The purpose of the study is to suggest implications for competency based education
of Korean universities and lifelong learning by making a literary review related to
competency based education of foreign universities. For this purpose, we explored
definitions of competency based education, approaches to competency, components of
competency and established competency based education analysis criteria as well as
trends of competency based education of the U.S., and Japan.
Such literature reviews resulted in providing meaningful implications for the
development of competency based education of Korean universities in the near
future, which is in turn conclusion of the study. First, it places more emphasis on
the importance of selecting a lifetime competency and living a happy life. Second,
beyond a designated competency needed in the individual job unit, it is overall and
amalgamative competency allowing people to actualize sustainable lives of the
lifelong learning age. Third, it adopts hands on and residential experiences in the
way of educational methods.