The teaching in administration courses based on a competency – Acquisition approach

Abstract

This paper aims to analyse the inclusion of the notion of competencies in undergraduate courses, considering a particular Business Administration course as its main object. This research is qualitative-descriptive, having a case study as its basis. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in all phases, with a total of five interviewees, comprising Course Coordinators, Pedagogy Coordinators, and a Consultant. Categories of analysis had been previously determined, and then data was analysed according to the content analysis method. The outcomes indicate a probable absence of explicitness as to the use of the following subjects competencies and skills; lack of articulation between the skills that are meant to be developed in students and the explicit intentions in students’ formation; teachercentered learning; focus on knowledge transmission rather than on competency formation; difficulties to operate the model based on competency formation. It can be concluded that there was no indication of norms of competency serving as a basis for the formation process, despite the identification of skills to be revealed at the end of the course. On the one hand, there was some evidence of elements of a Pedagogy of Competencies in the course analysed. On the other hand, this did not mean that a whole articulated and systematic orientation was present in all the elements forming the teaching-learning process.