Towards the curriculum for competences in the UCLA nursing program

Abstract

In response to the need to implement curricular changes and contribute to the long-awaited university transformation within the UCLA Nursing Program, competency-based education is grounded in the theory of complex thought. This theory views competency development as a multifaceted performance process that integrates the dimensions of knowing, doing, and being—all essential for resolving problems arising in specific social and professional contexts. It draws upon the concept of meaningful learning, wherein the integration of these dimensions occurs consciously and reflectively as students participate in constructing their own knowledge and linking new information to their existing cognitive structures; this process gives meaning to the metacognitive act of becoming aware of how performance-oriented competencies are formed.