The Competency Based Assessment (CBA) Symposium is an annual event held in May which brings together engineering educators, interested professionals, and graduate students to explore topics relating to competency-based assessment. The structure is still evolving: as we plan each symposium we are building on successful elements of the previous years.
The 2026 CBA Symposium is being held May 21 - 22. See the event page for details and registration.
The 2025 CBA Symposium, themed "From Starting Out to Scaling Up," focused on enhancing competency-based assessment (CBA) in engineering education. Keynote speaker Sharona Krinsky shared insights on implementing alternative grading practices, supplemented by panel discussions from Canadian engineering professors. The event successfully engaged over 73 participants and included workshops, fostering collaboration and cultural connection among educators.
Learn more about the 2025 CBA Symposium
The full day event on May 6, 2024 featured plenary speaker Keston Fulcher, who introduced participants to his Learning Improvement Process, offering encouragement to consider the concepts as they can be implemented at all levels. A guided scenario unfolded throughout the session.
Workshop facilitators Sean Maw and Jason Robert Tavares further explored the framework by highlighting relevant examples from their programs at University of Saskatchewan and Polytechnique Montréal, respectively. Interactive activities allowed participants to further connect the concepts to their own contexts. A reflective panel provided insights from the participant perspective, and discussions continued at the post event reception.
Organized pre- and post-event social gatherings at local restaurants to build connections within the engineering education community were once again well attended; moving forward these are now officially a symposium tradition.
The first event took place May 12, 2023, with a pre event CBA Primer session provided by Sean Maw based on the U of S experience. The CBA Symposium was a full day interactive workshop facilitated by Maw and Brian Frank. The goals were to guide participants through the principles of developing a CBA-based course, with a first pass complete, identify critical design factors and challenges in implementing CBA, and look for lessons from the health science community as delivered by speakers Eleni Katsoulas and Jordan Miller.
Organized pre- and post-event social gatherings intended to build connections within the engineering education community were well attended. The post event dinner included an unexpected bonus viewing of a Game 6 NHL playoff game being shown in Market Square.
