{Tools for Assessment Validation pertaining to VET Organizations throughout the Australian landscape —

{Tools for Assessment Validation pertaining to VET Organizations throughout the Australian landscape —

Blog Article

Assessment Validation Overview

Training Organisations manage multiple responsibilities post-registration, such as annual statements, AVETMISS compliance, and marketing compliance. Among these tasks, validation of assessments is particularly challenging. While validation has been covered in many publications, let's revisit the fundamental principles. ASQA (Australian Skills Quality Authority) defines assessment validation as quality assurance of the assessment process.

At its core, assessment review is focused on identifying which parts of an RTO’s assessment methods 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 2015 Standards for RTOs, 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 require two types of validation. The first type of validation of assessments guarantees adherence to the training package assessment requirements within your organisation's scope. The other type ensures that assessments are conducted according to the principles of assessment and Rules of Evidence. This indicates that we perform validation pre- and post-assessment. This article will discuss the first type—validation of assessment tools.

Types of Assessment Validation

- Assessment Tool Validation: Referred to as pre-assessment validation or verification, is concerned with the primary part of the rule, ensuring compliance with all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Relates to the implementation, ensuring Registered Training Organisations conduct assessments in line with the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.

Conducting Validation of Assessment Tools

Optimal Timing for Assessment Tool Validation

The goal of validating assessment tools is to verify that all elements, performance criteria, and evidence of performance and knowledge are included by your evaluation tools. Therefore, whenever you obtain new training materials, you must conduct validation of assessment tools before allowing students to use them. There's no need to wait for your next 5-year cycle validation schedule. Review new materials immediately to confirm they are fit for student use.

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

- Improve your resources
- Add new qualifications to scope
- Examine your course with training product updates
- Detect 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.

Training Products Requiring Validation

Note that this validation ensures conformity 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 educational resources:

- Mapping Tool: The first read more document to review. It indicates which evaluation items meet unit requirements, aiding in faster validation.
- Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an assessment resource during validation. Check if guidelines are clear and answer fields are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Assessor Guide: Also verify if instructions for evaluators are sufficient and if clear standards for each evaluation item are provided. Clear criteria are crucial for reliable assessment outcomes.
- Other Related Resources: These may include checklists, logs, and evaluation templates created separately from the student workbook and marking guide. Validate these to ensure they match the evaluation task and address unit requirements.

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 evaluators to participate, sometimes including field experts.

Collectively, your assessment validation panel must have:

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

Principles of Assessment

- Equity: Is equal opportunity and access provided to everyone in the assessment process?
- Versatility: Are there multiple ways to demonstrate competence, accommodating different needs and preferences?
- Relevance: Is the assessment relevant to the skills and knowledge it aims to evaluate?
- Reliability: Will different assessors make the same decision on skill competence?

Rules of Evidence

- Appropriateness: Is the evidence relevant to the skills, knowledge, and attributes described in the unit of competency?
- Sufficiency: 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?

Specific 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 Nurture babies and toddlers, one performance criteria asks students to:

- Change nappies
- Prepare bottles, bottle feed babies 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

Common Pitfalls

Asking students to describe the nappy-changing process for babies under 12 months old does not 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 calls for 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 does not fulfill the requirement.

Full Competence or Not Competent

Pay attention to itemized requirements. As mentioned earlier, if students perform only half the tasks listed, it’s out of compliance. Each assessment task must cover all specifications, or the student is not yet competent, and the assessment tool is not compliant.

Provide Specific Details

Each assessment task must have clear and specific benchmark answers to guide the evaluator’s decision 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 simpler for students to respond and for evaluators to accurately judge student competence.

Audit Guarantees

Considering these requirements, you might wonder, “Don’t learning resource developers offer audit guarantees?” However, with these promises, you must wait for an audit before they assist with noncompliance. This impacts your compliance record, so it's better to take a proactive and compliant approach.

By following these instructions and understanding the assessment principles and Rules of Evidence, you can ensure that your assessment tools are reliable with the standards established by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.