Professional Workers as Learners. The Scope, Problems, and Accountability of Continuing Professional Education in the 1990s.

Overview & Synopsis

This monograph presents six papers that analyze the current state of research and practice in continuing professional education. Papers address: (1) the problems confronting effective research and policymaking presented by the diverse and unorganized nature of the continuing professional education enterprise; (2) what is known concerning the learning and teaching experience in continuing professional education, paying particular attention to the ways that have been tried to assess learning and educational effectiveness in such programs; (3) the state of regulation, governance, and quality assurance in continuing professional education and the relationship of these issues to questions of finance and whether such education is mandatory or voluntary; (4) whether collaboration and cooperation exist across professional and provider boundaries and, if so, what motivates it; (5) the state of continuing professional education in Europe, especially the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the Netherlands; and (6) how one accounting firm in particular, and the accounting profession in general, has approached the design, delivery, and assessment of continuing professional education. Appendices include the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Statement of Standards for Formal Group and Formal Self-Study Programs. (GLR)