{Process of Assessment Validation pertaining to Vocational Education Bodies in the Australian landscape A Professional Guide

{Process of Assessment Validation pertaining to Vocational Education Bodies in the Australian landscape A Professional Guide

Blog Article

Overview of Assessment Validation

Registered Training Organisations manage multiple tasks after becoming registered, which include annual declarations, AVETMISS data submission, and advertising compliance. Among these tasks, validation of assessments is notably challenging. While we've discussed validation in multiple discussions, a review of the basics is necessary. The Australian Skills Quality Authority describes assessment validation as quality assurance of the assessment process.

Basically, assessment validation is intended to identify which parts of an RTO's assessment 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 Standards for RTOs 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 regulations specify two forms of validation. The first type of assessment validation ensures compliance with the training package assessment requirements within your organisation's scope. The second validation ensures that assessments adhere to the Principles of Assessment and rules of evidence. This indicates that we perform validation pre- and post-assessment. This article will focus on the initial type—validation of assessment tools.

Overview of Assessment Validation Types

- Assessment Tool Validation: Also referred to as pre-assessment validation or verification, involves the primary part of the clause, ensuring meeting all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Deals with the execution, ensuring that RTO assessments align with the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.

Conducting Validation of Assessment Tools

When to Conduct Assessment Tool Validation

The purpose of validating assessment tools is to ensure that all components, performance criteria, and performance and knowledge evidence are included by your assessment tools. Therefore, whenever you purchase new training materials, you must perform assessment tool validation before students use them. There's no need to wait for your next scheduled validation. Review new resources right away to verify they are fit for student use.

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

- Modify your resources
- Introduce new training products on scope
- Audit 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.

Which Training Products Should You Validate?

Bear in mind that this validation ensures compliance of all educational resources before use. All RTOs must validate resources for each unit.

Resources Needed to Start Assessment Tool Validation

To validate your evaluation tools, you will need the complete set of your training materials:

- Mapping Document: The first document to review. It identifies which assessment tasks meet subject requirements, aiding in faster validation.
- Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an assessment resource during validation. Check if instructions are clear and input fields are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Assessor Guide: Also ensure if directions for assessors are sufficient and if clear benchmarks for each assessment item are provided. Clear criteria are crucial for reliable assessment outcomes.
- Supplementary Resources: These may include checklists, registers, and forms developed separately from the learner workbook and evaluation guide. Validate these to ensure they match the assessment activity and address course unit requirements.

Validation Panel

Clause 1.11 specifies the requirements for validation panel members. It states assessment validation can be performed by one or more people. However, RTOs usually require all trainers and evaluators to participate, sometimes including sector experts.

Collectively, your validation panel must have:

- Vocational Skills and Current Professional Skills relevant to the unit under validation.
- Current Expertise in Vocational Training.
- Either of the following training and assessment credentials:
- TAE40116 Training and Assessment Certificate IV or its successor.

Principles Guiding Assessment

- Fairness: Does the assessment process offer equal opportunity and access to everyone?
- Flexibility: Are there multiple ways to demonstrate competence, accommodating different needs and preferences?
- Relevance: Is the check it out assessment an accurate tool for evaluating the required skills and knowledge?
- Consistency: Will the assessment produce consistent results every time?

Evidence Rules

- Relevance: 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: Does the evidence confirm the originality of the candidate's work?
- Currency: 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 assessment task. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Nurture babies and toddlers, one performance criteria asks students to:

- Change nappies
- Prepare bottles, bottle feed babies and clean equipment
- Feed babies with solid food
- 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 criteria is meant to evaluate underlying knowledge (i.e., knowledge 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 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 is not sufficient.

All or Nothing Competence

Pay attention to enumerated tasks. As mentioned earlier, if students do not complete all the tasks listed, it’s not compliant. Each assessment task must meet all specifications, or the student is incompetent, and the assessment 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.

Steer Clear of Double-Barrelled Questions

Avoiding double-barrelled questions makes it more straightforward for students to respond and for evaluators to accurately judge student competence.

Audit Guarantees

Considering these requirements, you might wonder, “Do resource developers offer guarantees for audits?” However, with these assurances, 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 assessment principles and rules of evidence, you can ensure that your evaluation tools are reliable with the regulations mandated by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.