{Validation of Assessment for the Vocational Education Institutes across Australia's training sector —

{Validation of Assessment for the Vocational Education Institutes across Australia's training sector —

Blog Article

Overview

RTOs manage multiple obligations upon registration, including annual declarations, AVETMISS reporting, and marketing adherence. Among these tasks, validating assessments is particularly challenging. While we've discussed validation in several articles, let's revisit the fundamental principles. The Australian Skills Quality Authority describes assessment validation as a quality review of the assessment procedure.

Primarily, assessment review is aimed at identifying which parts of an RTO’s assessment methods are effective and which need improvement. With a proper grasp of its key aspects, validation becomes less daunting. According to Clause 1.8 of the Standards for RTOs 2015, RTOs must ensure their assessment systems, including RPL, meet the training package requirements and are conducted according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.

The standards require two forms of validation. The initial type of assessment review ensures compliance with the requirements of the training package within your RTO's scope. The subsequent validation verifies that assessments follow the principles of assessment and Rules of Evidence. This implies that validation is performed in both pre- and post-assessment stages. This article will discuss the first type—assessment tool validation.

What are the Two Types of Assessment Validation?

- Assessment Tool Validation: Often termed pre-assessment validation or verification, pertains to the initial part of the regulation, focusing on meeting all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Relates to the conduct, ensuring Registered Training Organisations conduct assessments in line with the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.

How to Conduct Assessment Tool Validation

Best Time for Conducting Assessment

The goal of assessment tool validation is to make sure that all elements, performance standards, and evidence of performance and knowledge are addressed by your evaluation tools. Therefore, whenever you purchase new learning resources, you must perform validation of assessment tools prior to student use. There's no need to wait for your next five-year validation cycle. Check new tools as soon as possible to confirm they are suitable for student use.

Nevertheless, this isn't the only reason to perform this type of validation. Perform validation of assessment tools also when you:

- Amend your resources
- Incorporate new training products on scope
- Audit your course with training product updates
- Detect your learning resources as a risk during your risk assessment

The Australian Skills Quality Authority employs a risk-based approach for regulating RTOs and expects regular risk assessments. Therefore, student complaints about learning resources are an ideal time to conduct assessment tool validation.

Selecting Training Products for Validation

Note that this validation ensures compliance of all learning resources before being used. All RTOs must validate resources for each course unit.

Resources Required for Assessment Tool Validation

To validate your assessment tools, you will need the complete set of your learning resources:

- Mapping Resource: The first document to review. It shows which assessment items meet unit requirements, assisting in faster validation.
- Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an assessment tool during validation. Check if guidelines are clear and response areas are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Assessor Guide/Marking Guide: Also verify if guidelines for assessors are sufficient and if clear standards for each assessment task are provided. Clear benchmarks are crucial for reliable evaluation results.
- Other Related Resources: These may include lists, evaluation registers, and evaluation templates designed separately from the student workbook and marking guide. Validate these to ensure they suit the evaluation task and meet course unit requirements.

Assessment Validation Panel

Regulation 1.11 specifies the requirements for validation panel members. It states validation can be performed by one or more people. However, RTOs check here usually mandate all trainers and assessors to participate, sometimes including field experts.

Collectively, your assessment validation panel must have:

- Vocational Competencies and Current Industry Skills relevant to the unit being validated.
- Updated Knowledge and Skills in Vocational Education.
- Either of the following certifications for training and assessment:
- Certificate IV in Training and Assessment TAE40116 or its successor.

Assessment Principles

- Fairness: Is equal opportunity and access provided to everyone in the assessment process?
- Versatility: Is the assessment adaptable to different needs and preferences of candidates?
- Validity: Is the assessment an accurate tool for evaluating the required skills and knowledge?
- Dependability: Are the assessment results consistent regardless of who conducts the training?

Guidelines for Evidence

- Appropriateness: Is the evidence relevant to the skills, knowledge, and attributes described in the unit of competency?
- Adequacy: Is there enough evidence to ensure that the learner has the skills and knowledge required?
- Authenticity: Does the evidence confirm the originality of the candidate's work?
- Currency: Is the evidence up-to-date with current industry practices?

Specific Considerations for Assessment Validation

Pay attention to the action words in the unit requirements and ensure they are addressed by the assessment task. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Baby and Toddler Care, one required performance evidence asks students to:

- Change nappies
- Prepare and feed bottles, clean feeding equipment
- Prepare solid food and feed babies
- Respond appropriately to baby signs and cues
- Prepare and settle babies for sleep
- Supervise and support age-appropriate physical activities and motor development

Common Pitfalls

Describing the nappy-changing process for babies under 12 months does not fulfill the unit requirement. Unless the unit specification is meant to assess underpinning knowledge (i.e., knowledge-based evidence), students should be carrying out the tasks.

Be Careful with Plurals!

Pay attention to the frequency. In our example, one of the unit requirements of CHCECE032 Nurture babies and toddlers demands the students to complete the tasks at least once on two different babies under 12 months of age. Having students complete the tasks listed twice on just one baby does not fulfill the requirement.

All or Nothing Competence

Pay attention to enumerated tasks. As mentioned earlier, if students do not complete all the tasks listed, it’s not compliant. Each assessment task must meet all requirements, or the student is not competent, and the evaluation tool is out of compliance.

Can You Be More Specific?

Each evaluation task must have clear and specific standard answers to guide the assessor’s evaluation on the student’s competence. Therefore, it’s crucial that your instructions do not baffle students or trainers.

Avoid Double-Barrelled Questions

Not using double-barrelled questions makes it more straightforward for students to respond and for evaluators to accurately judge student competence.

Audit Guarantees

Considering these requirements, you might wonder, “Don’t learning resource developers offer audit guarantees?” However, with these promises, you must wait for an audit before they assist with noncompliance. This impacts your compliance record, so it's better to take a safe and compliant approach.

By following these instructions and understanding the Principles of Assessment and rules of evidence, you can ensure that your assessment methods are valid with the requirements set by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.