The inability of students to apply what they have learned to the professional world indicates the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical skills. Because knowledge imparted in higher education is mainly based on academic theories but not designed for use in the practical field, students do not know how to translate what they have learned into actions. However, most of the training programs for helping profession provided at the university require students to undertake at least one practical internship course, indicating the belief that field experience is necessary to convert professional knowledge into practical skills to become a helping professional (Chiu, 2010; Huang et al., 2010; Lin & Chen, 2000).

This study therefore investigated how to change knowledge-oriented teaching to competency-based teaching under university teaching conditions that mainly serve the transmission of knowledge. Using the example course “professional ethics,” this study led students from passively receiving knowledge to actively constructing knowledge to develop their practical competence in ethical perception and awareness and proper conduct regarding professional ethics.

As a case study for the conceptual exploration of professional ethical competence, competence-based learning, and ethics, the author designed a “learning by teaching” curriculum that enabled students to consider virtual ethical contexts for practical integration. The experiences and learning process of the students were recorded and analyzed to demonstrate how the students learned with this curriculum and how it helped the students to develop professional ethical competence.

The curriculum consisted of three stages. The first acquainted the students with the core concepts of counseling ethics. The teaching themes of this stage included counseling ethics, ethical decision models, awareness of one’s own value, cultural diversity, ethical problems in informed consent, boundary management, dual relationships, ethical issues regarding referral and closing cases, burnout, and self-care. The students were asked to read a textbook before class. The teacher explained each concept regarding counseling ethics through self-made presentations, which were followed by case discussions in small groups. Each group then shared their viewpoints and questions with other groups in the classroom. The teacher summarized these points and commented on them at the end of the class. This stage lasted 12 hours distributed over 6 weeks. The second stage addressed practical conditions in different fields and response strategies. Because helping profession fields are diverse, the themes of this stage included recognizing practical conditions in different environments, such as schools, medical institutions, and community nonprofit organizations, and the relevant common ethical dilemmas, case types, and response strategies. Two weeks of lecturing time was used to introduce each field. Senior practitioners from various fields shared their ethical experiences. The second week of this stage consisted of group discussion, in which various aspects of ethical matters and practices were elaborated on. This stage lasted 12 hours distributed over 6 weeks. The third stage involved developing and integrating ethical competence through learning by teaching. The theme of this stage was learning and integrating ethics and field knowledge through a series of integrative learning processes. The students completed three tasks in groups as follows: (1) interviewing a

practitioner to understand ethical situations within a given field of practice. Students targeted a practice field they intended to explore, researched the most common ethical issues in that field, identified a suitable practitioner willing to be interviewed, and developed an interview guide, (2) designing a teaching plan with a hypothetical ethical problem. The goal of designing the

teaching plan was for the students to lead their peers to undertake ethical decision-making in a particular situation. Students selected an ethical matter as the theme of their teaching plan, integrated their ethical knowledge and the interview content in the plan, and evaluated the experiences of their peers using the plan. Four course hours were spent on these two tasks. The students

were not required to attend class during this period, and (3) executing the teaching plan. The students with teaching plans acted as teachers, and their peers addressed the designed ethical problem as learners. The practitioners who were interviewed attended to provide feedback after the students’ execution of their teaching plans. This task lasted 6 hours distributed over 3 weeks.

Data collected throughout the course included teacher notes, teaching assistant observation notes, weekly reflective journals written by the students, and the transcript of a focus group interview conducted by the research assistant. The thematic analysis approach was used for data analysis, which was conducted in three steps: Familiarization, coding, and generating themes.

The main findings of this study can be described in three points. First, students with learning habits who expected teaching in the usual manner experienced unexpected frustration at the beginning of the course and thus reacted emotionally to class requirements. Second, after reacting to the new course design, the students exhibited three types of responses: (1) insisting on the “old” learning style, (2) attempting to learn in the new manner but waiting for affirmation from others, and (3) adapting to integrative learning and self-affirming. Third, in the later stages of the learning by the teaching phase, the emotions of most of the students settled, and they gradually acquired understanding and awareness of ethical scenarios. The students who experienced this curriculum felt enriched by their learning.

This pedagogical study focused on the implementation of the designed curriculum and the results thereof. The success in delivering the curriculum indicates that the design fit the teaching conditions at the university. Although the students experienced emotional disturbance at the beginning of the curriculum, most completed the process and enjoyed a positive experience overall. Students also reported better understanding of ethical matters and acquired useful skills for addressing professional ethical scenarios. Learning patterns demonstrated in this study indicate the impact of changing the teaching strategy from knowledge-based learning to competence-based learning and thus provide insights for refining the curriculum design and its implementation. In particular, the first two types of student reaction in this study indicate that the teacher should pay more attention to setbacks and difficulties experienced by students when switching from a knowledge-oriented learning model to a competency-oriented learning model.

The results of this study demonstrate that the transition from knowledge-based to competency-based learning is not seamless and students may experience difficulties with an unconventional curriculum. The author thus proposes the following suggestions for a more comprehensive curriculum to respond to students’ ethical learning experiences. First, students should be informed of what they may experience in the learning process at the beginning of the course. Second, feedback and support should be provided in a timely manner. Third, students should be guided to reflect upon their own experiences in relation to their learning goals. Maintenance of a close relationship between the teacher and students is critical. The findings of this study do not negate the importance of internships or practicums in bridging theoretical knowledge and practical application but promote the teaching of contextual learning with minimal changes to university structures.