{Assessment Validation concerning Education Providers in the Australian context -
{Assessment Validation concerning Education Providers in the Australian context -
Blog Article
Overview of Assessment Validation
Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) have various duties after becoming registered, which include yearly reports, AVETMISS data submission, and advertising compliance. Among these tasks, assessment validation is notably challenging. While validation has been covered in many discussions, a review of the basics is necessary. ASQA describes assessment review as a quality review of the assessment procedure.
At its core, assessment review is intended to identify 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 2015 Standards for RTOs, 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 types of validation. The first type of validation of assessments ensures compliance with the requirements of the training package within your organisation's scope. The other type ensures that assessments follow the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence. This implies that validation is performed pre- and post-assessment. This article will focus on the first type—assessment tool validation.
What are the Two Types of Assessment Validation?
- Assessment Tool Validation: Referred to as pre-assessment validation or verification, involves the primary part of the rule, aimed at ensuring all unit requirements are met.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Is related to the conduct, confirming that RTO assessments follow the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
Conducting Validation of Assessment Tools
When Should Assessment Tool Validation Be Conducted?
The purpose of validating assessment tools is to ensure that all elements, performance criteria, and performance and knowledge evidence are addressed by your evaluation tools. Therefore, whenever you acquire new learning resources, you must perform assessment tool validation prior to student use. There's no need to wait for your next 5-year cycle validation schedule. Review new tools right away to ensure they are fit for student use.
Nevertheless, this isn't the only occasion to do this type of validation. Perform assessment tool validation also when you:
- Upgrade your resources
- Add new training products on scope
- Assess 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 to Validate
Note that this validation ensures conformity of all educational resources before being used. All RTOs must validate training products for each course unit.
Necessary Resources for Assessment Tool Validation
To start assessment tool validation, you will need the complete set of your educational resources:
- Mapping Document: The first document to review. It indicates which assessment tasks meet course unit requirements, aiding in faster validation.
- Learner/Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an assessment resource during validation. Check if directions are clear and answer fields are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Assessor Guide/Marking Guide: Also verify if guidelines for assessors are sufficient and if clear benchmarks for each evaluation item are provided. Clear benchmarks are crucial for reliable assessment results.
- Additional Resources: These may include evaluation checklists, evaluation registers, and forms designed separately from the learner workbook and assessor guide. Validate these to ensure they match the assessment activity and comply with subject requirements.
Assessment Validation Panel
Standard 1.11 specifies the requirements for members of the validation panel. It states assessment validation can be performed by one or more people. However, RTOs usually ask all trainers and assessors to participate, sometimes including industry experts.
Collectively, your panel must have:
- Workplace Competencies and Up-to-date Industry Skills relevant to the validated unit.
- Current Knowledge and Skills in Vocational Teaching and Learning.
- Either of the following certifications for training and assessment:
- Certificate IV in Training and Assessment TAE40116 or its successor.
Assessment Principles
- Equity: Does the assessment process offer equal opportunity and access to everyone?
- Versatility: 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?
- Reliability: Are the assessment results consistent regardless of who conducts the training?
Guidelines for Evidence
- Relevance: Is the evidence appropriate to the requirements of the unit of competency?
- Sufficiency: Is the evidence sufficient to cover all the required skills and knowledge?
- Authenticity: Does the evidence confirm the originality of the candidate's work?
- Timeliness: Does the evidence reflect current skills and knowledge?
Important Factors in Assessment Validation
Pay attention to the verbs in the unit requirements and ensure they are addressed by the evaluation task. For example, in the unit read more CHCECE032 Nurture babies and toddlers, one performance criteria asks students to:
- Change diapers
- Feed babies with bottles and clean equipment
- Prepare and give solid food to babies
- React suitably to baby signals and cues
- Prepare and settle babies for sleep
- Supervise and support age-appropriate physical activities and motor development
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 criteria is meant to assess theoretical understanding (i.e., knowledge-based evidence), students should be doing the tasks.
Mind the Plurals!
Pay attention to the numbers. In our example, one of the unit requirements of CHCECE032 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 does not fulfill the requirement.
All or Nothing Competence
Pay attention to enumerated tasks. As mentioned earlier, if students perform only half the tasks listed, it’s not compliant. Each evaluation task must cover all requirements, or the student is not competent, and the assessment tool is out of compliance.
Provide Specific Details
Each assessment 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 instructions do not baffle students or assessors.
Avoid Double-Barrelled Questions
Not using double-barrelled questions makes it simpler for students to respond and for evaluators to accurately evaluate student competence.
Ensuring Audit Compliance
Considering these requirements, you might wonder, “Do resource developers offer guarantees for audits?” However, with these guarantees, 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 recommendations and understanding the assessment principles and evidence rules, you can ensure that your assessment tools are reliable with the regulations mandated by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.