Making Competent Judgments of Competence

Comprehensive English dictionaries list multiple meanings for the words “competence” and “competency”. Although the variety of meanings may not matter in ordinary conversations, in rigorous thinking about the measurement and development of competence or competencies, clarity is indispensable. For the purpose of developing the theme in this chapter, a distinction is made between what may be conceptualized as an integrated and large-scale characteristic, capability or attribute, and smaller-scale identifiable elements that contribute to such an attribute, in particular demonstrable skills in performing a task.