{Assessment Validation Guide for VET Providers across the Australian landscape :

{Assessment Validation Guide for VET Providers across the Australian landscape :

Blog Article

Assessment Validation Overview

RTOs handle many obligations upon registration, such as yearly declarations, AVETMISS compliance, and marketing compliance. Among these tasks, validation of assessments is particularly challenging. While validation has been reviewed in several posts, let's revisit the fundamental principles. ASQA (Australian Skills Quality Authority) describes assessment validation as granular review of the assessment procedure.

Fundamentally, assessment review is concerned with 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 Standards for RTOs 2015, RTOs must ensure their assessment systems, including RPL, adhere to 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 validation of assessments guarantees adherence to the requirements of the training package within your organisation's scope. The other type guarantees that assessments follow the principles of assessment and Rules of Evidence. This indicates that validation is carried out in both pre- and post-assessment stages. This article will focus on the primary type—validation of assessment tools.

Types of Assessment Validation

- Assessment Tool Validation: Often termed pre-assessment validation or verification, involves the initial part of the clause, focusing on compliance with all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Relates to the implementation, confirming that RTO assessments follow the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.

Steps to Conduct Assessment Tool Validation

Timing for Assessment Tool Validation

The goal of validating assessment tools is to verify that all aspects, performance criteria, and performance and knowledge evidence are covered by your assessment tools. Therefore, whenever you acquire new learning resources, you must conduct validation of assessment tools before allowing students to use them. There's no need to wait for your next five-year validation cycle. Validate new tools as soon as possible to ensure they are suitable for student use.

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

- Update your resources
- Integrate new training products on scope
- Assess your course with training product updates
- Flag 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.

Selecting Training Products for Validation

Remember that this validation ensures compliance of all educational resources before student use. All RTOs must validate resources for each course unit.

Resources Required for Assessment Tool Validation

To start assessment tool validation, you will need the complete set of your training materials:

- Mapping Resource: The first document to review. It identifies which assessment items meet subject requirements, assisting in faster validation.
- Learner/Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an evaluation tool during validation. Check if guidelines are clear and input fields are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Assessor Guide/Marking Guide: Also verify if instructions for assessors are sufficient and if clear benchmarks for each assessment item are provided. Clear benchmarks are crucial for reliable assessment outcomes.
- Additional Resources: These may include lists, registers, and templates developed separately from the student workbook and evaluation guide. Validate these to ensure they fit the evaluation task and address unit requirements.

Validation Panel

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

Collectively, your assessment validation panel must have:

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

Assessment Principles

- Equity: Does the assessment process offer equal opportunity and access to everyone?
- Adaptability: Is the assessment adaptable to different needs and preferences of candidates?
- Accuracy: Is the assessment relevant to the skills and knowledge it aims to evaluate?
- Dependability: Will different assessors make the same decision on skill competence?

Guidelines for Evidence

- Validity: Does the evidence demonstrate that the candidate has the skills, knowledge, and attributes described in the unit of competency and associated assessment requirements?
- Completeness: Does the evidence adequately demonstrate the required skills and knowledge?
- Authenticity: Does the assessment tool verify that the work is the candidate’s own?
- Currency: Does the evidence reflect current skills and knowledge?

Important Factors in 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:

- Change diapers
- Prepare and feed bottles, clean feeding equipment
- Feed babies with solid food
- Respond appropriately to baby signs and cues
- Get babies ready for sleep and settle them
- Supervise and support age-appropriate physical activities and motor development

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 specification is meant to assess theoretical understanding (i.e., knowledge evidence), students should be carrying out the tasks.

Watch Out for the Plurals!

Pay awesome site attention to the numbers. In our example, one of the unit requirements of CHCECE032 Nurture babies and toddlers 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 is not sufficient.

Full Competence or Not Competent

Pay attention to enumerated tasks. As mentioned earlier, if students perform only half the tasks listed, it’s not compliant. Each assessment item must address all specifications, or the student is incompetent, and the evaluation tool is not compliant.

Be Specific!

Each assessment item must have clear and specific benchmark answers to guide the assessor’s judgment on the student’s competence. Therefore, it’s crucial that your directions do not confuse students or trainers.

Steer Clear of Double-Barrelled Questions

Avoiding double-barrelled questions makes it simpler for students to respond and for trainers to accurately judge student competence.

Ensuring Audit Compliance

Considering these requirements, you might wonder, “Don't resource developers provide audit guarantees?” However, with these assurances, you must wait until an audit to address noncompliance. This impacts your compliance record, so it's better to take a preventative and compliant approach.

By following these guidelines and understanding the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence, you can ensure that your assessment methods are reliable with the standards established by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.