What is competancy based approach

The Competency-Based Approach to Training

Throughout the world, millions of students go to school every day. These students study subjects such as science, language and mathematics in courses usually scheduled to last the duration of the school year. Because progression through the various subjects in school is time-based, at any given time during the year the teacher is expected to be at a specific point in the textbook or course content. 

While not every student may progress at the same rate, the schedule typically requires everyone to move at the same rate as the teacher. Tests are administered periodically to ensure students understand the concepts and principles. Test scores often are compared to determine the grades of the students. Unfortunately, when a student does not do well on a test there often is little time for individual assistance as the teacher must move on in order to adhere to the established time schedule. 

While traditional, time-based approaches to education have met with varying levels of success over the years, it is an ineffective system when the goal is to train individuals to perform specific, job-related skills. For example, an active, certified airline pilot is attending a 3-week training course to learn to fly a new type of aircraft. Will attending all sessions during the course ensure the pilot can fly the plane? Of course not! If the pilot is unable to attend 2 days of the course, does this mean the pilot cannot fly the plane? Probably not. After 4 days, the pilot does poorly on a written test. Should the pilot immediately fail the course or should the pilot continue with assistance and be given the opportunity to be tested again? 

If the pilot can pass all written tests does this indicate that the pilot can fly the plane? No! In addition to assessing knowledge, an evaluation of the pilot’s skills also is required.

Obviously, the time-based educational system used in schools and universities is not appropriate when conducting training. A more appropriate approach is competency-based training (CBT).

What is CBT?

In a traditional educational system, the unit of progression is time and it is teacher-centered. In a CBT system, the unit of progression is mastery of specific knowledge and skills and is learner- or participant-centered. Two key terms used in competency-based training are:

·       Skill—A task or group of tasks performed to a specific level of competency or proficiency which often use motor functions and typically require the manipulation of instruments and equipment (e.g., IUD insertion or Norplant ® implants removal). Some skills, however, such as counseling, are knowledge- and attitude-based. 

·       Competency—A skill performed to a specific standard under specific conditions.

 There appears to be substantial support for competency-based training. Norton (1987) believes that competency-based training should be used as opposed to the “medieval concept of time-based learning.” Foyster (1990) argues that using the traditional “school” model for training is inefficient. After in-depth examinations of three competency-based programs, Anthony Watson (1990) concluded that competency-based instruction has tremendous potential for training in industry. Moreover, in a 1990 study of basic skills education programs in business and industry, Paul Delker found that successful training programs were competency-based.

A competent clinician (e.g., physician, nurse, midwife, medical assistant) is one who is able to perform a clinical skill to a satisfactory standard. Competency-based training for reproductive health professionals then is training based upon the participant’s ability to demonstrate attainment or mastery of clinical skills performed under certain conditions to specific standards (the skills then become competencies). Norton (1987) describes five essential elements of a CBT system:

·       Competencies to be achieved are carefully identified, verified and made public in advance. 

·       Criteria to be used in assessing achievement and the conditions under which achievement will be assessed are explicitly stated and made public in advance. 

·       The instructional program provides for the individual development and evaluation of each of the competencies specified. 

·       Assessment of competency takes the participant’s knowledge and attitudes into account but requires actual performance of the competency as the primary source of evidence. 

·       Participants progress through the instructional program at their own rate by demonstrating the attainment of the specified competencies.

Characteristics of CBT

How does one identify a competency-based training program? In addition to a set of competencies, what other characteristics are associated with CBT? According to Foyster (1990), Delker (1990) and Norton (1987) there are a number of characteristics of competency-based programs. Key characteristics are summarized in Table 1.

Table 1. Characteristics of Competency-Based Training Programs

Competencies are carefully selected.  Supporting theory is integrated with skill practice. Essential knowledge is learned to support the performance of skills.  Detailed training materials are keyed to the competencies to be achieved and are designed to support the acquisition of knowledge and skills.  Methods of instruction involve mastery learning, the premise that all participants can master the required knowledge or skill, provided sufficient time and appropriate training methods are used.  Participants’ knowledge and skills are assessed as they enter the program and those with satisfactory knowledge and skills may bypass training or competencies already attained.  Learning should be self-paced.  Flexible training approaches including large group methods, small group activities and individual study are essential components.  A variety of support materials including print, audiovisual and simulations (models) keyed to the skills being mastered are used.  Satisfactory completion of training is based on achievement of all specified competencies.

Advantages and Limitations of CBT

One of the primary advantages of CBT is that the focus is on the success of each participant. Watson (1990) states that the competency-based approach “appears especially useful in training situations where trainees have to attain a small number of specific and job-related competencies” (page 18). Benefits of CBT identified by Norton (1987) include:

·       Participants will achieve competencies required in the performance of their jobs. 

·       Participants build confidence as they succeed in mastering specific competencies. 

·       Participants receive a transcript or list of the competencies they have achieved. 

·       Training time is used more efficiently and effectively as the trainer is a facilitator of learning as opposed to a provider of information. 

·       More training time is devoted to working with participants individually or in small groups as opposed to presenting lectures. 

·       More training time is devoted to evaluating each participant’s ability to perform essential job skills.

While there are a number of advantages of competency-based training, there also are some potential limitations. Prior to implementing CBT, it is important to consider these limitations:

·       Unless initial training and followup assistance is provided for the trainers, there is a tendency to “teach as we were taught” and CBT trainers quickly slip back into the role of the traditional teacher. 

·       A CBT course is only as effective as the process used to identify the competencies. When little or no attention is given to identification of the essential job skills, then the resulting training course is likely to be ineffective. 

·       A course may be classified as competency-based, but unless specific CBT materials and training approaches (e.g., learning guides, checklists and coaching) are designed to be used as part of a CBT approach, it is unlikely that the resulting course will be truly competency-based.

Models and Simulations in CBT

Models and simulations are used extensively in competency-based training courses. Airplane pilots first learn to fly in a simulator. Supervisors first learn to provide feedback to employees using role plays during training. Individuals learning to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) practice this procedure on a model of a human (mannequin).

Satur and Gupta (1994) developed a model which facilitates skill development in performing and evaluating coronary anastomoses with an angioscope. The results of their study indicate that models are proving invaluable as a training tool. George H. Buck in a 1991 historical review of the use of simulators in medical education concluded that “Given the developments in this technology within the last 50 years, it is possible that the use of simulators will increase in the future, should the need arise to teach new concepts and procedures at set times to large groups of individuals” (p. 24). Researchers in two different experimental studies involving training people to perform breast self-examinations (BSE) compared several methods and found that using models was the most effective training method (Campbell et. al., 1991 and Assaf et. al., 1985). In a multicenter evaluation of training of physicians in the use of 30-cm flexible sigmoidoscopy, Weissman et al (1987) found that they were easily trained by first practicing on plastic colon models.

Norton (1987) believes that participants in a competency-based training course should learn in an environment that duplicates or simulates the work place. Richards (1985) in writing about performance testing indicates that assessment of skills requires tests using simulations (e.g., models and role plays) or work samples (i.e., performing actual tasks under controlled conditions in either a laboratory or a job setting). Finally, Delker (1990) in a study of business and industry found that the best approach for training involved learner-centered instruction using print, instructional technology and simulations.

Evaluation and Assessment in CBT

Evaluation in traditional courses typically involves administering knowledge-based tests. While knowledge-based assessments can certainly be used in CBT to measure mastery of information, the primary focus is on measuring mastery of skills. In keeping with this, Thomson (1991) reports that the decision to recognize a performance as satisfactory and to determine competence should be the basis for success of a competency-based program. Moreover, Foyster (1990) argues that assessment in competency-based programs must be criterion-referenced with the criterion being the competencies upon which the program is based. Finally, Richards (1985) indicates that simulation and work sample performance tests should include a checklist or some type of rating scale.