ABSTRACT
This paper presents the findings of a five month research project that evaluated the effects that competency-based approaches have had on students’ assessment on the impact of hotel-related with the institute of tourism or VET sector. Specifically, the study investigated the levels of understanding before and after studying of CBT in Front Office One Subject by the students at Trisakti Institute of Tourism; and described the way in which instructors have adapted their practice to accommodate competency-based training, Findings from the study revealed that the level of Student’s Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes in understanding of Competency Based Training (CBT) is significantly difference.
INTRODUCTION
Tourism in Indonesia is growing (see Table 1) more hotels over establishing, and increasing requires employees, and also influencing to establish more vocational schools or institutes of tourism. Hospitality students who graduate today face many challenges when finding a job in today’s competitive job market. Graduates must meet the expectations of the prospective companies as well as recruiters’ expectations. Questions arise to how education is responding to industry’s need. Academic Hospitality programs are designed to teach the skills that will prepare them to be competitive in the workplace. These skills should enable the graduate to manage the rapidly changing demands in today’s hospitality industry addressing increased competition, changing consumer attitudes and employer demands. The academic hospitality has concern about how hotel education is to prepare students as a hotel worker and feel about the hotel industry as a long-term career.
Table 1: Number of Foreign Visitor Arrivals to Indonesia by Port Of Entry 2000
2004
| Year | Port Of Entry | Total | ||||
| Soekarno Hatta | Ngurah Rai | Polonia | Sekupang Batam | Other Port | ||
| 2000 | 1,029,888 | 1,468,207 | 84,301 | 1,134,051 | 1,347,770 | 5,064,217 |
| 2001 | 1,049,471 | 1,422,714 | 94,211 | 1,145,578 | 1,441,646 | 5,153,620 |
| 2002 | 1,095,507 | 1,351,176 | 97,870 | 1,101,048 | 1,387,799 | 5,033,400 |
| 2003 | 921,737 | 1,054,143 | 74,776 | 1,285,394 | 1,130,971 | 4,467,021 |
| 2004 | 1,005,072 | 1,525,994 | 97,087 | 1,527,132 | 1,165,880 | 5,321,165 |
Requiring good of employees related with the need of hospitality industry is one of the key components outcomes of the tourism or vocational school which has been the implementation of competency based training (CBT).It means, under CBT, students are more likely to be using self-paced learning materials, which they will work through on their own with assistance from the lecturer; and also students have clear knowledge of the required learning outcomes and hence power is shared more equally between student and teacher. In vocational school CBT as a key mechanism in teaching core subject like Front Office, Housekeeping and food & beverages to requiring a condition of hotel’s need.
WHAT IS COMPETENCY BASED TRAINING?
Competency-based education famous in the United States in the 1970s in the performance-based vocational teacher education movement, competency approaches are riding a new wave in the 1990s with the National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) system in England and Wales (Sandra Kerka, 1998, p.1).
Developing the teamwork between Indonesia - Australia based on The Australian Hospitality National Competency Standards, competency based training in Indonesia popular in the 1996 and using the system “Adopt & Adapt” for vocational school, in front office, housekeeping and food & beverages subject (Yulianto, 2002). The implementation of CBT would be supported by the development of a program that is field centered, supported by personnel from a variety of key interest groups (the student/trainee, teachers, administrative staff), open to change and evaluation based on the experiences of teachers and learners and facilitative of processes which encourage the continuous development of competence over the length of a career.
Table two showing the process of learning based on Competency and Conventional
Table 2. Comparing the process of learning based on Competency and Conventional
| The Old Way (Conventional) | The New Way (Competency) |
| Teacher focused | Student Focused |
| Group dynamics | Individual needs |
| Set curriculum | Customized courses |
| Set period of work | Flexible delivery |
| Final exams | Assessment ongoing |
| All assessment off the job | Assessment on and off the job |
| Industry qualification | Specific qualification |
| Performance relative to others | Own performance |
| Emphasis on time and process | Outcomes oriented |
| Assessment norm references and standardized | Assessment criterion referenced and customized |
| Emphasis on how to learn | Emphasis on what you can do |
| Single path to qualifications | Several paths to qualifications |
Source: Indonesia-Australia Partnership for Skills Development - AusAID, 2000
CHARACTERISTICS OF COMPETENCY-BASED TRAINING PROGRAMS.
In addition to a set of competencies, what other characteristics are associated with CBT? According to Foyster (1990) and Norton (1987) there are a number of characteristics of competency-based programs:
- Competencies are carefully selected.
- Supporting theory is integrated with skill practice. Essential knowledge is learned to support the performance of skills.
- Detailed training materials are keyed to the competencies to be achieved and are designed to support the acquisition of knowledge and skills.
- Methods of instruction involve mastery learning, the premise that all participants can master the required knowledge or skill, provided sufficient time and appropriate training methods are used.
- Participants’ knowledge and skills are assessed as they enter the program and those with satisfactory knowledge and skills may bypass training or competencies already attained.
- Learning should be self-paced.
- Flexible training approaches including large group methods, small group activities and individual study are essential components.
- A variety of support materials including print, audiovisual and simulations (models) keyed to the skills being mastered is used.
- Satisfactory completion of training is based on achievement of all specified competencies.
FACTORS OF COMPETENCY BASED TRAINING
- Knowledge
Employers are interested in identifying the source of individual high levels of performance Cognitive theorists proposes that individual knowledge, the basis for competence, resides in memory. In addition, that vocational knowledge exists in different forms described as cognitive structures (Billett, 2001).
- Skill
Academic skills are learned prior to specific vocational skills and are useful to the extent that they help workers master the required list of tasks. But with the typical approach to teaching and the types of tasks that workers are asked to carry out, workers are not encouraged to, and do not, transfer these enabling competencies to their applications Vocational skills, in contrast, are taught for work--often at work or in work-like settings. (Stasz, McArthur, Lewis, and Ramsey 1990).
- Attitude
Attitudes can be an important service provider characteristic because they drive behavior. Essentially, it is reinforcing to act consistently with one’s attitude and the self-concept underlying that attitude. Also, attitudes serve as a control mechanism. Behavior inconsistent with one’s beliefs creates dissonance or negative affect a worker with positive attitudes toward service orientation should not behave rudely toward a customer because that act of rudeness would be emotionally costly (Festinger, 1957).
RESEARCH BACKGROUND
The Tourism Institute should try to identify what is essential to develop the required competencies. Some questions give great support to research design: What skills and knowledge should be applied? What attitudes should the students show? Is there any difference of Students’ ability between before and after studying Front Office One Subject?
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
1. Variables used in the study.
This research is a descriptive study to find out how effective the implementation of competency based training is in conducting Front Office One subject. The variables in this study are students’ demography and CBT factors. Students’ demography consists of three sub variables, i.e. previous education, programs taken, and students’ gender. Meanwhile, CBT factors consist of three sub variables, i.e. knowledge, skill, and attitude.
2. Instrumentation
Research instrument used in this study is a questionnaire which consists two parts. The first part is about the students’ demographic data, namely the students’ gender (male or female), program taken (Diploma 4), and previous education (Senior high school or vocational school). The second part consists of 45 questions to measure the Competency Based Training factors, namely students’ knowledge, skill and attitudes. The Indicators of questionnaires are shown in Table 3
Table 3. Indicators of questionnaires
| Variables | Sub Variables | Indicators | Scale |
| Students’ Demographic | Last Education | Senior High School Vocational School | Nominal |
| Programs | D4 | Ordinal | |
| Gender of students | Male Female | Nominal | |
| Factors of CBT | Skill | Three scale likert | Ordinal |
| Attitude | Three scale likert | Ordinal | |
| Knowledge | Three scale likert | Ordinal |
3. Population
The target population of this study is the first semester students of Diploma four, hotel department at Trisakti Institute of Tourism who study Front Office One. The sample taken for this study is 80 students (about 50% of the population) The Trisakti Institute of Tourism is located in suburban regions of Jakarta City. The research period was from February to September, in 2005.
4. Data Collection
Data collection was conducted from February to September 2005. The same questionnaires were distributed to 80 students twice in one semester, i.e. at the beginning of semester (February 2005) and at the end (September 2005). In between, the instructor gave the students the Front Office One subject based on Competency Based Training factors (knowledge, skill and attitude). From 80 students, 71 students answered the questionnaire completely with response rate of 88.75 %, and there was no way to conduct appropriate follow-up procedures to handle non-responsive ones. Therefore, the results of the study can only be generalized to the seventy one (71) students who provided usable data.
5. Data Analysis.
The data were tabulated and analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences correlations (SPSS Version 6.1 for Windows). The students’ demographic data were analyzed using frequencies, percentages, valid percentages and cumulative percentages. Meanwhile, factors of Competency based training data were analyzed using Paired Sample Statistics, including mean value, mean value differences, T test, Degree of Freedom and Significance.
The part of questionnaire which measured the students’ knowledge, skill, and attitude was using Likert scale. Students chose one of the categories (disagree, doubt, or agree) to respond to each question. The Likert scale was used to measure the degree of agreement and to establish numeric result for statistical analysis.
6. Hypotheses.
The following null hypotheses were proposed:
Ho: There is no statistically significant difference of Students’ ability between before
and after studying Front Office One Subject.
H1: There is statistically significant difference of Students’ ability between before
and after studying Front Office One Subject.
7. Research Framework.
The competency standard can be seen as a particular point on a continuum of more or less competent performances (e.g. follows procedures under direction; completes the task without direction; evaluates own performance of the task) and learning programs may be designed around this approach by using specified outputs of performances and standards of performance.
At the beginning of the semester (February 2005), before taking Front Office One subject, the students should complete the questionnaire to measure their knowledge, skill, and attitude. Then the instructor gives the students Front Office One subject for five months based on Competency Based Training. At the end of the semester (September 2005) the students should complete the same questionnaire as they did at the beginning of the semester, hoping that their knowledge, skill and attitude will improve. The concept is illustrated in Table four.
Table 4. the frame work
Beginning of Student’s condition -----------> Finishing of Student’s condition
o Knowledge Knowledge
o Skill Skill
o attitude attitude
RESULT
1. Demography of the Students
Characteristics of the students based on their gender are presented in Table 5 below.
Table 5. Gender of respondents
| Gender | Frequency | Percent | Valid Percent | Cumulative Percent |
| Male | 39 | 54.9 | 54.9 | 54.9 |
| Female | 32 | 45.1 | 45.1 | 100.0 |
| Total | 71 | 100.0 | 100.0 | |
Table five depicted that respondents consist of 39 male students with response rate of 54.9% and 32 female students with response rate of 45.1%
Meanwhile, the students’ previous education was shown in Table 6 below
Table 6. Previous Education
| Education | Frequency | Percent | Valid Percent | Cumulative Percent |
| Senior High School | 53 | 74.6 | 74.6 | 74.6 |
| Vocational School | 18 | 25.4 | 25.4 | 100.0 |
| Total | 71 | 100.0 | 100.0 | |
Table six shows that 53 students with response rate of 74.6% have senior high school education background, while 18 other students with response rate of 25.4% have vocational school education background.
Unlike students from vocational schools, those from senior high school haven’t learned about Front Office. Therefore, the majority of respondents (74.6%) do not have much knowledge, skills and attitudes of Front Office before studying this subject at Trisakti Tourism Institute.
The results of CBT factors are discussed based on three sub variables, namely knowledge, skill and attitude as follows:
1. Knowledge:
A Likert scale was used to measure students' knowledge toward the overall assessment process. Students were asked to complete fifteen questions. Table 7 provides an overview of paired sample statistic on students’ knowledge with three point scale. The scale was as follows: 1 = agree; 2 = doubt; 3 = disagree
Table 7. Paired Sample Statistic on Students’ Knowledge
| | Respondent | Mean | Different mean | T | Df | Significant |
| Before | 71 | 1.76 | - 0.20 | - 3.348 | 70 | 0.001 |
| After | 71 | 1.96 | | | | |
Table seven provides the following data:
a) Total respondents before and after studying Front Office One subject are 71 students.
b) Mean value before studying Front Office One subject is 1.76, and mean value after studying the subject is 1.96.
c) The mean difference is zero point twenty (1.76 - 1.96 = 0.20)
d) T test value is – 3.348
e) Degree of freedom (Df) = N-1. It means 71 – 1 = 70
f) The significance is 0.001. If the probability is higher than 0.005, Ho is rejected. On the other hand, if the probability is lower than 0.005, Ho is accepted. As the table showed 0.001, Ho is accepted. Therefore, there is a statistically significant difference of students’ knowledge before and after studying Front Office One subject.
2. Skill
Table 8. Paired Sample Statistic on Students’ Skill
| | Respondent | Mean | Different mean | T | Df | Significant |
| Before | 71 | 1.76 | 0.27 | 3.706 | 70 | 0.000 |
| After | 71 | 1.49 | | | | |
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