Ignite presentation given at the 2015 AAEEBL conference

2. The Personal Competencies Model
Moving Beyond “One Size Fits All”
Gail Matthews-DeNatale, Ph.D.
g.matthews-denatale at neu.edu
Northeastern University

3. Competency: Working Definition
Purposeful
Competencies
Skills
Abilities Knowledge
Dispositions

4. Clustered Competencies -> Expertise
Synergy
Momentum
Virtuous
Cycle
Purposeful
Competencies
Skills
Abilities Knowledge
Dispositions
Purposeful
Competencies
Skills
Abilities Knowledge
Dispositions
Purposeful
Competencies
Skills
Abilities Knowledge
Dispositions
Purposeful
Competencies
Skills
Abilities Knowledge
Dispositions
Purposeful
Competencies
Skills
Abilities Knowledge
Dispositions
Purposeful
Competencies
Skills
Abilities Knowledge
Dispositions

5. Competency Controversies

6. Competencies: Hopes
Outcomes Beyond Seat Time Multifaceted, Student-Focused

7. Competencies: Fears
Fragmented a la Carte Learning Standards/Assessment-Centric

8. Competency Process as an
Opportunity for Inquiry and Formation
Competence
Identification
/
Development
Domain
Knowledge
Self
Knowledge
World
Knowledge
Heidi Elmendorf, Georgetown

9. Personal Competency Model
• Introduced in How
People Learn Course
• Course is eLearning
Program Gateway
• Also Higher Education
Administration Elective
• PCM revisited at
Program Midpoint &
Capstone

10. Phase I: Professional Landscape Survey
• What do my “dream job”
employers want?
• What are the implications
of recent research for my
professional aspirations?
• What pressing challenges
in the world are relevant
to this profession?
• Who are the visionaries &
what are they saying
about future directions?

11. Phase I: Competencies Wiki Analysis
Landscape Evidence Sources
• Advertisements
“Dream” Job
• Articles & White Papers
Challenges &
Opportunities
• Blogs/Opinion Pieces
Visionaries & Future
directions

12. Phase II: Program Competencies
• This is what your faculty
have identified as
essential in your field.
• How does it square with
your own background
research?
• What else is important
to you and your
professional vision for
yourself?

13. Phase III: Competencies Assessment
• Personalize
– Identify additional
competencies
• Assess & Seek Evidence
– Rate current proficiency
– Support assertions with
artifacts & examples

14. Phase IV: PCM Narrative
• Reflect
Surprises, Patterns
• Self-Represent
Expertise, Growth Areas
• Envision Opportunities
- Course Project Topics
- Electives Selection
- Informal Learning
- Workplace Learning

15. How to Assess?
Criteria Definition of Excellence
Wiki Pre-
work
• Draws on all sources to summarize profession’s landscape
• Notes connections, contradictions, surprises among the sources
• Describes potential future direction of the field
Introduction • Positions professional aspirations within professional landscape
• Describes requirements of professionals in the field
• Envisions field’s future and ramifications for needed competencies
Competencies • Provides personalized working definition and clarification of
competencies
• Identifies additional competencies specific to personal vision
Ratings • Range of ratings indicates the author has sincerely considered
personal level of expertise
• Ratings are grounded in evidence (examples from practice)
Summary • Describes patterns of strength and areas for development in ratings
• Considers formal/informal opportunities to pursue development
Indicates genuine insight gained from the exercise

16. Example: Higher Ed. Admin. Student
Carolyn Harris
M.Ed. in Higher Education
Administration Program
30 years to complete B.A.
Defines education as a
“work in progress”
Professional purpose is to
understand “how a student
defines personal and
academic success”

17. Carolyn’s Research & Assessment
Strengths
• Explores workings of
departments other than own
• Has ideas for designing new
systems and processes
Growth Opportunities
• Confidence speaking to groups
• Tends to accept methods put
forth by others when I believe
there are more effective ways
Professional Landscape: Observations and Vision
• Students need to feel engaged with the advisor, the
process, and the results
• As opportunities for earning a degree have transformed,
academic advising also requires transformation
• What should or could this look like for fully online and
older learners?

18. Evidence of Immediate Impact
Chance Favors the
Prepared Mind
- Lois Pasteur

19. Lessons Learned: Gaps
First iteration shortcomings
• Students didn’t know how to approach the
assignment
• Didn’t connect background wiki research with
competencies, self-assessment, and plans
• PCMs lacked detail and weren’t grounded in
evidence

20. Collaborative Analysis & Revision
• Diagnosed gaps between student work
samples and assignment vision
• Used gap analysis to revise assignment
• Added explicit prompts to make connections,
identify additional personal competencies, rate
themselves, etc.
• Provided a more detailed rubric and exemplars
Revised with Co-Author Laurie Poklop

21. Final Thoughts
Work with competencies should
• Engage students in inquiry &
visionary thinking
• Create opportunities for
generative self-critique
• Be interpreted, applied, &
connected
• Promote dialogue on
possibilities for the future self
“I believe exposing my weaknesses
now is the only way to turn them
into strengths later.”
“It was instrumental in aligning my
previous work experience,
educational goals, qualifications,
projects, and skills into an integrated
assessment of my professional
strengths and limitations.”
“This is an exercise in self-regulated
learning [that] gave me a an
opportunity to reflect on my
academic goals in relation to my
professional goals.”