Students walk between buildings on a spring day

Competence-based Quizzes

Strategies for assessing practical knowledge application through scenario-based competency quizzes.

Description

Case studies based on real-world situations or simulated scenarios provide opportunities for students to develop and demonstrate their ability to apply theoretical knowledge in pragmatic or even novel ways. Case studies can be incorporated into larger assessments such as exams or group projects, or they can be designed as stand-alone assessments. 

UCalgary Assessment Principle B

"Assessment practices demonstrate alignment within the curriculum of the course and program, progressively building upon and reflecting student learning, skills, and competencies throughout their academic journey."

Competency-based quizzes support this principle by emphasizing real-world applicability through scenario-based questions grounded in disciplinary contexts. 

Also consider Principle A and Principle E.

Benefits

  • Competency-based learning can foster greater autonomy in students as they take ownership of their learning process (Spelt et al., 2015).
  • Competency-based learning leads to improvements in the technical and professional competencies that students need to succeed in the workplace (Bensah, Ahiekpor, & Boateng, 2011).
  • Competency-based learning has been shown to increase student retention in academic programs and improve their success in securing employment after graduation (Silva et al., 2013).
  • Competency-based learning environments have demonstrated improvements in core transferable skills such as communication, problem-solving, interpersonal skills, numeracy, and information technology (Harris, 1993). 

Ways to use this strategy

*All of these strategies to transform knowledge-based quizzes to competence-based quizzes can be readily used in large enrolment classes. 

Use real-world problems and scenarios

Example: 

  • "Your experiment results contradict your hypothesis. Walk through what you'd do next, including how you'd verify your data and what you'd investigate"

Ask for application of knowledge as a follow up to recall focussed questions

Recall Question: 

  • What is the formula for calculating Return on Investment (ROI)? a) ROI = (Net Profit / Total Investment) × 100  b) ROI = (Total Revenue - Total Costs) × 100 c) ROI = (Total Investment / Net Profit) × 100 d) ROI = Total Revenue / Total Costs

Follow-up Competency-Based Question: 

  • Given this budget proposal with costs and projected revenues, calculate the ROI and recommend whether to proceed. Explain your reasoning. 

Include real-world ambiguity in your problems

Example: 

  • "This code is producing incorrect output. Debug it and explain what was wrong and why your fix works." 

Assess target skills

Example: 

  • "A patient develops hives and shortness of breath 5 minutes after medication. What are your next three actions in priority order?" 

By leveraging technologies like D2L and Gradescope, strategies marked with an * can be applied to developing competence-based quizzes for large enrolment courses.

Examples

Literature

Traditional quiz question:  

What does Hamlet’s soliloquy reveal about individualism? 

Competence-based quiz question:  

You are a curator preparing an exhibition on "The Individual in Renaissance Literature." You've selected three texts to feature: Shakespeare's Hamlet, Machiavelli's The Prince, and Montaigne's Essays. Write a 200-250 word curatorial statement that:

  1. Identifies a common theme regarding individualism across these three works
  2. Explains how each author's cultural/historical context shaped their perspective on this theme
  3. Uses specific textual evidence from at least two of the works to support your interpretation 

Calculus

*This is an example of a two-part quiz for a Calculus II course that can be implemented using D2L in large enrolment courses. The format maintains the competency-based nature while using multiple-choice style for efficient grading. The distractors require students to apply their knowledge rather than guess the answer. 

Part 1 (Recall): 

State the power rule for differentiation. 

  • d/dx(x^n) = nx^(n-1)
  • d/dx(x^n) = x^(n-1)
  • d/dx(x^n) = nx^(n+1)
  • d/dx(x^n) = (n-1)x^n 

Part 2 (Competency-Based - Multiple Choice): 

A pharmaceutical company is modeling the concentration of a drug in the bloodstream over time using the function C(t) = 5t² - 0.3t³, where C is the concentration in mg/L and t is time in hours. 

At what time is the drug concentration changing most rapidly, and what does this mean for dosing? 

  • t = 5.56 hours; administer the next dose before this time to maintain therapeutic levels
  • t = 11.11 hours; administer the next dose at this time for maximum effectiveness
  • t = 5.56 hours; this is when the drug reaches peak concentration in the bloodstream
  • t = 11.11 hours; this indicates when the drug has completely left the system 

Reflection questions: 

  1. What advantages might competence-based quizzes offer for assessing students’ learning? 
  2. What challenges might you anticipate when using competence-based quizzes to assess students’ learning, especially in large-enrolment courses?
  3. How might you leverage technology to create and grade high-quality competence-based quizzes?

References and further reading

Bensah, E. C., Ahiekpor, J. C., & Boateng, C. D. (2011). Migrating from subject-based to competency-based training in Higher National Diploma Chemical Engineering: The case of Kumasi Polytechnic. Education for Chemical Engineers, 6(3), 71–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ece.2011.04.001 

Harris, R. (1993). Reflections in the assessment of vocational teachers' competence. NCVER. Retrieved from https://www.voced.edu.au/content/ngv%3A9629  

Henri, M., Johnson, M. D., & Nepal, B. (2017). A review of competency-based learning: Tools, assessments, and recommendations. Journal of Engineering Education, 106(4), 607–638. https://doi.org/10.1002/jee.20180  

Morcke, A. M., Dornan, T., & Eika, B. (2013). Outcome (competency) based education: An exploration of its origins, theoretical basis, and empirical evidence. Advances in Health Sciences Education, 18(4), 851-863. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-012-9405-9  

Silva, E., Almeida, J., Martins, A., Baptista, J. P., & Campos Neves, B. (2013). Master's in autonomous systems: An overview of the robotics curriculum and outcomes at ISEP, Portugal. IEEE Transactions on Education, 56(1), 98–102.  Retrieved from https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/6336841  

Spelt, E. J. H., Luning, P. A., van Boekel, M. A. J. S., & Mulder, M. (2015). Constructively aligned teaching and learning in higher education in engineering: What do students perceive as contributing to the learning of interdisciplinary thinking? European Journal of Engineering Education, 40(5), 459–475. https://doi.org/10.1080/03043797.2014.987647