Lifelong Competence Development: On the Advantages of Formal Competence-Performance Modeling

Efficient support, in-depth modeling, and tracking of the development of individual competence is, undoubtedly, a major challenge for interdisciplinary research and development. From our viewpoint, a major problem is the often unclear and sometimes vague approach to competence. Often it is assumed that competence can directly be assessed. Many definitions of competence, however, agree that competence is an abstract, latent quality, which cannot directly be observed. Thus, it is highly difficult to keep track on competence development over time or to compare competencies assessed with different instruments (such as tests, observations, or certain achievements). This article discusses the advantages of a formal competence-performance modeling such as a clear definition of latent competencies and a separation from observable performance (e.g., test results). Other advantages discussed are the possibility of exactly determining a person’s competence state, incorporating interdependencies between competencies, and modeling individual learning paths over time.