{Tools for Assessment Validation for the Vocational Education and Training throughout the Australian landscape -

{Tools for Assessment Validation for the Vocational Education and Training throughout the Australian landscape -

Blog Article

Assessment Validation Overview

Registered Training Organisations are responsible for many obligations upon registration, like annual statements, AVETMISS compliance, and marketing adherence. Among these tasks, validating assessments often stands out. While validation has been covered in many publications, let's revisit the fundamental principles. ASQA (Australian Skills Quality Authority) identifies assessment review as granular review of the evaluation process.

At its core, assessment validation is aimed at 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 specify two types of validation. The first type of assessment validation guarantees adherence to the requirements of the training package within your RTO's scope. The second validation ensures that assessments follow the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence. This implies that we perform validation both before and after the assessment. This article will concentrate on the primary type—validation of assessment tools.

The Two Types of Assessment Validation

- Assessment Tool Validation: Commonly called pre-assessment validation or verification, relates to the initial part of the regulation, focusing on ensuring all unit requirements are met.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Pertains to the implementation, ensuring that RTO assessments align with the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.

Steps to Conduct Assessment Tool Validation

When to Validate Assessment Tools

The goal of assessment tool validation is to make sure that all aspects, criteria for performance, and evidence of performance and knowledge are included by your evaluation tools. Therefore, whenever you get new educational resources, you must carry out assessment tool validation before students use them. There's no need to wait for your next scheduled validation. Review new resources immediately to ensure they are fit for student use.

Nevertheless, this isn't the only reason to do this type of validation. Perform validation of assessment tools also when you:

- Upgrade your resources
- Introduce new training products on scope
- Check your course against training product updates
- Flag 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.

Selecting Training Products for Validation

Bear in mind that this validation guarantees adherence of all training materials before being used. All RTOs must validate materials for each subject unit.

Necessary Resources for Assessment Tool Validation

To validate your assessment tools, you will need the complete set of your learning resources:

- Mapping Tool: The first document to review. It identifies which assessment tasks meet unit requirements, helping with faster validation.
- Learner Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an assessment tool during validation. Check if instructions are clear and answer fields are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Assessor Guide/Marking Guide: Also ensure if instructions for evaluators are sufficient and if clear benchmarks for each evaluation item are provided. Clear criteria are crucial for reliable assessment outcomes.
- Supplementary Resources: These may include evaluation checklists, logs, and evaluation templates created separately from the student workbook and assessor guide. Validate these to ensure they match the assessment activity and address unit requirements.

Assessment Validation Panel

Regulation 1.11 specifies the requirements for validation panel members. It states assessment validation can be performed by one or more people. However, RTOs usually find it here mandate all trainers and evaluators to participate, sometimes including industry experts.

Collectively, your assessment validation panel must have:

- Vocational Skills and Current Professional Skills relevant to the validated unit.
- Updated Knowledge and Skills in Vocational Teaching and Learning.
- Either of the following certifications for training and assessment:
- TAE40116 Training and Assessment Certificate IV or its successor.

Assessment Principles

- Impartiality: Is the assessment process fair and equitable for all candidates?
- Flexibility: Does the assessment offer various options to demonstrate competence based on different needs and preferences?
- Validity: Is the assessment an accurate tool for evaluating the required skills and knowledge?
- Reliability: Will the assessment produce consistent results every time?

Rules of 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?
- Genuineness: 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 tasks in the unit requirements and ensure they are addressed by the evaluation task. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Caring for Babies and Toddlers, one performance criteria asks students to:

- Change nappies
- Feed babies with bottles and clean equipment
- Prepare and give solid food to babies
- Respond to baby signs and cues properly
- Get babies ready for sleep and settle them
- Supervise and support age-appropriate physical activities and motor development

Frequent Errors

Describing the nappy-changing process for babies under 12 months does not fulfill the unit requirement. Unless the unit criteria is meant to assess underpinning knowledge (i.e., knowledge evidence), students should be doing the tasks.

Be Careful with 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.

All or Not Competent

Pay attention to itemized requirements. As mentioned earlier, if students perform only half the tasks listed, it’s not compliant. Each assessment item must cover all criteria, or the student is incompetent, and the assessment method is out of compliance.

Can You Be More Specific?

Each assessment item 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 confuse students or trainers.

Avoid Double-Barrelled Questions

Not using double-barrelled questions makes it simpler for students to respond and for assessors to accurately evaluate student competence.

Assurance During Audits

Considering these requirements, you might wonder, “Don’t learning resource developers offer 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 instructions and understanding the principles of assessment and evidence rules, you can ensure that your assessment methods are compliant with the standards established by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.