{Assessment Validation for Vocational Education Bodies across Australia's training sector :
{Assessment Validation for Vocational Education Bodies across Australia's training sector :
Blog Article
Overview of Assessment Validation
Registered Training Organisations have numerous tasks post-registration, like annual statements, AVETMISS data submission, and promotional compliance. Among these tasks, validation of assessments is particularly challenging. While validation has been covered in many discussions, let's revisit the fundamental principles. ASQA (Australian Skills Quality Authority) identifies assessment validation as granular review of the assessment procedure.
Basically, validation of assessments is about identifying which parts of an RTO’s evaluation process 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 2015 Standards for RTOs, RTOs must ensure their assessment systems, including RPL, adhere to the training package requirements and are conducted according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
The regulations require two types of validation. The first type of validation of assessments guarantees adherence to the requirements of the training package within your RTO's scope. The other type guarantees that assessments follow the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence. This suggests that we perform validation pre- and post-assessment. This article will discuss the initial type—assessment tool validation.
Two Types of Assessment Validation
- Assessment Tool Validation: Also known as pre-assessment validation or verification, concerns the initial part of the clause, aimed at compliance with all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Involves the conduct, guaranteeing that RTO assessments adhere to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
Conducting Validation of Assessment Tools
Scheduling Assessment Tool Validation
The goal of validating assessment tools is to ensure that all aspects, criteria for performance, and performance and knowledge evidence are addressed by your evaluation tools. Therefore, whenever you get new educational resources, you must carry out assessment tool validation before allowing students to use them. There's no need to wait for your next 5-year cycle validation schedule. Validate new resources right away to verify they are suitable for student use.
Nevertheless, this isn't the only reason to perform this type of validation. Conduct assessment tool validation also when you:
- Amend your resources
- Incorporate new training products on scope
- Check your course against training product updates
- Flag 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.
Training Products Requiring Validation
Keep in mind that this validation ensures conformity of all educational resources before student use. All RTOs must validate training products for each subject 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 evaluation items meet course unit requirements, aiding in faster validation.
- Learner Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an evaluation tool during validation. Check if instructions are clear and input fields are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Assessor Guide: Also ensure if directions for trainers are sufficient and if clear benchmarks for each evaluation item are provided. Clear criteria are crucial for reliable evaluation results.
- Other Related Resources: These may include lists, evaluation registers, and templates created separately from the student workbook and marking guide. Validate these to ensure they fit the assessment activity and comply with unit requirements.
Panel for Validation
Standard 1.11 specifies the requirements for validation panel members. It states assessment validation can be performed by one or more people. However, RTOs usually mandate all trainers and assessors to participate, sometimes including industry experts.
Collectively, your validation panel must have:
- Vocational Competencies and Up-to-date Industry Skills relevant to the validated unit.
- Updated Knowledge and Skills in Vocational Training.
- Either of the following training and check it out assessment credentials:
- TAE40116 Training and Assessment Certificate IV or its successor.
Principles Guiding Assessment
- Fairness: Does the assessment process offer equal opportunity and access to everyone?
- Adaptability: Are there multiple ways to demonstrate competence, accommodating different needs and preferences?
- Validity: Does the assessment evaluate what it is intended to evaluate?
- Consistency: Will the assessment produce consistent results every time?
Evidence Rules
- Relevance: Does the evidence demonstrate that the candidate has the skills, knowledge, and attributes described in the unit of competency and associated assessment requirements?
- Adequacy: Does the evidence adequately demonstrate the required skills and knowledge?
- Authenticity: Does the assessment tool verify that the work is the candidate’s own?
- Currency: Are the assessment tools based on current units of competency and up-to-date industry practices?
Specific Considerations for Assessment Validation
Pay attention to the tasks in the unit requirements and ensure they are addressed by the assessment task. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Nurture babies and toddlers, one performance evidence requirement asks students to:
- Perform diaper changes
- Prepare bottles, bottle feed babies and clean equipment
- Prepare solid food and feed babies
- React suitably to baby signals and cues
- Get babies ready for sleep and settle them
- 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 evaluate underlying knowledge (i.e., evidence of knowledge), 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 requires 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 won’t cut it.
Full Competence or Not Competent
Pay attention to lists. As mentioned earlier, if students do not complete all the tasks listed, it’s non-compliant. Each assessment item must address all criteria, or the student is incompetent, and the assessment tool is out of compliance.
Can You Be More Specific?
Each assessment 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 directions do not baffle students or evaluators.
Steer Clear of Double-Barrelled Questions
Avoiding double-barrelled questions makes it easier for students to respond and for evaluators to accurately judge student competence.
Assurance During Audits
Considering these requirements, you might wonder, “Don't resource developers provide audit guarantees?” However, with these assurances, you must wait for an audit before they help rectify noncompliance. This impacts your compliance record, so it's better to take a safe and compliant approach.
By following these guidelines and understanding the principles of assessment and rules of evidence, you can ensure that your evaluation tools are compliant with the standards established by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.