Competency assessment impact in quality of learning: Nursing degree learner´s and teacher´s perception

Abstract

Introduction: Competency based education offers the promise of reducing the gap between education and employment and concerns in Higher Education have revolved around how to achieve deep and meaningful learning, a long life learning, so that learning transfer to real situations, complex and changing, would be possible. Conceptualizing assessment from competency based education approach requires assuming its multidimensional character and designing an assessment for learning and not only assessment of learning seeking to improve learning quality. Awareness of the assessment impact on learning requires raising evaluation as a shared process able to be simultaneously cause and effect of learning. In this context, the aim of this study is to determine learners and teachers perceptions about current practices of competence assessment and its impact on the quality of learning.
Methodology: Interpretative descriptive study. Qualitative analysis of data collected through open questionnaires and discussion groups with Degree in Nursing learners and teachers.
Results: Both teachers and learners believe that current assessment practices determine learning skills, but there are big differences in their perceptions. Teachers perceive negatively this impact and claim that for student’s evaluation is only overcoming subjects while students state that assessment influences them positively, guiding their learning and offering improvement opportunities.
Conclusions: teachers perceive difficulties in overcoming evaluation`s traditional, while students perceive its most formative function and demand for it sufficient and quality feedback.