Competence-based education
An educational approach that organizes learning and assessment around demonstrated mastery of defined competencies rather than time spent in courses.
Competency framework: An organized set of competencies describing the knowledge, skills, and behaviors expected in a role or domain. It specifies the abilities that define successful learning in a competence-based program.
Competence: The capacity to perform effectively by integrating relevant knowledge, skills, and judgment. The approach treats demonstrated competence, rather than course attendance, as its central outcome.
Competency-based medical education: Medical education organized around learners' progressive demonstration of abilities required for professional practice. It applies competency-based progression to clinical training and physician development.
Time-based education: An educational model in which progression and completion depend primarily on time spent in courses or programs. It makes elapsed time, rather than demonstrated mastery, the primary basis for progression.
Assessment validity: The extent to which evidence and theory support the interpretations and uses of assessment results. A mastery decision is only as sound as the evidence supporting it.
Mastery learning: An instructional approach in which learners advance after demonstrating proficiency in defined learning objectives. It supplies the progression logic: advance after mastery, not after a fixed period.
Learning outcome: A statement of what learners should know, understand, or be able to do after learning. Competencies are often written as explicit outcomes that guide instruction and assessment.
Competency-based education in higher education: Postsecondary education in which learners progress by demonstrating defined competencies, often at flexible rates. It shows how colleges and universities can award progress for demonstrated learning rather than seat time.
Traditional grading: A system that summarizes academic performance using grades, often across assignments and course examinations. Course grades can combine effort, participation, and performance instead of certifying specific competencies.
Inter-rater reliability: The degree to which different evaluators assign consistent judgments to the same performance. Performance-based competency judgments can vary between assessors without shared criteria and calibration.