{Process of Assessment Validation concerning Learning Institutions across the Australian landscape A Professional Guide

{Process of Assessment Validation concerning Learning Institutions across the Australian landscape A Professional Guide

Blog Article

Intro to Assessment Validation

Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) manage numerous duties following registration, including annual statements, AVETMISS compliance, and marketing adherence. Among these tasks, validating assessments is particularly challenging. While validation has been covered in many posts, let's return to the basics. ASQA (Australian Skills Quality Authority) describes assessment review as a quality review of the assessment procedure.

Primarily, assessment validation 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 mandate two forms of validation. The first type of assessment review guarantees adherence to the requirements of the training package within your RTO's scope. The subsequent validation ensures that assessments adhere to the principles of assessment and Rules of Evidence. This suggests that validation is carried out in both pre- and post-assessment stages. This article will focus on the first type—assessment tool validation.

Types of Assessment Validation

- Assessment Tool Validation: Referred to as pre-assessment validation or verification, deals with the primary part of the rule, aimed at compliance with all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Deals with the execution, ensuring RTOs conduct assessments in line with the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.

Steps to Conduct Assessment Tool Validation

When to Conduct Assessment Tool Validation

The aim of validating assessment tools is to verify that all aspects, performance criteria, and evidence of performance and knowledge are addressed by your assessment methods. Therefore, whenever you get new learning resources, you must conduct validation of assessment tools prior to student use. There's no need to wait for your next scheduled validation. Validate new tools as soon as possible to verify they are suitable for student use.

Nevertheless, this isn't the only time to perform this type of validation. Do assessment tool validation also when you:

- Amend your resources
- Add new training products on scope
- Assess your course with training product updates
- Flag your learning resources as a risk during your risk assessment

ASQA uses a risk-based approach for regulating RTOs and requires 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 conformity of all learning resources before student use. All RTOs must validate resources for each course unit.

Resources Required for Assessment Tool Validation

To start assessment tool validation, you will need the complete set of your learning resources:

- Mapping Document: The first document to review. It identifies which assessment items meet course unit requirements, helping with faster validation.
- Learner Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an assessment tool during validation. Check if guidelines are clear and answer fields are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Assessor Guide/Marking Guide: Also verify if instructions for assessors are sufficient and if clear benchmarks for each assessment task are provided. Clear criteria are crucial for reliable assessment results.
- Supplementary Resources: These may include evaluation checklists, logs, and forms developed separately from the workbook and evaluation guide. Validate these to ensure they fit the assessment task and comply with 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 mandate all trainers and evaluators to participate, sometimes including field experts.

Collectively, your panel must have:

- Vocational Competencies and Up-to-date Industry Skills relevant to the unit under validation.
- Current 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.

Principles Guiding Assessment

- Fairness: Is the assessment process fair and equitable for all candidates?
- Versatility: Are there multiple ways to demonstrate competence, accommodating different needs and preferences?
- Accuracy: Is the assessment relevant to the skills and knowledge it aims to evaluate?
- Reliability: Will the assessment read more produce consistent results every time?

Evidence Rules

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

Important Factors in Assessment Validation

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

- Change diapers
- Prepare and feed bottles, clean feeding equipment
- Prepare solid food and feed babies
- React suitably to baby signals and cues
- Prepare and settle babies for sleep
- Supervise and support age-appropriate physical activities and motor development

Frequent Errors

Having students describe the nappy-changing process for babies under 12 months old doesn’t directly meet the unit requirement. Unless the unit specification is meant to assess underpinning knowledge (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 Baby and Toddler Care 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 won’t cut it.

All or Not Competent

Pay attention to lists. As mentioned earlier, if students do not complete all the tasks listed, it’s non-compliant. Each evaluation task must cover all criteria, or the student is incompetent, and the evaluation tool is not compliant.

Provide Specific Details

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

Double-Barrelled Questions: Avoid Them

Steering clear of double-barrelled questions makes it simpler for students to respond and for trainers to accurately assess student competence.

Assurance During Audits

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 help rectify noncompliance. This affects your compliance history, so it's better to take a preventative 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 reliable with the standards established by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.