Overview
Training Organisations have multiple duties following registration, which include annual statements, AVETMISS compliance, and advertising compliance. Among these tasks, assessment validation frequently stands out. While validation has been covered in many discussions, let's return to the basics. ASQA (Australian Skills Quality Authority) defines validation of assessments as granular review of the evaluation process.
Primarily, assessment validation is designed 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 SRTOs 2015 regulations, 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 standards specify two types of validation. The initial type of validation of assessments guarantees adherence to the training package assessment requirements within your RTO's scope. The subsequent validation verifies that assessments are conducted according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence. This implies that we perform validation in both pre- and post-assessment stages. This article will concentrate on the first type—validation of assessment tools.
Understanding Assessment Validation Types
- Assessment Tool Validation: Also referred to as pre-assessment validation or verification, is concerned with the initial part of the rule, focusing on ensuring all unit requirements are met.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Deals with the conduct, making sure RTOs conduct assessments according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
Steps to Conduct Assessment Tool Validation
Scheduling Assessment Tool Validation
The goal of validating assessment tools is to ensure that all aspects, performance standards, and performance and knowledge evidence are addressed 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. Validate new materials right away to ensure they are appropriate for students.
Nevertheless, this isn't the only time to do this type of validation. Perform validation of assessment tools also when you:
- Revise your resources
- Add new qualifications to scope
- Assess your course with training product updates
- Identify potential risks in your learning resources 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.
Which Training Products Should You Validate?
Remember that this validation ensures compliance of all training materials before student use. All RTOs must validate training products for each subject unit.
Resources Required for Assessment Tool Validation
To validate your assessment tools, you will need the complete set of your learning resources:
- Mapping Resource: The first document to review. It indicates which evaluation items meet unit requirements, helping with faster validation.
- Learner/Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an assessment resource during validation. Check if directions are clear and input fields are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Assessor Guide/Marking Guide: Also check if guidelines for assessors are sufficient and if clear standards for each evaluation item are provided. Clear criteria are crucial for reliable evaluation results.
- Supplementary Resources: These may include checklists, registers, and templates designed separately from the student workbook and assessor guide. Validate these to ensure they fit the assessment task and address course unit requirements.
Validation Panel
Standard 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 educators and assessors to participate, sometimes including sector experts.
Collectively, your panel must have:
- Vocational Skills and Current Industry Skills relevant to the unit under validation.
- Updated Knowledge and Skills in Vocational Education.
- Either of the following credentials for training and assessment:
- TAE40116 Certificate IV in Training and Assessment or its successor.
Assessment Principles
- Impartiality: Does the assessment process offer equal opportunity and access to everyone?
- Adaptability: Are there multiple ways to demonstrate competence, accommodating different needs and preferences?
- Relevance: Does the assessment evaluate what it is intended to evaluate?
- Consistency: Are the assessment results consistent regardless of who conducts the training?
Guidelines for Evidence
- Relevance: Is the evidence appropriate to the requirements of the unit of competency?
- Sufficiency: Is there enough evidence to ensure that the learner has the skills and knowledge required?
- Genuineness: Does the assessment tool verify that the work is the candidate’s own?
- Currency: Does the evidence reflect current skills and knowledge?
Specific Considerations for Assessment Validation
Pay attention to the verbs in the unit specifications and ensure they are addressed by the assessment task. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Nurture babies and toddlers, one performance evidence requirement 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
- Get babies ready for sleep and settle them
- Monitor and encourage find it here age-appropriate physical exploration and gross motor skills
Common Pitfalls
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.
Be Careful with Plurals!
Pay attention to the quantities. In our example, one of the unit requirements of CHCECE032 Nurture babies and toddlers 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 does not fulfill the requirement.
All or Nothing Competence
Pay attention to lists. As mentioned earlier, if students perform only half the tasks listed, it’s out of compliance. Each assessment item must cover all criteria, or the student is incompetent, and the evaluation tool is non-compliant.
Be Specific!
Each evaluation 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.
Avoid Double-Barrelled Questions
Steering clear of double-barrelled questions makes it simpler for students to respond and for trainers to accurately evaluate student competence.
Assurance During Audits
Considering these requirements, you might wonder, “Do resource developers offer guarantees for audits?” However, with these guarantees, you must wait until an audit to address noncompliance. This impacts your compliance record, so it's better to take a safe and compliant approach.
By following these guidelines and understanding the Principles of Assessment and evidence rules, you can ensure that your assessment tools are valid with the regulations mandated by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.