‘The Applied Science programme is competence-based. This means that competencies are tested. This means that not only knowledge and skills count in the assessment, but also qualities such as willingness and ability to collaborate, to be able to work systematically, to be able to collect information efficiently, and so on.’
- Official description from AS –
Well, the description is still quite vague for many students, so that’s why this explanation.
You can see the competence development as saving badges in scouting. If you want the canoe badge, you will have to go canoeing x number of times and have given canoe lessons under supervision. Suppose there is a canoe badge to be obtained at a higher level, then you have to go canoeing x+x times, have given several lessons independently and even made your own canoe.
These are requirements, if you do not meet these requirements you will not receive the badge.
The same applies to the competencies. On Canvas you will find an overview of all competency requirements (presentation indicators) that you must demonstrate per competency and per level (I to IV). All this is already collected in the competency development plan. All this information is also very extensively on https://appliedscience.nl/. This site is used by all universities of applied sciences in the Netherlands. In our own programme, a more compact description has been made of a number of the attendance indicators. Each programme may determine the elaboration and final level for each competence, which the students must have demonstrated at the end of their studies. The application and the final level can therefore differ per programme and per programme level. Most programmes do use intermediate levels I to III for the competencies Research, Experimentation and Development.
The competency profile describes the competencies and action indicators for a professional with five years of work experience after graduating from one of the courses in the Applied Science domain (level IV, highest level)
-Appliedscience.nl/profielbeschrijving/bekwaamtabellen -> Appendix III as a whole
You will have to clearly describe/describe the competencies yourself in a document per competency and per level and substantiate them with examples and associated evidence. This is also a sticking point for many students. How do you write a self-assessment?
You can see the substantiation as a bit like an application/motivation letter. You have to explain to the reader why that person in question should give you that position – competency at a certain level in this case. Therefore, try to remove all doubt from your story. Instead of ‘I think I have achieved this competency because’, write ‘I can demonstrate this competency because’. The assessors must see that you have thought a lot about this development and that you can therefore also make this clear to them with conviction. Why would an assessor award you the level of a competence if you are not convinced that you can demonstrate it? Of course, it may be that you think you can demonstrate a competence and the assessor does not. In this case, it is important to ask for feedback. To start, you can contact your student coach. But the assessors are also happy to think along with you.
Pro-tip: do you have a question in advance that you can’t solve with your student coach? The assessors have an email address and are prepared to help you with specific questions.
Try to see it as statistics, it’s not 100% about the answer (you can’t say very much with 100% certainty) but it’s about having thought about it, being consciously involved with it and realizing that you’ve learned something/solved a problem.
Practical information
On Canvas, the AS General Information course contains all the necessary information about the competence development and your self-assessment of the CEP-AS (Competency Exam Portfolio Check-AS). Please note that you open the page of your own cohort. Cohort 2019 still had a CE2, but this has been removed from cohort 2020.
The SLB program in the main phase on Canvas pays sufficient attention to this. This also includes a manual for writing the self-assessment with examples from other students. Here too, you choose the course of the right cohort. During your studies, you keep track of your own development in your competence development plan. In this, you can also immediately think of activities for competences that still need some attention.
During your studies, you practice writing such a self-assessment several times. Such as after your ASIA, after your third-year internship (previously for CE2). You will then be able to write a self-assessment at the start of your internship (previously CE3-P, now simply CE-P with P for portfolio).
By keeping a close eye on your competence development during your studies, you will be well prepared for the final assessment moment: the Criterion-Oriented Interview (CGI). The CGI is an interview in which the assessors will question you about competences that are still unclear as a result of your CEP or that were still discussed during graduation. They will then perform the final check on the requirements of the competence development. During this interview, you as a student also have the opportunity to demonstrate the competences that have not yet been demonstrated at the required or claimed level. All already demonstrated competences per level will not be discussed during the CGI.
IMPORTANT: you always need evidence to support the arguments in your self-assessment. For this, the signed additional activity forms are also required for activities that are not included in Progress.