Formative assessment framework proposal for transversal competencies: Application to analysis and problem-solving competence

Abstract

Purpose: In the last years, there is an increasing interest in the manner that transversal competences (TC) are introduced in the curricula. Transversal competences are generic and relevant skills that students have to develop through the several stages of the educational degrees. This paper analyses TCs in the context of the learning process of undergraduate and postgraduate courses. The main aim of this paper is to propose a framework to improve results. The framework facilities the student's training and one of the important pieces is undoubtedly that he has constant feedback from his assessments that allowing to improve the learning. An applying in the analysis and problem solving competence in the context of Master Degree in Advanced Engineering Production, Logistics and Supply Chain at the UPV is carried out.

Design/methodology/approach: The work is the result of several years of professional experience in the application of the concept of transversal competence in the UPV with undergraduate and graduate students. As a result of this work and various educational innovation projects, a team of experts has been created, which has been discussing some aspects relevant to the improvement of the teaching-learning process. One of these areas of work has been in relation to the integration of various proposals on the application and deployment of transversal competences. With respect to this work, a conceptual proposal is proposed that has subsequently been empirically validated through the analysis of the results of several groups of students in a degree.

Findings: The main result that is offered in the work is a framework that allows identifying the elements that are part of the learning process in the area of transversal competences. Likewise, the different items that are part of the framework are linked to the student's life cycle, and a temporal scope is established for their deployment.

Practical implications: One of the most noteworthy practical implications is that the proposed framework includes a tool that allows a clear measurement of the student's evolution throughout his / her formative life cycle. In this way the student has a more consistent and robust vision of his / her training and the academic directors of the titles can have a vision of the impact of the decisions on the learning processes.

Originality/value: The analysis of transversal competences is usually presented in the context of a subject. In this paper we propose an approach to cross-curricular competences but in the scope of the student's complete life cycle. The consideration of the entire formative process as well as the identification of the relevant elements that are part of this process are the most original aspects of the work.