professionals to
remain current with their certification, a certain number of
CEU's must be earned according to each certification cycle.
We here at MRPA make every effort to offer CEU's through conferences,
roundtable discussions and workshops. The trick in offering
the CEU is to structure these events in a manner that is both
acceptable to the National Council for Therapeutic Recreation
Certification (NCTRC) as well as the National Recreation and
Park Association (NRPA). These are the governing bodies that
have the final say as to whether they will approve a CEU for
a specific event. MRPA's CEU committee has the job of reviewing
all applications for CEU's, and based on the criteria we are
given by NCTRC and NRPA, either approving or disapproving a
request for CEU's. In order to give people the tools they need
when writing the three learning outcomes for CEU approval,
we ask that you use the following guidelines in your applications
for CEU consideration.
NCTRC guidelines: The continuing education
component includes a wide range of educational opportunities
typically available to the CTRS. These include completing educational
contact hours, specifically at professional conferences, workshops,
symposia and seminars. The CTRS may also earn continuing education
points for authoring professional publications, giving professional
presentations, and completing academic courses.
The content of Continuing Education opportunities
must directly relate to the NCTRC Job Analysis Knowledge Areas:
Background Information, Diagnostic Groupings, Assessment, Planning
the Intervention, Implementing the Individualized Intervention
Plan, Documentation and Evaluation, Organizing and Managing
Services, and Advancement of the Profession.
NRPA guidelines: All CEU sessions must include
an additional 10-15 minutes for introductions and various announcements
regarding CEU evaluation and evaluation forms thus allowing
for a full 60 minutes of education which equals .1 CEU. All
sessions or programs must meet the NRPA minimum requirement
of 1 hour 15 minutes in length.
NRPA's CEU policy requires a participant to
acquire a minimum of three hours or .3 CEU's in one topic area.
To allow flexibility within this policy, CEU tracking (grouping
of sessions) can be used.
When writing learning outcomes, verbs that
are not observable and measurable cannot be used. For example,
do not use the words know, understand, appreciate, grasps,
improve, enhance or learn.
Words that should be used are count, define,
describe, identify, list, name, outline, quote, read, recall,
recognize, reproduce, state, write, discuss, give, estimate,
examples, predict and summarize.
In order for the CEU committee to meet the
needs of both the CTRS and the CLP, we must approve CEU's according
to both sets of standards. By using this guideline, we can
be assured that those participants attending MRPA sponsored
events will receive their CEU's and have minimal problems when
applying for recertification.
If you are planning an event at which you would
like to offer CEU's, please follow the above listed guidelines.
Pay close attention to how your learning outcomes are written,
and you will have the support of the MRPA CEU committee and
the admiration of CTRS's and CLP's statewide. For further questions
regarding CEU's, please contact Antonia Boelter at 651-307-0660. |
