{Assessment Validation Guide for the Vocational Education Bodies across the Australian landscape —

{Assessment Validation Guide for the Vocational Education Bodies across the Australian landscape —

Blog Article

Overview

RTOs handle numerous duties following registration, like annual declarations, AVETMISS reporting, and marketing compliance. Among these tasks, assessment validation is particularly challenging. While validation has been reviewed in multiple publications, let's revisit the fundamental principles. The Australian Skills Quality Authority identifies assessment validation as quality assurance of the assessment procedure.

Fundamentally, validation of assessments is aimed at identifying 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 SRTOs 2015 regulations, 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 rules mandate two types of validation. The primary type of validation of assessments ensures compliance with the requirements of the training package within your RTO's scope. The other type verifies that assessments follow 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 discuss the primary type—assessment tool validation.

What are the Two Types of Assessment Validation?

- Assessment Tool Validation: Also known as pre-assessment validation or verification, deals with the initial part of the regulation, ensuring meeting all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Is concerned with the execution, verifying that RTOs conduct assessments according to 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 make sure that all elements, performance standards, and evidence of performance and knowledge are included by your assessment tools. Therefore, whenever you get new educational resources, you must conduct validation of assessment tools before students use them. There's no need to wait for your next scheduled validation. Validate new materials as soon as possible to ensure they are fit for student use.

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

- Improve your resources
- Expand with new training products on scope
- Audit your course with training product updates
- Detect 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.

What Training Products Require Validation

Remember that this validation guarantees adherence of all training materials before student use. All RTOs must validate resources for each unit.

Necessary Resources for Assessment Tool Validation

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

- Mapping Document: The first document to review. It identifies which assessment items meet course unit requirements, assisting in faster validation.
- Learner/Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an assessment resource during validation. Check if guidelines are clear and response areas are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Assessor Guide/Marking Guide: Also verify if directions for evaluators are sufficient and if clear criteria for each assessment item are provided. Clear benchmarks are crucial for reliable evaluation results.
- Other Related Resources: These may include checklists, evaluation registers, and forms created separately from the workbook and assessor guide. Validate these to ensure they suit the assessment task and comply with subject requirements.

Panel for Validation

Standard 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 educators and assessors to participate, sometimes including sector experts.

Collectively, your validation panel these guys must have:

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

Assessment Principles

- Impartiality: Is equal opportunity and access provided to everyone in the assessment process?
- Adaptability: Is the assessment adaptable to different needs and preferences of candidates?
- Validity: Is the assessment relevant to the skills and knowledge it aims to evaluate?
- Reliability: Will different assessors make the same decision on skill competence?

Guidelines for Evidence

- Relevance: Is the evidence relevant to the skills, knowledge, and attributes described in the unit of competency?
- Adequacy: Is there enough evidence to ensure that the learner has the skills and knowledge required?
- Authenticity: Is the evidence genuine and truly representative of the candidate's abilities?
- Currency: Are the assessment tools based on current units of competency and up-to-date industry practices?

Key Considerations for Assessment Validation

Pay attention to the verbs in the unit criteria and ensure they are addressed by the evaluation task. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Caring for Babies and Toddlers, one required performance evidence asks students to:

- Change nappies
- Feed babies with bottles and clean equipment
- Prepare and give solid food to babies
- Respond appropriately to baby signs and cues
- Prepare babies for sleep and help them settle
- Monitor and encourage age-appropriate physical exploration and gross motor skills

Frequent Errors

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 evaluate underlying knowledge (i.e., knowledge evidence), students should be performing the tasks.

Mind the Plurals!

Pay attention to the quantities. In our example, one of the unit requirements of CHCECE032 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.

Full Competence or Not Competent

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

Provide Specific Details

Each assessment 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 guidelines do not confuse students or assessors.

Double-Barrelled Questions: Avoid Them

Not using double-barrelled questions makes it easier for students to respond and for evaluators to accurately judge 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 help rectify noncompliance. This impacts your compliance record, so it's better to take a preventative 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 reliable with the regulations mandated by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.