Evaluating assessment quality in competence-based education: A qualitative comparison of two frameworks

Abstract

Because learning and instruction are increasingly competence-based, the call for assessment methods to adequately determine competence is growing. Using just one single assessment method is not sufficient to determine competence acquisition. This article argues for Competence Assessment Programmes (CAPs), consisting of a combination of different assessment methods, including both traditional and new forms of assessment. To develop and evaluate CAPs, criteria to determine their quality are needed. Just as CAPs are combinations of traditional and new forms of assessment, criteria used to evaluate CAP quality should be derived from both psychometrics and edumetrics. A framework of 10 quality criteria for CAPs is presented, which is then compared to Messick's framework of construct validity. Results show that the 10-criterion framework partly overlaps with Messick's, but adds some important new criteria, which get a more prominent place in quality control issues in competence-based education. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords

Author Keywords

Competence-based education Evaluation criteria Assessment programmes Quality control

Index Keywords

Author Affiliations

Universiteit Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands, Open Universiteit, Heerlen, Limburg, Netherlands

Universiteit Maastricht, Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands

Open Universiteit, Heerlen, Limburg, Netherlands, FernUniversität in Hagen, Hagen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany

Funding & Acknowledgements

Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, NWO

Grant: PROO 411-02-363

Funding text 1: Eraut, M., Alderton, J., Cole, G., & Senker, P. (1998). Development of knowledge and skills in employment , Final report of a research project funded by The Learning Society Programme of the Economic and Social Research Council, Brighton, University of Sussex.; Funding text 2: The authors would like to thank Dr. Frans Prins for his useful comments and suggestions. We also would like to thank the reviewers for their feedback on the original manuscript. Without their work, this would have been a lesser article. This research was supported by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) under project number PROO 411-02-363.

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Evaluating assessment quality in competence-based education: A qualitative comparison of two frameworks

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