individualized, providing more opportunities for independent study.
For many residency programs, the change to teaching from a CBE perspective will require very little adjustment; for others, the change may seem more substantial. Teaching venues will remain the same. Residents will still attend lectures and learn at the bedside, in both the outpatient clinic and operating room; they will continue, as well, to participate in small group clinical conferences and morning report. Some programs, however, may have to identify and communicate sooner the exact learning objectives and the criteria by which they will be assessed, as well as the degree to which additional guided or independent study may be necessary.
Further descriptions of these five characteristics follow.
|
