Cancer Core Competencies - Competency Primer

Competency Primer

This section provides additional background information regarding the theory and methods grounding the C-Change Cancer Competency Initiative including:

Adult Learning Theory
Bloom's Taxonomy
The Anatomy of a Competency Statement
Competency-Based Education and Assessment

The Adult Learner: What Makes Them Tick

When developing an educational program for adult learners, consideration for the principles of Adult Learning Theory will positively impact participant engagement and ability to translate learning into practice. Adult learners favor:

Acquiring knowledge and skills with immediate relevance to their work
Teaching methods related to previous experiences or everyday tasks
Having clear expectations about the learning objectives and assignments
Understanding how they will be graded or assessed
Achieving maximal independence

The Cancer Competency Initiative works well with adult learners because the Competency Statements were developed to:

Meet the immediate knowledge and skill needs of health professionals dealing with people at risk for and living with cancer
Relate to a larger institutional objective in the work setting
Define the specific expectations for knowledge and skills
Enable objective assessment of proficiency
Encourage supportive or independent practice

Blooms Taxonomy

The Bloom's Taxonomy Diagram presented below highlights a hierarchy of sample verbs and behavior statements for each level of learning ranging from less complex to more complex. Bloom's Taxonomy guides faculty in considering the desired level at which the learners will function and the ultimate learning objectives. The application of this tool in the program development phase will help the planning committee to determine the desired level of learning and independence from the educational intervention.

Information cited from (Citation: Huitt, W. (2004). Bloom et al.'s taxonomy of the cognitive domain. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. http://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/col/cogsys/bloom.html

You should consider the categories that learners will focus upon within Bloom's Taxonomy. This will direct the development of the curriculum and will clarify the desired outcome of the program. For example, will learners work within the area of "Knowledge" where they will be recalling data or information? Or, will learners be working within the context of "Synthesis" where they may be concepts and information within the discipline together to develop policies?

Evaluation: judge, assess, recommend, determine, criticize, argue, defend, estimate, appraise, justify, feedback, review

Synthesis: compose, construct, predict, reason, hypothesize, design, formulate, manage, develop, assemble, propose, theorize, invent, attribute, simplify

Analysis: interpret, test, differentiate, scrutinize, investigate, interpret, compare, contrast, discriminate, distinguish, question, manipulate, dissect, estimate, measure

Application: practice, calculate, compute, sketch, illustrate, interview, operate, simulate, demonstrate, apply, schedule, utilize, relate, diversify

Comprehension: describe, iterate, recognize, summarize, explain, discuss, locate, input, translate, paraphrase, itemize

Knowledge: name, list, arrange, relate, specify, enumerate, define, recall, label, cite, repeat, copy, order, record

Examples can be found at http://www.nwlink.com/~Donclark/hrd/bloom.html

The Anatomy of a Competency Standard

A Competency Standard defines the tasks or functions that a person should be able to do or perform. It contains a single action verb that defines the level of complexity or independence of desired performance related to a specific topic. The diagram below illustrates how the competency standard drives focused instructional design and the related development of indicators to assess competency. Assessment with these indicators reveals if the learner has achieved the knowledge or skill defined by the competency statement.

Goals for the learner, as defined by the competency statement, should drive instructional design. For example, if the competency standard aims to achieve basic knowledge, then the instructional design will aim to transfer knowledge through methods like reading assignments, lecture, or case studies. If the competency standard aims to achieve basic skills, then the instructional design will aim build skills through demonstration, return demonstration, or observed practice.

The competency statements are flexible because they can be written at a high level, describing a level of general proficiency, or at a very detailed level, describing a level of specialty expertise. As a result, the number of competency statements chosen to develop an educational program can range from 1 to dozens depending upon the level of proficiency desired and the length of the program.

For a complete listing and printer friendly version, please review the Competency Standards.