The implantation of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) in which Spanish universities are still immersed have changed methodologies and assessment procedures in European universities. One of the main aspects of change is the  new design of the curriculum based on competences and consequently the evaluation of the universities students has been modified as well.

In addition to a curriculum focused on competencies, and whose definition has been one of the main educational policies of the European Union (Deakin, 2008), issues such as mobility, the structure of titles, the quality, the promotion of the European dimension of Higher Education, cooperation, social cohesion, and lifelong learning were raised; being these the basic foundation on which the Higher Education must be sustained (González and López, 2010: 404).

For Gordon et al. (2009) competences are characterized by the inclusion of skills, knowledge, and attitudes that are applied, which imply emotions, mind and body and are involved in the development of skills that favour the use of knowledge in different circumstances. According to Westera (2001:80) a competence is the ability to make satisfactory and effective decisions in a specific situation. Their common characteristics, identified by Rodríguez and Vieira (2009:31) are: they are based on the action to respond successfully to a demand or purpose, are linked to a context, are verifiable, can be learned and assessed and mobilize and integrate different elements such as knowledge, skills, procedures and attitudes.  

The assessment of competences is a rich process that is not only oriented to determine the level of a particular student's learning but also should take into consideration other key aspects in the teaching ­learning process such as: knowledge, practices, abilities, attitudes, values and level of commitment, which are synthesized in the style and way that each student learns and dominates them (Medina, Domínguez and Sánchez, 2013:242).

It is Fernández (2010) who establishes that to assess competences is needed in order to respond to issues such as identifying the level of domain in students with the idea of being able to guide them to an expert level of competence, what will be key for their future development.

In this context is where this research takes place in order to have an in depth knowledge of assessment practices at one Department of Education where the training for the future teachers takes place. In order to improve Spanish system at university we have thought that it is important to do a study by researching about assessment practices that have been carried out by academics of a Spanish University. Through this study we try to answer this question; what are the assessment practices carried out in the education department and what are the academics' impressions of them?

General aim:

­To analyze the assessment practices in the university context as a way to improve the knowledge of the students learning processes in the Department of Education.

Specific aims:

­Identify the assessment methods that university teachers carry out with their students.

­Study their perceptions about competence­ based assessment as methodology for evaluation.

­Analyse the way that competence ­based assessment is developed by academics in their lessons.

­Examine the difficulties that are perceived by university teachers in the performance of the competence­ based assessment in their class.

Bryman, A. (2012). Social Research Methods (4a ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Deakin, R. (2008). Key Competencies for Education in a European Context: Narratives of Accountability or Care. European Educational Research Journal, 7 (3), 311­-318. Fernández March, A. (2010). Cambio de la cultura de evaluación educativa no solo de métodos. Trabajado presentado al Seminario Internacional de trabajo sobre la evaluación a través de rúbricas, UPV, San Sebastián­-Donostia, 17-­18 de Junio. González López, I. y López Cámara, A. B. (2010). Sentando las bases para la construcción de un modelo de evaluación a las competencias docentes del profesorado universitario. Revista de Investigación Educativa, 28 (2), 403-­423. Gordon, J., Halasz, G., Krawczyk, M., Leney, T., Michel, A., Pepper, D., Putkiewicz, E. y Wi niewski, J. (2009). Key Competences in Europe: Opening Doors for Lifelong Learners across the School Curriculum and Teacher Education. Varsovia: CASE. Medina Rivilla, A., Domínguez Garrido, M. C. y Sánchez Romero, C. (2013). Evaluación de las competencias de los estudiantes: modelos y técnicas para la valoración. Revista de Investigación Educativa, 31 (1), 239­-255. Westera, W. (2001). Competences in education: a confusion of tongues. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 33 (1), 75-88.