Publish at June 12 2017 Updated July 21 2026
The transfer of knowledge lies at the heart of the issue of assessing skills. Just like knowledge, shouldn’t skills be assessed within meaningful contexts—ideally in real-life situations?
The importance of performing actions that demonstrate a certain level of skill is widely recognized; Piagetian theorists have shown that when learners are actively engaged in an action, they come to understand not only the properties of objects but also the properties of the action itself. It is up to the educator to develop assessment situations where students will have to demonstrate their problem-solving skills in a context that is as meaningful as possible.
The contextualization stage is the stage at which students can use their acquired knowledge to perform a complex task—for example, in a situation where a simulation replaces reality. And it is at this stage that competencies are assessed. The student applies what they have learned and demonstrates their skills. They use critical thinking to solve a problem or construct a set of objects, which requires them to engage their cognitive abilities, draw on input from their peers, and utilize technological resources such as databases and expert programs, for example.
The complexity of the task thus leads the learner to draw not only on their knowledge but also on their personal skills and critical thinking. The work produced in a given situation contextualizes the learner’s subject-specific competencies while allowing certain cross-disciplinary competencies to be demonstrated. The context is thus meaningful and is supported by assessment criteria.
Assessment
Assessing students in action is not simple. Simply stating that a student is competent means very little. This is because competence becomes visible only through competent actions. Hence the importance of developing criteria-based rubrics with graded scales.
For example, a skill should be assessed based on a certain number (x) of successfully performed actions, with the definition of “success” varying as a percentage, regardless of its mathematical value. Thus, a student can have achieved a certain level of success without necessarily being penalized on an official report card, with the undeniable advantage of seeing their skills progress throughout the school year.
Several approaches proposed on the reference sites cited at the bottom of this article are characteristic of the expectations regarding student engagement in the learning activity—an activity that leads to meaningful insights on their part.
However, to assess one or more skills based on essential components, students must primarily be presented with a problem they must solve by applying the knowledge they have acquired and utilizing available resources. It appears that, for the time being, students are placed in meaningful situations but are then assessed solely on their knowledge.
The scope for certification methods is wide open, since the search for discriminating criteria for assessing competencies at the school level is far from complete.
The PISTES website of the Faculty of Education at Laval University.
RECIT - Integrating Technology for Students
Illustration: skeeze - Pixabay
Gurtner, J.-L. 1996. Piaget’s Contribution to Educational Technology. In: Proceedings of the Jean Piaget International Symposium, Tunis: April 1996.
http://tecfa.unige.ch/tecfa/teaching/aei/papiers/Gurtner.pdf
Laurier, M. D. Assessing Skills: Not So Simple… Training and Profession, April 2005.
http://www.crifpe.ca/download/verify/224
Le Boterf, G. Assessing Competencies: What Judgments? What Criteria? What Authorities? Lifelong Education , no. 135, 1998-2.
http://www.education-permanente.fr/public/articles/articles.php?id_revue=135
Legendre, Marie-Françoise, “Chapter 1. The Concept of Competence at the Heart of Curriculum Reforms: A Passing Trend or a Driver of Profound Change?” InCompetencies and Content:Curricula Under Scrutiny. Louvain-la-Neuve, De Boeck Supérieur, “Perspectives in Education and Training,” 2008, pp. 27–50.
Perrenoud, P. “Assessing Competencies.” Published in *L’Éducateur*, special issue “Grades in the Context of Assessment,” March 2004, pp. 8–11.
https://www.unige.ch/fapse/SSE/teachers/perrenoud/php_main/php_2004/2004_01.html
Government of Quebec, Ministry of Education, Recreation, and Sports.The Educational Renewal.Legaldeposit—National Library of Quebec, 2005.
http://fcsq.qc.ca/fileadmin/medias/PDF/452755.pdf
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