Education has its own set of vocabulary that sometimes is enhanced by terms used in business. Learning objectives have been around for a while, but competencies are becoming a popular concept to include in curriculum. Sometimes the two terms are used interchangeably, but they are not the same thing.
What is a Competency?
Competency is an educational term relating to the skills, behaviors and knowledge that are necessary to be successful. This can be applied to successful completion of a course or success in a chosen career field. Competencies are more qualitative than quantitative, thus are less easily adaptable to a grade scale.
Many courses or plans of study in schools are being identified with core competencies. Core competencies are specifically what a student must be able to do or understand proficiently to successfully complete the course.
What is a Learning Objective?
Learning objectives are more specifically targeted to the educational outcomes of a lesson or a course. They are typically written using Bloom’s Taxonomy for educational objectives and are tailored for the specific lesson. When collected together, the learning objectives of a course support the competencies.
Learning objectives are often provided by textbook publishers as part of their curriculum package. They might also be adapted or completely written by a school, department or learning team to reflect the specific needs of a school.
Relating Competencies and Learning Objectives to a Lesson
An example of a competency would be the ACM’s K-12 Model Curriculum competency goal that students in grades 3-6 will, “Use technology tools (e.g., multimedia authoring, presentation, Web tools, digital cameras, scanners) for individual and collaborative writing, communication, and publishing activities to create presentations for audiences inside and outside the classroom.” It is worded in general terms and may need several lessons or activities to achieve the goal.
Considering the previous technology competency example, it may be supported in a lesson by more than one learning objective. A social studies lesson about the community might involve students using digital cameras and then creating a PowerPoint presentation using the digital photos. The lesson objectives might include: “Identifies examples of community involvement through the use of a digital camera,” and “Compares and contrasts diversity in a community by creating a PowerPoint presentation.”
Competencies and learning objectives are similar. Both are related to the desired learning outcomes. Competencies are more general and specific relate to skills, behaviors and knowledge that should be gained through a course or series of courses. Learning objectives relate closely to a specific lesson and support the competencies.
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