COMPETENCY-BASED LEARNING

Competency-based learning or competency-based education is a framework for teaching and assessment of

learning. It is also described as a type of education based on predetermined "competencies," which focuses on
outcomes and real-world performance.[1] Competency-based learning is sometimes presented as an alternative to
traditional methods of assessment in education.[2]

CONCEPT

In a competency-based education framework, students demonstrate their learned knowledge and skills in order to
achieve specific predetermined "competencies."[3] The set of competencies for a specific course or at a specific
educational institution is sometimes referred to as the competency architecture.[4] Students are generally assessed
in various competencies at various points during a course, and usually have the opportunity to attempt a given
competency multiple times and receive continuous feedback from instructors.[5][6]

Key concepts that make up the competency-based education framework include demonstrated mastery of a
competency, meaningful types of assessment, individualized support for students, and the creation and application
of knowledge.[7]

METHODOLOGY

In a competency-based learning model, the instructor is required to identify specific learning outcomes in terms of
behavior and performance, including the appropriate criterion level to be used in evaluating achievement.[8]
Experiential learning is also an underpinning concept; competency-based learning is learner-focused and often
learner-directed.[7][9]

The methodology of competency-based learning recognizes that learners tend to find some individual skills or
competencies more difficult than others. For this reason, the learning process generally allows different students to
move at varying paces within a course.[10] Additionally, where many traditional learning methods use summative
testing, competency-based learning focuses on student mastery of individual learning outcomes.[11] Students and
instructors can dynamically revise instruction strategies and based on student performance in specific competencies.
[12]

What it means to have mastered a competency depends on the subject matter and instructor criteria. In abstract
learning, such as algebra, the learner may only have to demonstrate that they can identify an appropriate formula
with some degree of reliability; in a subject matter that could affect safety, such as operating a vehicle, an instructor
may require a more thorough demonstration of mastery.[13][14]

USAGE
Western Governors University has used a competency-based model of education since it was chartered in 1996.[15]

The Mastery Transcript Consortium is a group of public and private secondary schools which are working to utilize
competency-based learning as part of their effort to create a new type of secondary school transcript.[16]

Competency-based learning refers to systems of instruction, assessment, grading, and academic

reporting that are based on students demonstrating that they have learned the knowledge and
skills they are expected to learn as they progress through their education. In public schools,
competency-based systems use state learning standards to determine academic expectations
and define “competency” or “proficiency” in a given course, subject area, or grade level (although
other sets of standards may also be used, including standards developed by districts and schools
or by subject-area organizations). The general goal of competency-based learning is to ensure
that students are acquiring the knowledge and skills that are deemed to be essential to success in
school, higher education, careers, and adult life. If students fail to meet expected learning
standards, they typically receive additional instruction, practice time, and academic support to
help them achieve competency or meet the expected standards.
Defining competency-based learning is complicated by the fact that educators not only use a wide variety of
terms for the general approach, but the terms may or may not be used synonymously from place to place. A
few of the more common synonyms include proficiency-based, mastery-based, outcome-
based, performance-based, and standards-based education, instruction, and learning, among others.
In practice, competency-based learning can take a wide variety of forms from state to state or
school to school—there is no single model or universally used approach. While schools often
create their own competency-based systems, they may also use systems, models, or strategies
created by state education agencies or outside educational organizations. Competency-based
learning is more widely used at the elementary level, although more middle schools and high
schools are adopting the approach. As with any educational strategy, some competency-based
systems may be better designed or more effective than others.

Competence based learning

Skills connected to Critical & Creative thinking, Problem Solving, Collaboration and
Communication are core to successful living in the 21st Century. Competency is a set of skills,
abilities, knowledge that helps an individual perform a given task in real life. Every learning
should go into the imbibing of skills that will help the individual perform tasks or take actions to
lead a productive and joyful life.

The task could be as simple as going out to buy groceries or as complex as flying a plane. Each
of such tasks require a set of skills, abilities, knowledge and even attitudes to be able to perform
the task at hand effectively and efficiently. For buying groceries, the learner should be able to
navigate the route to the grocery store on a map, prepare lists of purchases to be made, estimate
the expenditure, locate the items in the store, pay the bills, check that the total mentioned in the
bill is correct and the list matches the actual purchases, etc.

Several competencies are required here to succeed, and all these competencies or skill sets
should also be acquired in the process of learning or schooling, only then school education
would be considered effective and fruitful. Competency-based learning or Competency based
Education (CBE) is an outcome‐based approach to education to ensure proficiency in learning
by students through demonstration of the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes required for
dealing with real life situations at the age and grade appropriate level.

Competency-based Education (CBE) and Learning outcomes

To understand the relationship between Competency-based Education and Learning Outcomes,

please note the following:

 What is it that the student should be able to do after student has undergone the
learning process - Demonstrate the Outcome of Learning or Learning Outcome
 What is it that the student needs to learn/know in order to demonstrate that particular
set of Learning Outcomes - Curriculum
 What are the classroom transactions, activities, that will become the basis for this kind
of defined outcome of learning - Pedagogy
 How will the teacher check the learning or how will the student demonstrate that
learning - Assessment
  How will teacher know at what level of learning the student is - Criterion Referenced
Testing
 What is the sum total of Learning Outcomes, Curriculum, pedagogy, assessment and
criterion referenced testing as mentioned in the bullets above - Competency-based
Education

Characteristics of Competency Based Education Mode

Objectives

 To follow a more practical and professional approach where first of all predefined, real
life based, application-oriented competencies are defined.
 To ensure attainment of competencies through precise measurable learning outcomes in
behavioural terms.
 To go beyond mere accumulation of knowledge from textbooks and tests to enable
students to practice acquired competencies in their daily life.

Content

 Competency based education focuses on minimum required core content.

 It specifically defines competencies to be attained after a certain time interval in which a
specific part of the curriculum has been covered.

It is contrary to traditional learning approach which keeps increasing the content by following
the inconsistent principle ‘greater the content, greater the achievement of students.

Pedagogy

 Pedagogical processes are child centric and inclusive in nature as the focus is on
individual achievement.
 Interdisciplinary Instruction (including scholastic as well as coscholastic areas such as
Arts, Story Telling, Sports, Work Education and SEWA etc.), Collaborative Learning,
Cooperative Learning, Reciprocal Teaching, Discussions, Group Projects, Peer Tutoring,
Blended learning with integration of ICT (Flipped Classrooms), Computational learning
based on logical reasoning, decomposition, patterns, Experiential Learning, Problem
Based Learning, Games,
Case Studies, Simulations, Portfolios, Presentations, Projects are the main teaching-
learning processes under this approach.
o The idea is to support student’s ability to become an independent/selfreliant and
lifelong learner by using a variety of interactive methods.
o Pedagogies also take care of individual differences of students, issues of social
nature of learning and present challenges in a graded manner
to make learning child-centered.

Assessment

 Criterion reference assessments that measure the attainment of Learning Outcomes are
essential feature of CBE.
 It involves Objective as well as Performance Assessments.
  Objective Assessment have predetermined, correct responses items like MCQs, oral
responses to questions, and short-answer written responses based on what students
know and know how to do.
 In performance assessments, focus remains on what learners can do with their
knowledge involving assessments of critical thinking, synthesis and affective and
psychomotor skills.
 Reporting of Assessment result is done on the basis of rubrics and students must be able
to demonstrate required level of competency in order to progress to higher grades.

Concepts and suggestions for success of CBE

As proper framing of the Learning Outcomes and linking them with pedagogical processes is
crucial to the success of CBE, attention is drawn to the following concepts and suggestions:

Learning Outcomes (LOs)

 These are formal statements that tell us what a student is able to do after learning a
given topic/concept.
 The learning described in outcomes should encompass the essential and significant
knowledge and skills students should develop in a course.
 In this process, they generalise their learning and integrate it with other areas of their
lives outside school. This helps them learn concepts in a more focussed and meaningful
way.
 LO should be a clear and concise statement of the skills that the students will be able to
demonstrate after the instruction is over.
 LOs should be observable and measurable and clearly understood by all stakeholders –
students, parents and teachers.
 They delineate not only the cognitive achievement but also the values, life skills and
attitudes students would demonstrate at the end of a unit.
 Learning Outcomes provides opportunity for teachers to reflect on the curriculum,
context of learning, content, application and assessment to be designed for ensuring the
achievement of desirable degree of Learning Outcomes.
 Thus, LOs are extremely important tool for students, teachers, parents, administrators
and policy makers.
 Teachers need to use learning outcomes as a tool for improving education, not as an end
in itself.

Writing Learning Outcomes on the basis of the framework provided by NCERT

A complete Learning Outcome will consist of:

 An observable behavior or an action verb and any special condition for displaying the
outcome. Action verb denotes the intended domain in the taxonomy of cognitive
domain and focuses on cognitive processes operating on different kinds of knowledge
dimensions like factual, procedural, conceptual and meta-cognitive.
 After the action verb comes subject content for which the action is being taken followed
by explicit level of achievement (if not implicit) and condition of performance (if
required). The performance level considered sufficient to demonstrate mastery.

Test items prepared and matched to the LOs assembled before starting instructions.
LOs usually have the following features:

 unambiguous language
 behavioural activity
 measurable outcomes with desired performance criteria
 linked to teaching and learning methods
 assessment and evaluation aligned with overall competencies mentioned in the
framework developed by NCERT

NCERT Learning Outcomes Documents:

 The Learning Outcomes Documents developed by NCERT define the learning

outcomes/competencies in all the curricular areas, linking them with the curricular
expectations and the pedagogical processes.
 The defined Learning Outcomes can easily be adopted or adapted by schools. In fact,
CBSE very strongly advises the adoption/adaptation of Learning Outcomes developed by
NCERT for Grades 1 to 10, to all its affiliated schools.
 The links for these Learning Outcomes Documents of NCERT are given below:
Learning Outcomes at Elementary Stage
- https://ncert.nic.in/pdf/publication/otherpublications/tilops101.pdf
Learning Outcomes at Secondary Stage - https://ncert.nic.in/pdf/notice/learning_outcomes.pdf

Suggestive Pedagogical Strategies for achievement of LOs

 Knowledge of LOs paves way to self-assessment by students who would learn to

compare their achievement against the stated outcomes
instead of comparing them with their peers.
 This would also help them to internalise the learning outcomes.
 Therefore, teachers may:
o communicate the learning outcomes in as unambiguous way as possible to
students at the start of a lesson;
o use LOs as Advance Organisers and ask students to paraphrase them in order to
get complete understanding of their meaning;
 work out the instructional activities, pedagogies, and assessments most
likely to ensure that the stated outcome of learning is achieved;
 plan lessons by selecting and arranging developmentally appropriate
content and process while taking care of social and emotional contexts and
varying learning styles, aptitudes, and abilities of students;
 use techniques like collaborative learning, problem solving and others
mentioned above under the characteristics of assessment, as well as
connect the classroom, lab, and experiential activities to requirements of
the desired level of learning
 the most important aspect of the whole learning process is that the learner
at every level, for every subject, for every topic, should be able to connect
all learnings to real-life practice;
 facilitate experiences that advance students’ critical thinking and creativity;
 use technology to relate local and global societal issues and responsibilities
with the curricular contexts;
 make use of resources available at DIKSHA Platform in this reference; and
  continuously improve professional capacity by researching and
participating in various capacity building programmes.

Suggestive Assessment Practices to gauge achievement of LOs

 Performance in CBE is always seen vis a vis given criterion or standard of performance.
 It can be integrated with Assessment for Learning and Assessment as Learning.
 Some of the features of assessment of LOs could be:
o Assessment must:
 be Authentic i.e. it requires application of knowledge and skills to real
world problems and demands decision making to determine optimum use
of knowledge and skills in a given situation;
 necessarily match with the Learning Outcomes cited in the beginning;
 be reliable, valid and based on critical and creative thinking;
 assess ability to integrate knowledge, skills and attitudes.
o A balance between assessment ‘for’, ‘as’ and ‘of’ learning should be maintained
for optimum results and minimum stress on students;
o Multiple methods of assessment like portfolios, presentations, group projects,
open ended questions, MCQs, short answer and long answer problems, reflective
assignments involving measurement of capacity to analyse and evaluate
experience in the light of theories and research evidence;
o Rubrics must be shared with students prior to the test.

Cartoon series on joyful reading

To focus on the importance of these competencies, the Central Board of Secondary education in
collaboration with Central Square Foundation, New Delhi is bringing out two cartoon series
namely ‘Cogito’ and ‘The Question book’ to promote them through joyful reading.

In ‘Cogito’, the conversation between Ankit and Ankita explores how to know the truth of
something. Learning and understanding the process of problem solving and recognizing its
patterns is a lifelong activity and a skill that can be applied both in personal and professional
lives.

In the other series “The Question Book” Ankita and Ankit have discussed the Process of
problem solving.

To access these, click on the following links

 https://diksha.gov.in/play/content/do_3130401411330211841875
 https://diksha.gov.in/play/content/do_31304014477524992011150

Programme for International Students Assessment (PISA)

PISA is a competency based assessment which unlike contentbased assessment, measures the
extent to which students have acquired key competencies that
are essential for full participation in modern societies.

PISA measures 15-year-olds’ ability to use their reading, mathematics and science knowledge
and skills to meet real-life challenges.
Learnings from participation in PISA help to introduce competency based examination reforms
in the school system and help move away from rote learning. The CBSE and NCERT are part of
the process and activities leading to the actual test.