Competence Models for Assessing Individual Learning Outcomes and Evaluating Processes

The GRF priority programme competence models has a duration of six years and it brings together experts from the fields of psychology, educational science and subject didactics. Currently, scientists from more than 20 higher education institutions and non-university research institutions in Germany are engaged in 23 interdisciplinary projects.

The project co-ordination is located at the DIPF in Frankfurt am Main and at the University of Duisburg-Essen.

Objective

The project aims at a better understanding of cognitive psychological and subject didactic conditions of competencies and at developing psychometric models and concrete technologies for measuring competencies. Hence, the project will support the teaching of competencies as a principal goal of scchool and vocational education in the long run.

Research questions

The central questions posed by the priority programme can be structured into four consecutive areas. A development and empirical test of theoretical competence models lies at the heart of the project, which will be complemented by psychometric models for measurement, and these will  lead up to the construction of measurement processes for the empirical assessment of competencies. The research programme is rounded up by questions regarding the use of the information gained from competence-based diagnostics and competence-oriented assessments.

Competencies

The research context defines competencies as context-specific cognitive dispositions for achievement that functionally relate to situations and demands in certain domains in terms of specific areas of learning and action. Competencies are acquired by learning and experience and they can be influenced by external interventions and institutionalised educational processes.

The individual research projects are concerned with the following domains:

• mathematical competencies,
• science competencies,
• language and reading competencies,
• teaching competencies,
• trans-disciplinary competencies.

International Co-operation Partners of the Priority Programme

• Prof. Dr. Benö Csapó, University of Szeged, Hungary
  Prof. Dr. Mark Wilson chair of the Berkeley Evaluation & Assessment Research (BEAR) Center, University of California, USA.

National Co-operation Partners

• Technology Based Assessment (TBA), DIPF, Frankfurt
• Institut zur Qualitätsentwicklung im Bildungswesen [Institute for Quality Development in Education (IQB)], Humboldt Universität, Berlin
• Institut für Schulqualität der Länder Berlin und Brandenburg e.V. [Institute for School Quality in the federal states of Berlin and Brandenburg (ISQ)] Berlin

Speaker and Project Co-Ordination

• Prof. Dr. Eckhard Klieme
• Prof. Dr. Detlev Leutner

Project Co-Ordinating Staff

• Martina Kenk
• Jens Fleischer