{Tools for Assessment Validation pertaining to Vocational Education and Training in the Australian landscape :
{Tools for Assessment Validation pertaining to Vocational Education and Training in the Australian landscape :
Blog Article
Intro to RTO Assessment Validation
RTOs handle various responsibilities after becoming registered, which include yearly reports, AVETMISS reporting, and promotional compliance. Among these tasks, assessment validation often stands out. While validation has been reviewed in several articles, a review of the basics is necessary. The Australian Skills Quality Authority describes assessment validation as quality assurance of the assessment process.
Fundamentally, assessment validation is designed to identify which parts of an RTO’s assessment procedures 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 require two types of validation. The first type of assessment validation guarantees adherence to the training package assessment requirements within your RTO's scope. The other type guarantees that assessments are conducted according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence. This indicates that we perform validation both before and after the assessment. This article will concentrate on the first type—validation of assessment tools.
Two Types of Assessment Validation
- Assessment Tool Validation: Commonly called pre-assessment validation or verification, involves the first part of the rule, focusing on meeting all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Deals with the implementation, verifying that RTOs conduct assessments according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
Conducting Assessment Tool Validation
Timing for Assessment Tool Validation
The purpose of validating assessment tools is to make sure that all elements, performance criteria, and evidence of performance and knowledge are covered by your evaluation tools. Therefore, whenever you get new training materials, you must perform validation of assessment tools before students use them. There's no need to wait for your next five-year validation cycle. Check new tools immediately to ensure they are suitable for student use.
Nevertheless, this isn't the only occasion to perform this type of validation. Conduct assessment tool validation also when you:
- Update your resources
- Integrate new training products on scope
- Assess your course with training product updates
- Identify 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.
Identifying Training Products for Validation
Note that this validation ensures compliance of all learning resources before use. All RTOs must validate materials for each course unit.
Resources Needed to Start Assessment Tool Validation
To validate your evaluation tools, you will need the complete set of your learning resources:
- Mapping Document: The first document to review. It shows which assessment tasks meet course unit requirements, aiding in faster validation.
- Learner/Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an evaluation tool during validation. Check if directions are clear and input fields 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 item are provided. Clear standards are crucial for reliable assessment outcomes.
- Supplementary Resources: These may include evaluation checklists, logs, and forms designed separately from the learner workbook and evaluation guide. Validate these to ensure they match the assessment task and meet unit requirements.
Validation Panel
Regulation 1.11 specifies the requirements for 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 Education.
- Either of the following certifications for training and assessment:
- Certificate IV in Training and Assessment TAE40116 or its successor.
Principles of Assessment
- Impartiality: Is equal opportunity and access provided to everyone in the assessment process?
- 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 different assessors make the same decision on skill competence?
Guidelines for Evidence
- Appropriateness: Is the evidence relevant to the skills, knowledge, and attributes described in the unit of competency?
- Sufficiency: Does the evidence adequately demonstrate the required skills and knowledge?
- Authenticity: Is the evidence genuine and truly representative of the candidate's abilities?
- Timeliness: Is the evidence up-to-date with current industry practices?
Important Factors in Assessment Validation
Pay attention to the action words in the unit criteria and ensure they are addressed by the assessment item. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Nurture babies and toddlers, one performance criteria asks students to:
- Change nappies
- Prepare and feed bottles, clean feeding equipment
- Feed babies with solid food
- React suitably to baby signals and cues
- Prepare babies for sleep and help them settle
- 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 requirement is meant to assess underpinning knowledge (i.e., evidence of knowledge), 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 Baby and Toddler Care calls for the students to complete the more info tasks at least once on two different babies under 12 months of age. Having students complete the tasks listed twice on just one baby is not sufficient.
All or Not Competent
Pay attention to itemized requirements. As mentioned earlier, if students only complete half the tasks, it’s out of compliance. Each assessment task must meet all specifications, or the student is incompetent, and the assessment tool is non-compliant.
Can You Be More Specific?
Each evaluation task must have clear and specific benchmark answers to guide the assessor’s evaluation on the student’s competence. Therefore, it’s crucial that your directions do not mislead students or evaluators.
Avoid Double-Barrelled Questions
Steering clear of double-barrelled questions makes it easier for students to respond and for trainers to accurately assess student competence.
Assurance During Audits
Considering these requirements, you might wonder, “Don't resource developers provide audit guarantees?” However, with these guarantees, 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 recommendations and understanding the principles of assessment and rules of evidence, you can ensure that your assessment methods are valid with the standards established by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.