Academic Orientation Supported by Hybrid Intelligent Decision Support System - Efficient Decision Support Systems: Practice and Challenges from Current to Future - page 251

The CBE is an emerging curriculum model that tries to satisfy the demands of learning
contexts, by the developing competencies, enabling students to act in a complex world in
constant transformation (Zalba 2006). In short, a competence is the ability to perform
effectively in a given situation, it is based on knowledge but it is not limited to it (Perrenoud
1999). Competences are complex knowledge and represent the know-how to integrate
conceptual, procedural and attitudinal knowledge.
The current importance and relevance of the CBE is showed in Tuning Educational
Structures in Europe. The contribution of universities to the Bologna process and the Tuning
Latin America project (González 2008). In this new context, competences serve as well as
unification and comparability tools. They are a measure of students' capabilities
development, and a start point and guidance not only for subjects but for academic and
professional profiles, in which competences emerge as an important element to guide the
selection of knowledge appropriate to particular ends. Learners can develop a particular
competence or set of competences in order to finally acquire certain knowledge, attitudes
and professional capabilities. Tuning serves as a platform for developing reference points at
subject area level. These are relevant for making programs of studies (bachelor, master, etc.)
comparable, compatible and transparent. Reference points are expressed in terms of
learning outcomes and competences. Learning outcomes are statements of what a learner is
expected to know, understand and be able to demonstrate after completion of a learning
experience. According to Tuning, learning outcomes are expressed in terms of the level of
competence to be obtained by the learner.
In contemporary educational systems using CBE, flexible profiles are defined basing on the
possibility of choosing with flexibility different subjects from a determined set. So, if
students want to create their own academic profile, they only have to choose the subjects
they consider interesting for their purposes. But, in order to choose correctly, it is necessary
to take into account that subjects are affected by competences in two ways:
 A subject needs that students accomplish certain level of development for specific
competences before students are ready to confront this subject.
 Each subject itself contributes to the development of certain competences in a major or
minor degree.
So, in order to acquire certain development of competences, learners must study subjects in
a retroactive way, so that stepwise they develop the desired competences. In other words, to
course certain subjects it is necessary to have studied and passed those subjects capable of
develop competences prerequisite of more advanced subjects.
We will take these ideas as basis for our further explanation of the use of CB in Academic
Orientation.
4. OrieB : Collaborative filtering in academic orientation
In (Castellano 2009b) it was presented OrieB a DSS based on collaborative filtering which
offers recommendations to students as subjects susceptible of being good elections in order
to perform an adequate academic path. As collaborative techniques deal with customers,
items and ratings , OrieB deals with students, subjects and marks , so the dataset about Academic
Orientation is adapted to apply CF techniques. Another point is that we considered
generically that students with similar marks share similar skills. So if we analyze the
performance of students in a given group, G i , in different curriculum modalities. This
analysis might be then utilized to support future students classified in G i for their academic
decisions so that OrieB consists of: