Assessment ClusterTopic 4

Teresa O'BrienPrincipal LecturerC.Y. O’Connor Institute

This presentation describes a range of assessment methods and the instruments to support them. The following are covered:

•Direct observation•Simulation•Verbal questioning •Written questioning •Third party reports•Projects•Portfolios•Journals•Case studies•Self assessment

Overview

Developing Assessment InstrumentsAccording to the AQTF Essential Standards for Registration, an assessment tool is defined as ‘the instrument(s) and procedures used to gather and interpret evidence of competence’.

•a) Instrument- the specific questions or activity used to assess competence by the assessment method selected. An assessment instrument may be supported by a profile of acceptable performance and the decision-making rules or guidelines to be used by the assessors.

•b) Procedures – the information or instructions given to the candidate and the assessor about how the assessment is to be conducted and recorded.

In accordance with the AQTF Essential Standards for Registration, an assessment tool includes the following components:

•The learning or competency unit(s) to be assessed;•The target group, context and conditions for the assessment;•The tasks to be administered to the candidate;•An outline of the evidence to be gathered from the candidate;•The evidence criteria used to judge the quality of performance (i.e. the assessment decision making rules); as well as•The administration, recording and reporting requirements.

Assessment Tools

Types of instruments (observations, log books, questionnaires)

Observations must include:•Candidate and assessor details•The benchmark, or the unit of competency•Any pre-requisite competencies•Specific OHS requirements•Tasks, actions, skills or activities to be demonstrated and the procedures to be followed•The standard of performance•Space to record results and comments•A number of observations

Direct Observation

Types of instruments (scenario, scripts or activities and an observation checklist)

Simulations must include:•realistic situations•simple, yet detailed enough to set the scene•awareness of LLN levels of the candidate•observation of the actual performance of the skill•clear guidelines for making judgments•scripts for role plays•content and resources •description of actions or activities to be conducted•

Simulation

Types of instruments (prepared questions for candidates and prepared responses for assessor)

Verbal questioning must include:• set of short, focused questions which are of a question type (open, closed, probing or hypothetical) •Correctly sequenced•Appropriate terminology•Guidance for the candidate as to how much information required•Prepared answers for the assessor to ensure judgments of evidence have been met reliably and consistently

Verbal and written questioning

need •instructions for the third party•observation checklistsInstructions must be•Simple and clear•Require minimal effort to complete•Give clear guidance on responsibilities•Ensure checklists contain correct and relevant information•Specify the purpose of the assessment•Include a timeline for completion

Third party reports

• Must have a project brief• A checklist for assessing the product or process• The steps needed for completion• Realistic timeframes • Resources required• Risk management strategiesChecklist must contain• Assessor an candidate details• Provision for comments and feedback• The benchmark to be used

Projects

PortfolioMay contain a •mix of documents collected over a period of time •evidence of final products•evidence of any personal contributions made•evidence or other work activities (work plans, diaries, time sheets)•evidence of relevant learning(training records, certificates)•evidence of past and current work• list of evidence requirements• examples of documents• template to follow

• The purpose is to record candidate’s reflections on events and activities over time.

• A template to show what information needs to be included

• Instructions on how regularly to record information

Journals

Case Study• Identify a relevant form of case

• Include sufficient detail

• Use clear language relevant to the competency

• Base it on real situations

• Identify the evidence required and base the case study around this information

• Ask different questions depending on the AQF level

How to analyse assessment instruments

RPL establishes if a claim of competence is verifiable

•should be offered to all learners•each RTO should have a set of policies and procedures for RPL•is competency based•assumes the competency has been previously achieved•is summative•two most common methods are self assessment and portfolio (current and historical data)

RPL Assessment