Competence Diagnostics and Competency Development in Vocational Education and Training

Abstract

With the PISA project, competence diagnostics has gained a significant international recognition. Although vocational training research initially assumed that it is not possible to develop an instrument for competence diagnostics applicable in the extremely heterogeneous international vocational training landscape, it finally succeeded with the COMET (Competence Diagnostics VET) method. The great challenge was to implement on the basis of complex tasks test instruments that correspond to the reality of the workplace. On the basis of a three-dimensional competence model and a measurement model derived from it, it was possible to depict the central idea of modern vocational education and training (enabling people to help shape the work place in a socially and ecologically responsible way) and to implement it in a test procedure. International test practice has shown that the application of the COMET methodology as an instrument of quality assurance also has an unexpectedly large didactic potential. This is due to the fact that the format of the test items is also suitable for learning tasks. In addition, the representation of the test results in the form of competence profiles representing its eight dimensions of the test instruments also allows for an expansion of the teachers’ technical understanding on multiple professional competence. This is regularly shown by the reflection of the test results in the teaching staff, by the feedback events with the test participants, and finally by the higher quality of the competence development of the pupils/students.