{Tools for Assessment Validation for the Registered Training Organisations within the Australian context :

{Tools for Assessment Validation for the Registered Training Organisations within the Australian context :

Blog Article

Intro to Validating Assessments for RTOs

Registered Training Organisations handle many responsibilities upon registration, like yearly reports, AVETMISS data submission, and marketing compliance. Among these tasks, validation of assessments is notably challenging. While validation has been covered in many articles, let's return to the basics. ASQA (Australian Skills Quality Authority) defines assessment review as quality assurance of the assessment procedure.

Fundamentally, validation of assessments is about identifying which parts of an RTO’s assessment procedures 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, adhere to the training package requirements and are conducted according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.

The standards require two types of validation. The first type of assessment validation checks conformity with the training package assessment requirements within your organisation's scope. The second validation guarantees that assessments adhere to the Principles of Assessment and rules of evidence. This suggests that we perform validation pre- and post-assessment. This article will concentrate on the first type—assessment tool validation.

Differentiating Assessment Validation Types

- Assessment Tool Validation: Commonly called pre-assessment validation or verification, is related to the first part of the rule, 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

Timing for Assessment Tool Validation

The purpose of assessment tool validation is to verify that all components, performance criteria, and evidence of performance and knowledge are addressed by your assessment methods. Therefore, whenever you get new educational resources, 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. Check new materials as soon as possible to confirm they are appropriate for students.

Nevertheless, this isn't the only occasion to do this type of validation. Conduct assessment tool validation also when you:

- Amend your resources
- Expand with 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.

Which Training Products Should You Validate?

Remember that this validation ensures conformity of all educational resources before student use. All RTOs must validate training products for each subject unit.

Necessary Resources for Assessment Tool Validation

To start assessment tool validation, you will need the complete set of your educational resources:

- Mapping Document: The first document to review. It indicates which assessment items meet unit requirements, helping with faster validation.
- Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an assessment tool during validation. Check if guidelines are clear and response areas are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Assessor Guide/Marking Guide: Also check if guidelines for evaluators are sufficient and if clear criteria for each assessment item are provided. Clear standards are crucial for reliable assessment outcomes.
- Supplementary Resources: These may include checklists, logs, and forms developed separately from the workbook and assessor guide. Validate these to ensure they fit the assessment activity and comply with unit 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 ask all trainers and assessors to participate, sometimes including sector experts.

Collectively, your assessment validation panel must have:

- Workplace Competencies and Current Industry Skills relevant to the unit being validated.
- Current Knowledge and Skills in Vocational Education.
- Either of the following certifications for training and assessment:
- Certificate IV in Training and Assessment TAE40116 or its successor.

Assessment Principles

- Equity: Is equal opportunity and access provided to everyone in the assessment process?
- Flexibility: Does the assessment offer various options to demonstrate competence based on different needs and preferences?
- Accuracy: Is the assessment an accurate tool for evaluating the required skills and knowledge?
- Dependability: Are the assessment results consistent regardless of who conducts the training?

Guidelines for Evidence

- Relevance: Is the evidence relevant to the skills, knowledge, and attributes described in the unit of competency?
- Sufficiency: Does the evidence adequately demonstrate the required skills and knowledge?
- Genuineness: Does the evidence confirm the originality of the candidate's work?
- Timeliness: Is the evidence up-to-date with current industry practices?

Important Factors in 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
- Feed babies with solid food
- 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

Typical Mistakes

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 here meant to assess underpinning knowledge (i.e., knowledge evidence), students should be doing the tasks.

Be Careful with Plurals!

Pay attention to the frequency. 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.

All or Nothing Competence

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

Provide Specific Details

Each evaluation task must have clear and specific standard answers to guide the assessor’s evaluation on the student’s competence. Therefore, it’s crucial that your instructions do not mislead students or trainers.

Double-Barrelled Questions: Avoid Them

Avoiding double-barrelled questions makes it easier for students to respond and for trainers 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 promises, you must wait for an audit before they assist with noncompliance. This affects your compliance history, so it's better to take a safe and compliant approach.

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