{Validation of Assessment for the Education Providers within the Australian landscape -
{Validation of Assessment for the Education Providers within the Australian landscape -
Blog Article
Assessment Validation Overview
Registered Training Organisations are responsible for various duties following registration, including annual declarations, AVETMISS data submission, and promotional compliance. Among these tasks, assessment validation frequently stands out. While we've discussed validation in several posts, let's revisit the fundamental principles. ASQA identifies validation of assessments as a quality review of the assessment procedure.
Principally, validation of assessments is aimed at identifying which parts of an RTO's assessment 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 SRTOs 2015, RTOs must ensure their assessment systems, including RPL, comply with the training package requirements and are conducted according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
The standards specify two forms of validation. The initial type of assessment validation checks conformity with the requirements of the training package within your organisation's scope. The second validation guarantees 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 focus on the initial type—assessment tool validation.
Exploring the Types of Assessment Validation
- Assessment Tool Validation: Also known as pre-assessment validation or verification, is related to the initial part of the clause, focusing on ensuring all unit requirements are met.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Deals with the implementation, confirming that RTO assessments follow the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
Conducting Validation of Assessment Tools
Optimal Timing for Assessment Tool Validation
The goal of assessment tool validation is to ensure that all aspects, performance criteria, and performance and knowledge evidence are covered by your assessment tools. Therefore, whenever you acquire new training materials, you must perform assessment tool validation prior to student use. There's no need to wait for your next five-year validation cycle. Review new materials as soon as possible to ensure they are suitable for student use.
Nevertheless, this isn't the only occasion to do this type of validation. Conduct validation of assessment tools also when you:
- Revise your resources
- Integrate new training products on scope
- Compare your course with training product updates
- Spot 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 Needing Validation
Bear in mind that this validation ensures compliance of all educational resources before use. All RTOs must validate training products for each unit.
Resources Needed to Start Assessment Tool Validation
To validate your assessment tools, you will need the complete set of your training materials:
- Mapping Resource: The first document to find it here review. It identifies which assessment items meet course unit requirements, helping with faster validation.
- Learner/Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an assessment tool during validation. Check if instructions are clear and response areas are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Marking Guide: Also check if directions for assessors are sufficient and if clear benchmarks for each assessment item are provided. Clear criteria are crucial for reliable assessment results.
- Other Related Resources: These may include evaluation checklists, logs, and templates developed separately from the student workbook and assessor guide. Validate these to ensure they match the assessment activity and address course unit requirements.
Panel for Validation
Clause 1.11 specifies the requirements for panel members. It states validation can be performed by one or more people. However, RTOs usually require all educators and assessors to participate, sometimes including field experts.
Collectively, your assessment validation panel must have:
- Workplace Competencies and Current Professional Skills relevant to the unit under validation.
- Current Expertise in Vocational Training.
- Either of the following training and assessment credentials:
- TAE40116 Training and Assessment Certificate IV or its successor.
Assessment Principles
- Impartiality: Is the assessment process fair and equitable for all candidates?
- Flexibility: Is the assessment adaptable to different needs and preferences of candidates?
- Relevance: Is the assessment relevant to the skills and knowledge it aims to evaluate?
- Consistency: Will different assessors make the same decision on skill competence?
Rules of Evidence
- Validity: Is the evidence relevant to the skills, knowledge, and attributes described in the unit of competency?
- Sufficiency: Is the evidence sufficient to cover all the required skills and knowledge?
- Authenticity: Does the assessment tool verify that the work is the candidate’s own?
- Timeliness: Are the assessment tools based on current units of competency and up-to-date industry practices?
Key Considerations for Assessment Validation
Pay attention to the action words in the unit specifications and ensure they are addressed by the assessment item. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Nurture babies and toddlers, one required performance evidence asks students to:
- Perform diaper changes
- Feed babies with bottles and clean equipment
- Prepare and give solid food to babies
- Respond appropriately to baby signs and cues
- Prepare babies for sleep and help them settle
- Monitor and encourage age-appropriate physical exploration and gross motor skills
Common Pitfalls
Asking students to describe the nappy-changing process for babies under 12 months old does not meet the unit requirement. Unless the unit requirement is meant to assess underpinning knowledge (i.e., knowledge-based evidence), students should be carrying out the tasks.
Watch Out for the Plurals!
Pay attention to the quantities. 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 enumerated tasks. As mentioned earlier, if students perform only half the tasks listed, it’s not compliant. Each assessment item must cover all requirements, or the student is not competent, and the assessment tool is out of compliance.
Can You Be More Specific?
Each evaluation task must have clear and specific reference answers to guide the evaluator’s decision on the student’s competence. Therefore, it’s crucial that your guidelines do not mislead students or evaluators.
Avoid Double-Barrelled Questions
Not using double-barrelled questions makes it simpler for students to respond and for assessors to accurately evaluate student competence.
Ensuring Audit Compliance
Considering these requirements, you might wonder, “Do resource developers offer guarantees for audits?” However, with these assurances, you must wait until an audit to address noncompliance. This influences your compliance status, so it's better to take a proactive and compliant approach.
By following these guidelines and understanding the assessment principles and rules of evidence, you can ensure that your assessment methods are compliant with the requirements set by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.