I thought for this forum, i would take the individual "Reflection Questions" and address each one in response to this forum.
1. What is your opinion of competency-based education?
From a military point of view: competency based education trains a high school or college grad from knowing little to how to fire a rifle, drive a tank, fly a military jet, or operate a navy nuclear propulsion plant on an aircraft carrier or submarine in the shortest time possible, by “untrained” educators who went thru the identical training before them, and doing it effectively so that the military is trained as an effective fighting force.
Military personnel, after discharge, are generally effective in civilian companies in a variety of positions using their military training as a foundation for further activities.
2. How do you define competency-based education?
Being able to do the job (competency) in an effective manner – your life depends upon it, as does your comrade in arms – the guy next to you. You don’t get to go home every night, but your wife and children, and other members of society depend upon you to do your job.
3. Does competency-based instruction result in better-prepared students?
Damn well better, or Joe-infantry man, or the man operating the nuclear power plant can cause a world of issues.
4. How does the cognitive domain as identified by Bloom’s Taxonomy impact learning?
Cognitive domain deals with recall, recognition of knowledge, and development of intellectual skills – military training repeats training until it is gotten right – to a level of proficiency, under instruction, by those who may have to rely upon the skill of the peon to save their own life. Repetition is a key to establishing cognitive domain in the manner necessary for life.
Affective domain addresses changes in interest, attitude, and values. Affective domain trains the recruit into a “lean, mean, fighting machine”… it takes people of varied interests, attitude and values, and trains them into the “military way”… to a common set of interests, attitudes, and values of the military – follow orders.
Psychomotor domain addresses motor skills and manipulation: The military trains, and drills, and trains, and drills, and trains and drills, until the task can be done in your sleep, as sometimes, tasks are done in sleep, as there is no one else to do it and it needs to be done.
5. What are some of the benefits of using Bloom’s Taxonomy to help design instructional delivery methods?
The military didn’t spend much time on Bloom’s Taxonomy (on the theory)… It trained… One on one and small group instructors, peer to peer learning, in tell, show, do, confirm… repeat. I suppose all of the verbs in Bloom’s lists were used in some way or another, but it wasn’t emphasized.
6. What is an advantage to using competency-based objectives?
The American fighting force – Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard, Space Force, Guard is competency based. Civilians can sleep well at night knowing that recruits have met their competency-based objectives.
7. How does the affective domain contribute to student learning?
In contrast to the military, affective domain being trained (some might call indoctrinated) into the military way, the affective domain in post-secondary education is “all over the place”. It depends upon the instructor and what he/she teaches (or indoctrinates) into their students, graded on how well the student adhere to the instructors teaching or philosophy.
