Note:

If you want to create a new page for developers, you should create it on the Moodle Developer Resource site.

Competencies: Difference between revisions

From MoodleDocs
Line 635: Line 635:


=Upgrade from 1.9=
=Upgrade from 1.9=
The outcomes and scales architecture introduced in Moodle 1.9 provide a basic foundation for competency management. One or more scales can be defined on a site-level, and custom scales can be defined at the course level. Outcomes can be defined at a site-level as standard outcomes, and standard outcomes can be added into courses. Custom outcomes can also be created within courses. Each outcome is linked to an activity via the settings page or via the controls for an existing outcome on the grader report page.
Below is a proposed mapping from the 1.9 outcomes architecture to the proposed competencies architecture.
 


'''grade_outcomes - site-wide outcomes'''
'''grade_outcomes - site-wide outcomes'''


Site wide outcomes will need to be imported into the competency_terms table.
Site wide outcomes will need to be imported into the competency table.


{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"
Line 654: Line 653:
|'''id'''
|'''id'''
|null
|null
|competency_terms
|competency
|'''id'''
|'''id'''
|null
|null
Line 662: Line 661:
|'''courseid'''
|'''courseid'''
|null
|null
|competency_terms
|competency
|'''courseid'''
|'''courseid'''
|null
|null
Line 670: Line 669:
|'''shortname'''
|'''shortname'''
|not null
|not null
|competency_terms
|competency
|'''shortname'''
|'''shortname'''
|not null
|not null
Line 678: Line 677:
|'''fullname'''
|'''fullname'''
|not null
|not null
|competency_terms
|competency
|'''fullname'''
|'''fullname'''
|not null
|not null
Line 686: Line 685:
|'''scaleid'''
|'''scaleid'''
|not null
|not null
|competency_terms
|competency
|'''scaleid'''
|'''scaleid'''
|not null
|not null
Line 694: Line 693:
|'''description'''
|'''description'''
|null or not null
|null or not null
|competency_terms
|competency
|'''description'''
|'''description'''
|null or not null
|null or not null
Line 702: Line 701:
|'''timecreated'''
|'''timecreated'''
|not null
|not null
|competency_terms
|competency
|'''timecreated'''
|'''timecreated'''
|not null
|not null
Line 710: Line 709:
|'''timemodified'''
|'''timemodified'''
|not null
|not null
|competency_terms
|competency
|'''timemodified'''
|'''timemodified'''
|not null
|not null
Line 718: Line 717:
|'''usermodified'''
|'''usermodified'''
|not null
|not null
|competency_terms
|competency
|'''usermodified'''
|'''usermodified'''
|not null
|not null
Line 727: Line 726:
'''grade_outcomes - custom course outcomes'''
'''grade_outcomes - custom course outcomes'''


Custom course outcomes will also need to be imported into the competency_terms table.
Custom course outcomes will also need to be imported into the competency table.


{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"
Line 741: Line 740:
|'''id'''
|'''id'''
|null
|null
|competency_terms
|competency
|'''id'''
|'''id'''
|null
|null
Line 749: Line 748:
|'''courseid'''
|'''courseid'''
|not null (e.g., 2, 3)
|not null (e.g., 2, 3)
|competency_terms
|competency
|'''courseid'''
|'''courseid'''
|null
|null
Line 757: Line 756:
|'''shortname'''
|'''shortname'''
|not null
|not null
|competency_terms
|competency
|'''shortname'''
|'''shortname'''
|not null
|not null
Line 765: Line 764:
|'''fullname'''
|'''fullname'''
|not null
|not null
|competency_terms
|competency
|'''fullname'''
|'''fullname'''
|not null
|not null
Line 773: Line 772:
|'''scaleid'''
|'''scaleid'''
|not null
|not null
|competency_terms
|competency
|'''scaleid'''
|'''scaleid'''
|not null
|not null
Line 781: Line 780:
|'''description'''
|'''description'''
|null or not null
|null or not null
|competency_terms
|competency
|'''scaleid'''
|'''scaleid'''
|null or not null
|null or not null
Line 789: Line 788:
|'''timecreated'''
|'''timecreated'''
|not null
|not null
|competency_terms
|competency
|'''timecreated'''
|'''timecreated'''
|not null
|not null
Line 797: Line 796:
|'''timemodified'''
|'''timemodified'''
|not null
|not null
|competency_terms
|competency
|'''timemodified'''
|'''timemodified'''
|not null
|not null
Line 805: Line 804:
|'''usermodified'''
|'''usermodified'''
|not null
|not null
|competency_terms
|competency
|'''usermodified'''
|'''usermodified'''
|not null
|not null

Revision as of 07:42, 16 July 2009

Moodle 2.0

Note: This page outlines ideas for the Competencies feature planned for Moodle 2.0. It's a specification under construction! If you have any comments or suggestions, please add them to the page comments.

Overview

To support the range of different types of competency frameworks used by organisations, competencies in Moodle 2.0 needs to expand on the 1.9 outcomes architecture.

Goals

  1. Measured amount of abstraction
    • Allow "admins" to specify how competencies are organised (hierarchy, tags, or hybrid)
    • Allow "admins" to specify parent-child and relations between competencies
    • Allow "admins" to allow unlimited hierarchical levels
    • Allow "admins" to describe a competency depth level with custom fields (meta data) and categories for competencies at a given depth level
  2. Easy navigation
    • Allow "admins" to view the competency structure (expanding/collapsing competencies, sorting/searching/filtering by competency meta data)
    • Allow "admins" to easily add new competencies and meta-data
  3. Interface with courses
    • Allow "admins" to attach courses to a competency
    • Allow "course creators" to attach competencies to the course they are assigned to (similar to how outcomes in 1.9 can be added to a course)
  4. Portability
    • Allow "admins" to export competencies using plugins for established standards
    • Allow "admins" to import competencies from another Moodle instance
    • Allow "admins" to setup a sync of competencies with external systems
  5. Assigning evidence
    • Allow "admins" to assign to a competency:
      • One or more course outcomes from one or more courses
      • One or more course completions (e.g., when completing course A, course B, and course C)
      • One or more activity completions (e.g., when completing activity x in course A and activity y in course B, and activity z in course C)
      • An aggregate result threshold for a question category (i.e., an evaluation or assessment using mod/quiz, mod/scorm, etc)
      • Electronic evidence (e.g., a file containing a diploma, certificate, report)
      • Observation (e.g., a comment / testimony / reference)
  6. Specifying minimum/expected proficiency levels
    • Allow "admins" to assign to a competency:
      • An expected proficiency level (i.e., competency scale value)
      • Course completion criteria for a course
      • Activity completion criteria for an activity
      • A specified minimum aggregated value
      • Aggregate result threshold for a question category
  7. Aggregating measured proficiency level for each user
    • Allow "admins" to specify aggregation methods for each competency:
      • All sub-competencies or evidence
      • Any sub-competencies or evidence
      • A specific number of sub-competencies or evidence
      • A percentage of sub-competences or evidence
      • Sum of weighted sub-competencies or evidence
      • Average of weighted sub-competencies or evidence
    • Reporting
      • Allow "admins" to view competency status for all students across all courses.
      • Allow "teachers" to view student competency status within his/her courses.
      • Allow "students" to view their own competency status (within a course, or via their profile or My Moodle).
  8. Specifying weights
    • Allow "admins" to assign weight to each competency and competency evidence
  9. Scalability
    • Store and retrieve data efficiently to allow the scalability to very large numbers of courses, users, competencies, evidence, etc
  10. Extensibility
    • Use a plugin architecture for evidence types

General requirements

  1. We'll need to access and use the existing site-wide Outcomes Outcomes tables
  2. We'll need to use the tables that indicate completion status for courses (these are not yet in place) Course Completion
  3. We need to get aggregate information about the course outcomes and aggregate grades for each user from the gradebook API

Definitions

Scale: A way to measure a competency. Examples:

"Below average, Average, Above average"
"Not competent, Competent"

Competency: A measurable knowledge, skill, ability, attitude or other learning-related characteristic which a student may have. Competencies can be organised into a hierarchy (i.e., category-based), folksonomy (tag-based), or a hybrid of both. An example organisation of competencies:

top-level competency: "Reading Comprehension"
    -> child competency: "Responding to Text"
        -> child competency: "Initial Understanding of Literary Text"
            -> child competency: "Demonstrate initial understanding of elements of literary texts (including text read aloud, reading independently"
                -> child competency: "Identifying characters in a story"
                -> child competency: "Retelling the beginning, middle, and end of a story"
                -> child competency: "Responding to simple questions about a book's content"

Competency evidence type: A form of evidence that can be accepted as evidence that a competency has been achieved. Examples:

Observation
Activity grade
Activity completion
Activity outcome
Course completion
Course grade
Course outcome
Question results
File (diploma)

Competency evidence: A competency can be measured by one or more competency evidence types. Evidence can be stated to include the evidence type, evidence date, and measured value. Examples:

"Observation - Teacher - Above average - 4:00pm May 28, 2009"
"Observation - Spanish Language Proficiency Interview - 4:00pm May 28, 2009 - Rating 4 out of 5"
"Quiz - 4:00pm May 28, 2009 - Grade 90% out of 100%"
"Certificate - Public Speaking Institute - 4:00pm May 28, 2009 - Passed.
"File - College Diploma - 4:00pm May 28, 2009 - Bachelor of Science Computer Science"

Expected proficiency level: The required rating (based on a scale) or grade for a competency. Examples:

"Average"
"5"
"50%"
"Passed"

Measured proficiency level: A user's observed, scored, reported proficiency level for a competency.

"Above average"
"8"
"80%"
"Passed"

Competency weighting: Child competencies can be assigned weights which can be aggregated. Examples:

"Communication"
    -> child "Written Communication - weight: 60/100"
    -> child "Oral Communication - weight: 40/100"

User interface

Individual learning plan

  1. Each user can have a set of either courses to be completed, competencies to be achieved, or a mixture of both. These comprise a user's individual learning plan (IDP).
  2. Each user's IDP will show:
    1. Completed courses
    2. Progress toward courses which are not yet complete. This would be similar to view of the course progress completion report for the user across the incomplete courses.
    3. Competencies achieved. This will include the competencies and meta data made visible to the user, as well as the evidence info (type, date, ratings and grades).
    4. Competencies not yet achieved. This will also include the competencies and meta data made available to the user, as well as the expected proficiency levels for each competency.
  3. Each user can see a list of all his/her courses and competencies as a "transcript" or "record of learning."

Data structures

competency

A competency can be part of a hierarchy and can have evidence attached to it.

Field Type Default Info
id int(10) Auto incrementing
shortname varchar(100) The shortname for the competency
fullname varchar(255) The full name for the competency
description text The description of the competency
idnumber int(10) The id, code number or local identifier for the competency used for reporting
parentid int(10) The id of the parent competency
sortorder int(10) The order number of this competency (useful for ordering competencies for viewing/navigation/reporting)
depth int(10) The depth of the competency (beginning at 1)
path varchar(255) The path to the competency
aggregation int(10) A constant representation one of the competency aggregation methods (any, all, unit, fraction)
scaleid int(10) The scale used to measure the competency
proficiencyexpected int(10) The expected proficiency for the competency
timecreated int(10) The time when the competency was created
timemodified int(10) The time when the competency was modified
usermodified int(10) The userid of the person who last modified the competency

competency_relations

For tracking relations between competencies.

Field Type Default Info
id int(10) Auto incrementing
competencyid1 int(10) The id of a comptency
competencyid2 int(10) The id of a related competency

competency_depth_info_field

Data for a competency depth level field.

Field Type Default Info
id int(10) Auto incrementing
shortname varchar(255) Shortname for the field
fullname text Full name for the field
datatype varchar(255) The type of field data
description text Description of the field
categoryid int(10) The id for the field category
sortorder int(10) The sort order for the field within its category
hidden int(1) The field should be hidden
required int(1) The field required
defaultdata text Default text for the selected parameter
param1 text Parameter text
param2 text Parameter text
param3 text Parameter text
param4 text Parameter text
param5 text Parameter text

competency_depth_info_category

A competency's depth level can have categories for its fields.

Field Type Default Info
id int(10) Auto incrementing
name varchar(255) Shortname for the depth level category
sortorder int(10) The order number for this category

competency_depth_info_data

Data for a depth level field.

Field Type Default Info
id int(10) Auto incrementing
fieldid int(10) The id for the field
competencyid int(10) The id for the competency
data text The actual data for the competency field

competency_evidence_items

A competency can be achieved by one or more forms of evidence.

Field Type Default Info
id int(10) Auto incrementing
competencyid int(10) The id for the competency that this evidence describes
itemtype varchar(30) The type of evidence 'observation', 'course/outcome', 'mod/outcome', 'course/completion', 'mod/completion', 'course/grade', 'mod/grade', 'question/category', 'file'
itemmodule varchar(30) The type of evidence 'observation', 'quiz', 'scorm', 'question'
iteminstance int(10) The id for the evidence instance (ie, grade_outcome id, course id, course_modules id, grade_item id, quiz_question_instance id, files id)
required int(1) The evidence is required
certification int(1) The evidence is for certification
expirationdays int(10) The evidence expires after this number of days
timecreated int(10) The time when this competency evidence was allowed
timemodified int(10) The time when this competency evidence was last changed
usermodified int(10) The user who last modified this evidence

competency_evidence

Track historical and current competency information for each user.

Field Type Default Info
id int(10) auto-incrementing
userid int(10) The id of the user
competencyid int(10) The id of the competency
proficiencyexpected int(10) The measured/evaluated proficiency level for the competency
proficiencymeasured int(10) The measured/evaluated proficiency level for the user
timecreated int(10) The time when this competency evidence was started
timemodified int(10) The time when this competency evidence was last changed

Plugin architecture

Competency evidence type plugins

Each type of evidence will need its own methods for interacting with the competency architecture and will need to interact via a base competency evidence API. Below are the item types.

  • Observation
  • Course completion
  • Course grade
  • Course outcome
  • Activity completion
  • Activity grade
  • Activity outcome
  • File

Report plugins

Similar to the gradebook, we need to allow development of report plugins for competencies.

Import/Export plugins

We need to be able to import and export data related to competencies.

Competency framework import/export A competency framework should be able to be exported using an appropriate format in either xml and csv file format. There are some standards on exchanging competencies including:

  • IEEE P1484.20.1 Standard on Reusable Competency Definitions and the IEEE Draft Standard on Simple Reusable Competency Map
  • ISO/IEC PDTR 24763 Conceptual Reference Model for Competencies and Related Objects

Competency evidence import/export

There are a variety of standards for exchanging competencies evidence including:

  • IMS Reusable Definition of Competency or Educational Objectives Spec (RDCEO)
  • IMS Learner Information Package Spec (LIP)
  • HR-XML Competencies (Measurable Characteristics) Recommendation, 2007 April 15

IMS RDCEO and LIP recommend formats as shown in the examples below (more IMS RDCEO here and IMS LIP home). Special thanks to Sarveswaran Kengatharaiyer (GSOC 2008 student for the Moodle Progress Tracker project) who developed these examples.

rdceo.identifier = rdceo434323
rdceo.title = Identify verbs in simple sentences
rdceo.description = “Identify verbs in simple sentences”
rdceo.definition.statement.
   statementid = 123
   statementname = Always
   statementtext = Scale
   statementtoken = scl55435
rdceo.definition.statement.
   statementid = 124
   statementname = Never
   statementtext = Scale
   statementtoken = scl55436
rdceo.definition.statement.
   statementid = 125
   statementname = Sometimes
   statementtext = Scale
   statementtoken = scl55437

lip.contenttype.referencial.sourceid.id = jenney_profile
lip.identification.cotenttype.referential.indexid = id123
lip.identification.name.partname.typename=Jenny 
lip.competency
   cotenttype.referential.indexid = j123
   exrefrecord = rdceo434323
   description = Always

HR-XML recommends a format like shown below in an example which uses recursive competencies (more here).

<Competency name="Communication Skills">
      <Competency name="Written Communication Skills">
            <CompetencyEvidence name="WRITTENTEST1-A" dateOfIncident="1995-01-01" lastUsed="2000-01-01">
                   <NumericValue minValue="3" maxValue="5" description="SEP-equivalent Skill-Level Range">5</NumericValue>
            </CompetencyEvidence>
            <CompetencyWeight>
                   <NumericValue minValue="0" maxValue="100">35</NumericValue>
            </CompetencyWeight>
      </Competency>
      <Competency name="Oral Communication Skills">
            <CompetencyEvidence name="ManagerObservation" dateOfIncident="1996-01-01" lastUsed="2000-01-01">
                   <NumericValue minValue="1" maxValue="5" description="Company XYZ Skill Range">5</NumericValue>
            </CompetencyEvidence>
            <CompetencyWeight>
                   <NumericValue minValue="0" maxValue="100">65</NumericValue>
            </CompetencyWeight>
      </Competency>
</Competency>

Upgrade from 1.9

Below is a proposed mapping from the 1.9 outcomes architecture to the proposed competencies architecture.

grade_outcomes - site-wide outcomes

Site wide outcomes will need to be imported into the competency table.

From Table From Field From Value To Table To Field To Value
grade_outcomes id null competency id null
grade_outcomes courseid null competency courseid null
grade_outcomes shortname not null competency shortname not null
grade_outcomes fullname not null competency fullname not null
grade_outcomes scaleid not null competency scaleid not null
grade_outcomes description null or not null competency description null or not null
grade_outcomes timecreated not null competency timecreated not null
grade_outcomes timemodified not null competency timemodified not null
grade_outcomes usermodified not null competency usermodified not null


grade_outcomes - custom course outcomes

Custom course outcomes will also need to be imported into the competency table.

From Table From Field From Value To Table To Field To Value
grade_outcomes id null competency id null
grade_outcomes courseid not null (e.g., 2, 3) competency courseid null
grade_outcomes shortname not null competency shortname not null
grade_outcomes fullname not null competency fullname not null
grade_outcomes scaleid not null competency scaleid not null
grade_outcomes description null or not null competency scaleid null or not null
grade_outcomes timecreated not null competency timecreated not null
grade_outcomes timemodified not null competency timemodified not null
grade_outcomes usermodified not null competency usermodified not null


grade_outcomes_courses

Grade outcomes in a course become an evidence item (itemtype='course') for a competency and get moved to the competency_evidence_items table.

From Table From Field From Value To Table To Field To Value
grade_outcomes_courses id not null competency_evidence_items id? not crucial not null
grade_outcomes_courses courseid not null competency_evidence_items instanceid not null
grade_outcomes_courses outcomeid not null competency_evidence_items competencyid not null


grade_items - course outcomes

Course outcomes need to be entered as a competency evidence items (type="course") for a competency and get moved to the competency_evidence_items table.

From Table From Field From Value To Table To Field To Value
grade_items id not null competency_evidence_items id? not crucial not null
grade_items itemname not null competency_evidence_items name not null
grade_items itemtype course competency_evidence_items itemtype course
grade_items itemmodule null competency_evidence_items itemmodule null
grade_items iteminstance not null (1,2) competency_evidence_items iteminstance not null (1,2)


grade_items - activity outcomes

Grade outcomes in a course become a course 'type' allowed evidence for a competency and get moved to the competency_evidence_allowed table. We also need to use the value "course" for the evidence 'type' field.

From Table From Field From Value To Table To Field To Value
grade_items id not null competency_evidence id? not crucial not null


grade_grades

In 1.9, course outcomes appear in the grade_items when they are linked to an activity. Only activity outcomes appear as graded in grade_grades. The activity outcomes need to appear as an entries in competency_evidence_items table and the grade in the competency_items table.

From Table From Field From Value To Table To Field To Value
grade_grades id not null competency_items id not null
grade_grades itemid not null competency_items itemid not null
grade_grades userid not null competency_items userid not null
grade_outcomes scaleid not null competency_items scaleid not null
grade_grades finalgrade not null competency_items scalevalueid not null


We also need to add an entry for the user in the competency_evidence table.

From Table From Field From Value To Table To Field To Value
grade_grades id not null competency_evidence id not null
grade_grades itemid not null competency_evidence itemid not null
grade_grades userid not null competency_evidence userid not null
grade_outcomes scaleid not null competency_evidence scaleid not null
grade_grades finalgrade not null competency_evidence scalevalueid not null

Logging

All competency related changes should be logged in history tables.

Role capabilities and permissions

Description Capability
View competency competencies moodle/competency:viewcompetencies
View hidden competencies moodle/competency:viewhiddencompetencies
Manage competencies moodle/competency:managecompetencies

Ideas for the future

  1. Due dates for course completions and outcome completions can be assigned in an individual user's learning plan.
  2. A comment can be added to a user's learning plan item when a course or outcome is manually added or removed from it.
  3. Allowing competencies to be attached to an individual user (either by user profile field or by drag and drop).