EVALUACIÓN DE LA PROGRESIÓN DE COMPETENCIAS MATEMÁTICAS DE CIENCIAS BÁSICAS EN INGENIERÍA

Abstract

The assessment of generic and specific competencies is relevant in higher education, but it faces a challenge in how to evaluate and demonstrate student’s learning in terms of progression of mastery levels and competency achievements. Research has addressed this issue in basic and middle education and at university entrance, but there is a lack of studies on the assessment of both types of competencies at the end of basic sciences. Therefore, three research objectives are proposed: develop a theoretical-methodological strategy to assess competency progression, create an evaluation tool based on the strategy and carry out a case study with engineering students. Using a qualitative and explorative focus, the instrument is used to evaluate the progression of mathematical competencies when the participant, a 5^th semester civil engineering student, faces a didactical design that consists in challenging mathematical tasks. This evaluation provides a quantitative and qualitative diagnosis of the student’s competency progression and suggests areas of improvement based on indicators. We conclude that the methodology presented here along with evaluation is a key to demonstrate the learning and progression of competencies in higher education.