COMPetency Instrument (COMπ)

The COMPentency Instrument (COMπ) is meant for measuring, assessing and evaluating transversal competencies in engineering education.

The original COMPentency Instrument was created based on the existing transversal competency model of Siemens, the Netherlands, and is part of the PREFER project. This instrument is composed of 36 sub-competencies with four descriptive mastery levels (absent, basic, advanced, and expert) divided into five domains (entrepreneurial, innovation, teamwork, communication and lifelong learning competencies).

This instrument was validated through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses with an engineering student population and was reduced to 25 sub-competencies, divided into the same five domains:

1. Entrepreneurial: includes items related to finances, markets and business opportunities.
2. Innovation: is characterised by items that lead to the generation of ideas and solutions.
3. Teamwork: is defined by the ability to work in groups respecting cultural differences and disciplines of knowledge, listening attentively and managing issues.
4. Communication: is characterised by oral communication and the ability and confidence to express information to different audiences.
5. Lifelong learning: is defined by self-management, in terms of professional needs, strengths and weaknesses, stick to timeframes and search for continuous improvement autonomously.