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First Draft - October 2007

This guide was prepared to assist those work groups preparing segments for the National Training Program Curriculum. Each curriculum segment represents a small portion of the standards for educating our weights and measures professionals. The Committee is recommending a standard format be used as described below.

The curriculum will cover the broad range of knowledge included in the field of weights and measures. It is organized in a hierarchy of segments ranging from broad topics with general information at level one to narrow topics with highly specific information at level three. These segments will be combined to provide the standards for educating our professionals. It is critical to understand that a curriculum is not a lesson plan for the trainer. Rather it is an organized set of objectives and measurable milestones that can be used to verify that the trainer has covered the subject. Since the curriculum is concerned with outcomes rather than input, the trainer must use the objectives and milestones in preparing the lesson plan for training.

Curriculum Segment Format:

• Segment Number and Title
• Overview and Scope
• Prerequisite Segments
• Objectives and Competencies

Segment Number and Title

Obtain these directly from the Curriculum Plan with the numbers an titles assigned by the Professional Development Committee. Please include a revision date under the title.

Overview and Scope

Provide a brief narrative overview and description of the scope of the segment. This should generally be a short paragraph of only a few of sentences.

Prerequisite Segments

List the segment number and title of any prerequisite segments that should be mastered before undertaking the material in this segment. Generally this will remain within one of the four main topic areas in the curriculum. When covering device inspection topics, do not include prerequisites segments Weights and Measures General, Metrology, or Market Practices areas

Objectives and Competencies

A curriculum segment will typically have multiple objectives, each with two to perhaps ten measurable competencies, sometimes called milestones. If the number of competencies exceeds ten, it is best to break the objective into two or more objectives.

The objective statement should follow the guidelines in the NCWM Core Competency Model. A given category or area may require more than one objective and associated competencies. Well-constructed objective statements should express a single, specific objective. For consistency, the Committee asks that objectives generally be ordered following the table below. The order is to provide a consistent feel to the curriculum and depending on the needs of the particular segment, any one or more categories from this chart may not apply. Following the objective statement add a lead in to the bulleted competencies such as, “To demonstrate this, the inspector can:”

The competencies or milestones should represent measurable actions that demonstrate a mastery of one aspect of the objective. For base level inspectors, each competency begins with an action verb from the NCWM Core Competency Model beginning with the cognitive levels of knowledge, understanding or application. As the curriculum is expanded to journeyman and advanced levels, additional cognitive levels of analysis, integration and evaluation may be added. Please present the competencies in bullets.

Device Segment Category	Purpose
Technology and Terminology	These sections should set standards for knowledge of the technology used in this area of responsibility and understanding of the common terms used to communicate effectively.
Device Operations and Functionality	These sections should set standards for knowledge of metrologically significant operations and features of the items under inspection.
Technical Requirements - Inspection	These sections should set standards for understanding of the technical requirements (specifications) for a device or commodity and for the ability to conduct inspection to verify conformance.
User Requirements - Inspection	These sections should set standards for understanding of the requirements incumbent on a device or commodity user and for the ability to conduct inspection to verify conformance.
Test Methods	These sections should set standards for understanding of the physical test procedures used to verify device or commodity performance and for the ability to conduct these tests.

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