Practice Analysis and Curriculum Development

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Practice Analysis and Curriculum Development
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Mission Statement
To lead the investment profession globally by
setting the highest standards of ethics,
education, and professional excellence.
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The CFA Program

• A self-study, distance learning-based program
  that takes a generalist approach to security
  analysis and portfolio management and emphasizes
  the highest ethical and professional standards.

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The CFA Program Cycle
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Bodies of Knowledge Based on an Analysis of
Practice
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Bodies of Knowledge

• Global Body of Investment KnowledgeTM
• The GBIK is the comprehensive outline of
  knowledge for the investment profession.
  Investment professionals may use GBIK concepts at
  any stage of their career - novice through
  expert, generalist and/or specialist. The GBIK
  includes mainstream and frontier concepts based
  on research that is still being debated and may
  encompass views well outside those of the
  mainstream.
• Candidate Body of KnowledgeTM
• The CFA Program CBOK is the core knowledge,
  skills, and abilities (competencies) that are
  generally accepted and applied by investment
  professionals. These competencies are used in
  practice in a generalist context and are expected
  to be demonstrated by a recently qualified CFA
  charterholder.
• Specialized Bodies of Knowledge e.g. Private
  Wealth, CIPM
• These SBOK represent the knowledge, skills, and
  abilities (competencies) that may be applied by
  investment professionals within specialty areas.
  SBOK can include mainstream and frontier
  concepts.

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Practice Analysis What and Why?

• Most respected authorities in education, testing
  and certification recommend or require periodic
  practice analysis studies
• Focuses on the critical tasks performed by
  competent people working in the profession
• Establishes content validity curriculum and
  exams must be linked to the knowledge and skills
  needed by practitioners
• Results in new GBIK CBOK the blueprint for
  curriculum and exam content
• The only way a topic gets into the CFA Program
  (and eventually tested) is if practitioners
  throughout the world deem it important.

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Practice Analysis Process

• 2006 and Prior
• Approximately 5-year cycle
• CBOK focus
• Develop Degree of Understanding Outline and Topic
  Area Weights
• Foundation for Curriculum and Exam Development
• New Practice Analysis Process
• Continuous, four-phase development process
• GBIK and CBOK focus
• GBIK and CBOK updated on an annual basis
• Test specifications will continue to be updated
  on a multi-year cycle
• Foundation of All Educational Activities at CFA
  Institute

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Phase 1 of Practice Analysis Process
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Collaborative Community for Practice
Analysis/GBIKTM

• The purpose of this site is to continuously
  update and refine our Global Body of Investment
  Knowledge (GBIK) --- a living document.
• There are three main areas of interest
• Documents Contains the current GBIK in
  hierarchical form 
• Discussions Discussions about additions,
  deletions, improvements or a revised
  structure to the GBIK
• GBIK Wiki Presents the GBIK topics in tree
  format  
• Domain Moderators are responsible for the
  oversight of GBIK topics
• EAC Working Body assigned to domain topic and
  provides support to domain moderators.

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Collaborative Community for Practice Analysis/GBIK
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Collaborative Community for Practice
Analysis/GBIKTM
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Collaborative Community for Practice Analysis/GBIK
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Collaborative Community for Practice Analysis/GBIK
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Collaborative Community for Practice
Analysis/GBIKTM
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Phase 2 of Practice Analysis Process
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Employer Advisory Panels

• To obtain input on industry trends to ensure that
  the GBIK and CFA Program CBOK remain current
• To assist CFA Institute in better understanding
  employers expectations regarding the
  competencies and skills and abilities of
  investment professionals
• To learn more about how CFA Institute and the CFA
  program can better serve employers needs

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Regional Expert Panels

• To assist CFA Institute in identifying changes
  necessary to ensure that the GBIK and CFA Program
  CBOK remain current
• To obtain input from a wide variety of
  professionals
• To ensure that the CFA Program CBOK reflects the
  diversity of practice within the investment
  profession

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Locations of Practice Analysis Panels

• New York December 2008
• Dubai February 2009
• Hong Kong March 2009
• London October 2009
• Zurich October 2009

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Phase 3 of Practice Analysis Process
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Member Survey

• Based on results from collaborative website and
  panel discussions
• Regionally stratified-sample to reflect
  membership
• Over 2,000 responses with the following regional
  breakdown
• Americas 35
• Asia Pacific 29
• EMEA 36
• Output used by Practice Analysis Task Force to
  set topic weights and specific knowledge areas

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Phase 4 of Practice Analysis Process
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The CFA Program Cycle
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CFA Program Candidate Body of Knowledge
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Ten CBOK Topic Domains
Ethical and Professional Standards
Quantitative Methods Economics Financial
Reporting and Analysis Corporate Finance
Investment Tools
Equity Investments Fixed Income
Derivatives Alternative Investments
Asset Valuation
Portfolio Management and Wealth Planning
Portfolio Management
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Curriculum

• The topic focus and learning focus differ at
  each level
• Topic Focus Learning Focus
• Level I Investment Tools Knowledge Ethical
  Standards Comprehension
• Level II Asset Valuation Application Ethical
  Standards Analysis
• Level III Portfolio Management Synthesis Eth
  ical Standards Evaluation
• The curriculum at each level is organized into
  18 study sessions

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Principles of Curriculum Development

• A curriculum that is
• Faithful to the practice analysis and CBOK
• Fair to candidates
• Valuable to members, employers, and investors
• Incorporates best practices in content and
  pedagogy
• The curriculum content should be
• Globally relevant
• Generalist (as opposed to specialist) in nature
• Appropriate for a new charterholder
• Testable
• Authoring/selection/review processes that are
  extensive, intensive, and diverse in all topic
  domains
• Uses both candidate time and CFA Institute
  resources appropriately and effectively

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Curriculum Ground Rules

• Teach the knowledge and skills required of a
  generalist
• Identified in the Global Practice Analysis
• Defined by CBOK and DUO
• Select, develop and regularly review materials
  that
• Are appropriate in a distance-learning
  environment for a global candidate base
• Are clear and accurate
• Contain numerous examples/problems with solutions
• Avoid curriculum materials that are
• Predominately empirical/historical in nature
• Topical (current events oriented or survey
  articles)
• Country specific and/or specialist in nature

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Custom Curriculum

• Custom curriculum gives us flexibility to
• Publish only readings that are required for
  knowledge
• Expand pedagogy (examples, questions, problems)
• Revise readings based on practice analysis
• Update examples and scenarios to current
  environment

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The Curriculum Team

• Educational Advisory Board (EAB)
• Project Consultants (PCs)
• Assistant Project Consultants (APCs)
• Topic Area Experts (TAEs)
• Authors
• Reviewers
• Other Volunteers
• Staff

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Challenges

• Continuous development of the Global Body of
  Investment Knowledge
• Participation on collaborative website
• Panel discussions on both CFA Program Candidate
  Body of Knowledge and Global Body of Investment
  Knowledge simultaneously
• Integrating other specialized bodies of knowledge
• Translating into comprehensive competency
  profiles/learning paths for generalists/specialist
  s.

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Contact

• To learn more about participating in the practice
  analysis collaborative website and discussion
  forum, contact
• Carey Hare
• Project Manager, Curriculum Development
• CFA Institute
• Phone [phone]
• carey.hare_at_cfainstitute.org