Exploring the use of an ICT-based tool for assessing competencies in postgraduate students

Abstract

The construction of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) has brought in several profound changes in the university environment. Skills learning methodologies are one of the central issues of this new educational paradigm. Spanish universities have been very careful in defining the competencies that students must achieve on the new degrees and postgraduate courses. However, they have paid less attention to the question of how these competencies should be measured. The present study addresses this issue by examining the implementation of a competency assessment tool. Specifically, we analyse the status of soft skills among students on the Official Master's programme 'Creating and Managing Innovative Technology-Based Companies' at the University of Barcelona, using the Evolute system developed by the Tampere University of Technology (Finland). The results show the Evolute methodology to be an appropriate tool for data collection and analysis. The system is ideal for helping managers of higher education to analyse and evaluate their students' skills acquisition.