CONCLUSIONS

This chapter has presented three case studies with very different aims and outcomes:

• Case study 1, where a new competency framework was generated, based on an existing one, and used as the basis of the assessments. These assessments were aimed at the technical competencies of highly skilled professional engineers within an organisation;

• Case study 2, where a high number of people were assessed using an off-the-shelf competency framework as a basis for the assessments. These assessments were aimed at the technical competencies of a large number of engineers with varied backgrounds and skill levels;

• Case study 3, where a new competency framework was generated from scratch, based on many different information sources. These assessments were aimed at the general competencies of schoolchildren and were carried out by teachers.

The aim of this chapter has been twofold – to show how the UCAM approach can be used in the real world, but also to demonstrate the variety of domains to which the approach can be applied. The worlds of professional engineering and school education are poles apart, yet the same approach and the same processes proved effective in both cases.

Seeing the variety in these applications of UCAM will hopefully provide readers with the confidence and motivation required to try out some of these techniques for themselves. The approach can be applied in any domain and at any level of rigour. The processes shown in this book are also shown as guidance, so remember that they can be tailored for your own use. Above all, ensure that you add value to whatever you are doing by applying these techniques.