IMPLICATIONS OF COMPETENCY-BASED EDUCATION FOR UNDERGRADUATE SOCIOLOGY.

Implications of college-wide competency-based education (CBE) approaches for undergraduate sociology programs are discussed, using an established program for illustration. Five basic questions for sociologists considering involvement in CBE are addressed: (1) Are courses to be built upon content or competency? (2) Is it possible to achieve the ideal of integrating content and competency in evaluating student performance without relegating content to a secondary role? (3) Is it possible to alter one's conception of teaching from dispensing knowledge to facilitating learning? (4) Is it possible to alter one's conception of professional autonomy to meet CBE demands? (5) Is the education at CBE institutions comparable to that offered at traditional institutions, both in terms of learning and career opportunities? This paper examines some implications of college-wide competency-based education (CBE) approaches for undergraduate sociology programs and curricula, using an existing program for illustration. A major difficulty in delineating CBE's impact on academic programs is that the approach is not yet marked by a set of unifying conceptual or organizational principles, nor does an adequate definition or theoretical framework exist to guide generalization (Grant, 1979:11). For these reasons, the present paper is confined to issues arising from elements that appear to be common to CBE approaches in general.[1]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]