{Assessment Validation for Education Providers across Australia -
{Assessment Validation for Education Providers across Australia -
Blog Article
Assessment Validation Overview
Registered Training Organisations manage numerous duties upon registration, which include annual declarations, AVETMISS compliance, and marketing compliance. Among these tasks, validating assessments often stands out. While validation has been covered in many publications, a review of the basics is necessary. ASQA describes assessment validation as quality assurance of the assessment process.
Fundamentally, assessment review 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 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 rules mandate two forms of validation. The first type of validation of assessments checks conformity with the training package assessment requirements within your RTO's scope. The other type verifies that assessments adhere to the principles of assessment and rules of evidence. This implies that we perform validation both before and after the assessment. This article will focus on the primary type—validation of assessment tools.
What are the Two Types of Assessment Validation?
- Assessment Tool Validation: Commonly called pre-assessment validation or verification, pertains to the initial part of the rule, ensuring compliance with all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Pertains to the execution, confirming that RTO assessments follow the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
Steps to Conduct Assessment Tool Validation
When to Conduct Assessment Tool Validation
The purpose of validating assessment tools is to ensure that all elements, criteria for performance, and performance and knowledge evidence are covered by your assessment tools. Therefore, whenever you obtain new learning resources, you must perform assessment tool validation before allowing students to use them. There's no need to wait for your next scheduled validation. Validate new tools immediately to confirm they are suitable for student use.
Nevertheless, this isn't the only reason to conduct this type of validation. Do assessment tool validation also when you:
- Modify your resources
- Introduce new training products on scope
- Examine your course with training product updates
- Identify potential risks in your learning resources 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 conformity of all educational resources before use. All RTOs must validate training products for each unit.
Resources Needed to Start Assessment Tool Validation
To start assessment tool validation, you will need the complete set of your learning resources:
- Mapping Tool: The first document to review. It identifies which evaluation items meet subject requirements, assisting in faster validation.
- Learner Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an assessment tool during validation. Check if directions are clear and response areas are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Marking Guide: Also check if instructions for trainers are sufficient and if clear benchmarks for each assessment task are provided. Clear standards are crucial for reliable evaluation results.
- Supplementary Resources: These may include checklists, logs, and templates created separately from the student workbook and marking guide. Validate these to ensure they fit the assessment activity and address course unit requirements.
Assessment Validation Panel
Clause 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 mandate all trainers and assessors to participate, sometimes including sector experts.
Collectively, your validation panel must have:
- Vocational Competencies and Current Professional Skills relevant to the validated unit.
- Current Expertise in Vocational Training.
- Either of the following credentials for training and assessment:
- TAE40116 Certificate IV in Training and Assessment or its successor.
Principles Guiding Assessment
- Fairness: Is the assessment process fair and equitable for all candidates?
- Flexibility: Is the assessment adaptable to different needs and preferences of candidates?
- Relevance: Does the assessment evaluate what it is intended to evaluate?
- Dependability: Will the assessment produce consistent results every time?
Guidelines for Evidence
- Appropriateness: Is the evidence appropriate to the requirements of the unit of competency?
- Adequacy: Is there enough evidence to ensure that the learner has the skills and knowledge required?
- Originality: Is the evidence genuine and truly representative of the candidate's abilities?
- Relevance: Is the evidence up-to-date with current industry practices?
Key Considerations for Assessment Validation
Pay attention to the action words in the unit criteria and ensure they are addressed by the assessment task. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Caring for Babies and Toddlers, one performance criteria asks students to:
- Perform diaper changes
- Feed babies with bottles and clean equipment
- Feed babies with solid food
- React suitably to baby signals and cues
- Prepare babies for sleep and help them settle
- Monitor and encourage age-appropriate physical exploration and gross motor skills
Typical Mistakes
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 theoretical understanding (i.e., evidence of knowledge), students should be performing the tasks.
Be Careful with 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.
Full Competence or Not Competent
Pay attention to enumerated tasks. As mentioned earlier, if students only complete half these guys the tasks, it’s not compliant. Each evaluation task must address all requirements, or the student is incompetent, and the assessment method is not compliant.
Be Specific!
Each evaluation task must have clear and specific standard 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.
Double-Barrelled Questions: Avoid Them
Steering clear of double-barrelled questions makes it easier for students to respond and for evaluators to accurately evaluate student competence.
Assurance During Audits
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 assist with noncompliance. This affects your compliance history, so it's better to take a preventative and compliant approach.
By following these instructions 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.