The issue addressed here is the missing link between the outcomes of university education and the current needs of local, regional, and global job markets. Competency-based curriculum is proposed as a means for creating such link.

1. Competency-Based Curriculum as a
Means for Linking the Outcomes of
Higher Education and the Job Market
Needs
Dr. Suad Alazzam
suad [at] portlandstate.org
© 2011 All Rights Reserved

2. To Be Covered …
The Issue at Hand
A Map for Change
A Methodology for Change

3. The Issue at Hand
A Map for Change
A Methodology for Change

4. A missing link between the outcomes
of university education and the
current needs of local, regional, and
global job markets.

5. Current Functions of Universities
Traditional functions that revolve around
disciplinary Knowledge consumption and
production
Disciplinary knowledge Disciplinary knowledge
consumption production

6. Needed Functions of Universities
in the 21st Century
Innovative functions that revolve around
competencies development and the application
of relevant knowledge in workplace contexts
Competencies production & application of
development knowledge in workplace
contexts

8. What is Competency?
Competency is the capability to
integrate and apply the appropriate
sets of knowledge, skills, and
attitudes to carry out specific tasks in
a given workplace context.

9. Types of Competencies
• Generic
• Domain-Specific

10. Generic Competencies
• Transferable and applicable in all
content domains
• A set of basic capabilities needed for
surviving the life of the 21st Century,
both within and outside work (basic
life skills, also known as “soft skills”)

11. Domain-Specific Competencies
• Integrated bodies of knowledge,
skills, and attitudes related to one
specific domain within a given
profession
• Linked to performing specific
professional tasks

12. The Issue at Hand
A Map for Change
A Methodology for Change

13. A Chain of Changes ….

14. The Essence of Change
Applied Skills of
Knowing-How
Cognitive Skills of
Knowing-What
Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning Domains

15. Changing …
The Criterion for Curriculum
Organization

16. Changing …
Teaching

17. Changing…
Learning

18. Changing …
Assessment

19. A Map for Change
Traditional Education 21st Century Education
Criterion for Curriculum • Disciplinary content to be covered • Competencies to be developed as
Organization during the course or program outcomes of the course or program
Teaching • Coverage of prescribed • Uncovering relevant and
disciplinary content personalized meanings
• Lecturing • Facilitating
Learning • Cognitivism • Constructivism
• Consumption and processing of • Task-oriented learning: problem-
disciplinary content based learning, project-based
learning, internships
Assessment • Assessments of disciplinary • Assessment of applied learning &
content processing skills development
• Focus on summative assessments • Ample formative assessments
(assessment of learning) (assessment for learning)

20. The Issue at Hand
A Map for Change
A Methodology for Change

21. Methodology for Competency-
Based Curriculum Development
Phase 1
Development of core (essential)
competencies, both generic and
domain specific
Phase 2
Development of learning maps that
are aligned to the predefined
competencies

22. Methodology for Competency-
Based Curriculum Development

23. Alignment is Key
For successful planning and implementation of
competency-based curriculum, alignment is key:
• Alignment of core competencies (generic & domain
specific) to ensure continuity, progression, and integration
of the program’s learning outcomes
• Alignment of the learning plans components (the “what”
of learning, the “how” of learning, and the “evidence” of
learning) with the predefined competencies to ensure
that teaching, learning, and assessments are all focused
on the targeted learning outcomes/ competencies.

24. Thank You!
Dr. Suad Alazzam
suad [at] portlandstate.org
© 2011 All Rights Reserved