| The fact of placing competences and outcomes learning at the heart of the academic activity means overhauling the curricular architecture of higher education in Europe. Some universities have undergone important transformations moving toward a competence-based learning environment, while others maintain traditional curriculum packaged formats. In the realm of the European Higher Education Area, this paper examines the use of competence-based initiatives in curricular development for engineering degrees with special focus to the Spanish case. Although the concept of competence and competence-based learning has a long history in education and training research, these terms are still very diffuse and demand a clear conceptualization. In the first part of this paper, we provide a conceptual overview and a critical reflection of competences as implemented in a wide range of settings, including its origins, key concepts, and definitions.Next, we discuss the purposes, principles, pitfalls, and processes that enable defining a map of competences within engineering education. Lastly, we present a pilot project involving curriculum development and faculty enhancement within a competence-based learning initiative in Electronic Engineering.

Learning is a non-deterministic complex dynamical system where students transform inputs (classes, assignments, personal work, gamification activities, etc.) into outcomes (acquired knowledge, skills, and competencies). In the process, students generate outputs in a variety of ways (exams, tests, portfolios, etc.). The result of these outputs is a grade aimed at measuring the (level of) competencies achieved by each student. We revisit the relevance of continuous assessment to obtain this grading. We simultaneously investigate the generated outputs in different moments as modifiers of the system itself, since they may reveal a variation of the level of competencies achievement previously assessed. This is a novelty in the literature, and a cornerstone of our methodology. This process is called a Dynamical Continuous Discrete assessment, which is a form of blended assessment that may be used under traditional or blended learning environments. This article provides an 11-year perspective of applying this Dynamical Continuous Discrete assessment in a Mathematics class for aerospace engineering students, as well as the students’ perception of continuous assessments.

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