Borderline competence – from a complexity perspective: conceptualization and implementation for certifying examinations

Abstract

Consequently, a borderline zone of competence implies an overlap of competence and incompetence with respect to the level of performance on tasks of varying clinical significance. We further suggest that this overlap can be conceptualized as a folding of the 'competence plane' (consistent with a cusp catastrophe model) that cuts the space defined by performance levels on clinical conditions of varying significance, with their associated skills requirements. That folding defines the borderline zone in which competent candidates will perform most of the tasks in the borderline zone correctly whereas incompetent candidates will fail most tasks.

Connecting Competences and Pedagogical Approaches for Sustainable Development in Higher Education: A Literature Review and Framework Proposal

“…Competences are a way of describing desired educational outcomes [42][43][44][45][46]. They include cognitive, functional, ethical, and personal dimensions [47] and link complex knowledge, skills, and attitudes [48].…”

The Objective Borderline Method: a probabilistic method for standard setting

“…Nonetheless, deciding what an examination's pass/fail cut-score should be is far from easy and entails considerable uncertainty Sturmberg and Hinchy 2010). Pant et al (2009) proposed a comprehensive conceptual framework, which places the standard setting process at the interface between the information from the assessment (evidence) and consequences of the assessment.…”

Analysis of the first‐time pass rate of the American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care certifying examination (2010–2015)

“…The modified‐Angoff rating process requires that scorers, blinded to the answer, review each question, and predict the percentage of minimally qualified candidates to answer the question correctly . This process determines the pass point for the examination and enables the examination to discriminate between candidates with acceptable day‐one skills and knowledge from those without . This ensures candidates awarded Diplomate status are capable to uphold the standards of the College and provides quality assurance to consumers for board‐certified critical care veterinarians.…”