A Comparative Study of Programming Competencies in Vocational Training and Higher Education

Technical progress and social transformation processes require lifelong learning in different spaces and formats. This leads to new developments and challenges in education with regard to competency-based learning and recognition practices, especially as educational biographies become increasingly diverse and extensive repetitions of qualifications should be avoided. Until recently, a common assessment strategy for previously developed competencies has not been established in higher education. In this study, competencies expected in German vocational and higher educational programming training were identified, compared and evaluated with regard to equivalence. The methodological approach started with an extensive review of general frameworks and curricula, before competency descriptions and analyses of reference documents of German vocational and university programming education were gathered and systematically compared. As part of the iterative design process, a comparison matrix was developed, and common features along with gaps and overlaps of competencies were identified. Even though both educational tracks pursue different goals, they share a great number of expected programming competencies. In the context of lifelong learning, the proposed process can be utilized for improving the permeability and recognition practises in both vocational training and higher education.