From exercise characteristics to competence dimen- sions – exemplified by theoretical computer science in secondary education

Competence models as point of origin for educational standards are the foundation of assessment and evaluation in view of educational goals and thereby provide major information for revision and improvement of instruction. Computer science education is a young discipline, compared to, e. g., the core subjects analyzed in the PISA studies (OECD, 2006), mathematics, reading and science. The approaches to competence modelling, that are published up to now, are plausible but of pragmatic nature. This paper aims to introduce an empirical statistical way of competence modelling in secondary education, focusing the dimensional structure of competence in theoretical computer science. Theoretical computer science appears to be an adequate example because it is an integral and commonly approved part of computer science, on the one hand, and educational standards are notably important as a framework to help teachers, parents and students to orientate within the field of highly abstract contents, on the other hand. Starting from exercise characteristics, gained by regarding neighboured sciences, especially mathematics, consulting experts, observing students and analyzing exercise difficulty, the dimensional structure of a competence model is to develop by means of empirical statistical techniques, such as factor analysis. Further statistical analyses, such as clustering competence profiles in terms of the characteristics, are to perform to elaborate typical competence profiles for the purpose of facilitating individual assessment in secondary schools. Therefore a competence model will be theoretically founded and empirically verified and a measuring instrument will be conceptually designed.