Press Release 095/2011

Competence Measurement Put to Test

KIT’s House of Competence (HoC) Organizes Conference “Competences in Competence Measurement” Together With Two Sections of the German Sociological Association
Absolventen sollen vielfältige Fähigkeiten mitbringen – bei der zweitägigen Konferenz stehen Fragen rund um die Kompetenzmessung an Hochschulen im Fokus. (Foto: JKohl)
Graduates are to have a number of skills. The two conference days will cover aspects of competence measurement at universities. (Photo: JKohl)

To assure the quality of academic teaching and learning, competences are to be measured also at universities in the future – this is not least a requirement by education policy. The background and impacts of increasing competence measurement will be in the focus of expert presentations and discussions on Friday, July 01, and Saturday, July 02, 2011, at the IHK-Haus der Wirtschaft, Karlsruhe. Journalists are cordially invited. The registration deadline will expire on Wednesday, June 15, 2011.

Among others, representatives of several universities will discuss competence measurement and possible alternatives. In addition, the experts will talk about the increasing social relevance of competence (measurement) and the associated change of education conceptions.

“With the new, more profession-oriented courses of studies, the relevance of competences and teaching exceeding the borders of a single discipline has increased as well. The labor market and enterprises increasingly need actors possessing both specialized knowledge and interdisciplinary know-how. In this context, HoC is a major actor and has to position itself in competence modeling, competence acquisition, and diagnosis,” explains Professor Michaela Pfadenhauer from HoC. “This interdisciplinary conference is therefore intended to stimulate discussion about competence acquisition and measurement at KIT.”

The group of national and international experts also includes colleagues from KIT: KIT professor Ulrich Ebner-Priemer, HoC, will talk about “Ambulatory Assessment – A Technology-oriented Approach to Competence Measurement in the Everyday Life of Students at the House of Competence”. The Karlsruhe Teaching Model for Product Development (KaLeP) will be subject of a presentation given by Professor Albert Albers from the Institute of Product Engineering (IPEK). KaLeP is a consistent training system tailored to the development process in practice and intended to convey competence in product development. The competences needed to measure professional competence in technical and commercial expert work will be explained by Professor Martin Fischer from the Institute of Vocational Education and Training and General Pedagogics.

The House of Competence is the central research-based KIT institution for interdisciplinary competence development of students. Apart from fundamental research into specific dimensions of competence and change of social education conceptions, HoC conducts applied research into the development of individual learning and support programs. Major contributions are made among others by the hiper.campus research group and the two professorships at HoC for sociology (Michaela Pfadenhauer) and for applied psychology (Ulrich Ebner-Priemer).

The program and further information on online registration can be found at http://www.pfadenhauer-soziologie.de/?p=2044. The registration deadline will be Wednesday, June 15, 2011.

Being “The Research University in the Helmholtz Association”, KIT creates and imparts knowledge for the society and the environment. It is the objective to make significant contributions to the global challenges in the fields of energy, mobility, and information. For this, about 10,000 employees cooperate in a broad range of disciplines in natural sciences, engineering sciences, economics, and the humanities and social sciences. KIT prepares its 22,800 students for responsible tasks in society, industry, and science by offering research-based study programs. Innovation efforts at KIT build a bridge between important scientific findings and their application for the benefit of society, economic prosperity, and the preservation of our natural basis of life. KIT is one of the German universities of excellence.

sk, 08.06.2011
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Monika Landgraf
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Chief Press Officer
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Contact for this press release:

Saskia Kutscheidt
Presse, Kommunikation und Marketing
Phone: +49 721 608-48120
Fax: +49 721 608-43658
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