COURSE OVERVIEW:

Validation is a process to confirm that an RTO’s assessment system is able to consistently produce valid assessment judgements. Validation is the quality review of the assessment process and is generally conducted after assessment is complete.

Validation involves checking that the assessment tools have produced valid, reliable, sufficient, current and authentic evidence, enabling the RTO to make reasonable judgements to about whether training package (or VET accredited course) requirements have been met.

Validation includes reviewing a statistically valid sample of the assessments and making recommendations for future improvements to the assessment tool, process and/or outcomes and acting upon such recommendations.

In practice, many RTOs already engage enterprises/industry and other stakeholders in both the development and validation of their assessment strategies. They realise that effective validation processes ensure that their assessment strategies meet the needs of clients, are benchmarked against relevant standards and provide outcomes that are accepted by enterprise and other key industry stakeholders. These processes build the confidence of RTO staff involved in conducting assessments and serve to enhance industry acceptance of the outcomes of the national training system.

The focus of this course is on the processes and tools that can be used in the validation of assessment strategies. Central to these processes is effective engagement between RTOs, enterprises, industry and other key stakeholders. This can be achieved in a number of ways, dependent upon what is appropriate for the RTO. The process of engaging enterprises/industry is about consulting and working closely with employers and end-users of the outputs of the training delivery and assessment strategies.

This may mean working with the training department of a large multinational corporation to agree on appropriate strategies or with the owner of the local hairdressing salon that has employed three apprentices. In some areas of VET, it will be less clear who the consumers of the outputs are. It may also be necessary at times to consult with other stakeholders in industry. The flexible nature of the proposed models in this course are relevant to RTOs operating in a range of contexts.

This course focuses on assessment strategy validation. It is designed to assist RTOs and trainers/assessors to: understand the purpose of validation, identify the focus of validation activities, identify who should be involved in validation activities, the validation process, identify and select appropriate assessment validation activities and review and maintain their approach to assessment validation.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

By the end of this course, you will be able to understand:

·       What is assessment validation

·       Why validate

·       How does validation relate to assessment

·       When to validate

·       What validation before, during and after assessment may concentrate on

·       What is required for assessment validation

·       The benefits of assessment validation

·       What must be validated

·       How to validate assessment strategies

·       Validating the assessment process

·       The key steps in the assessment process

·       The validation of assessment tools

·       What an evidence-gathering or assessment tool comprises of

·       What the evaluation should ensure

·       The validation processes

·       How to validate the evidence contributing to the judgement made by assessors?

·       The implications of inconsistent and poor judgements

·       Who should be involved in the validation of assessment strategies?

·       The validators and ‘industry relevance’ requirements

·       The validators and ‘vocational teaching and learning’ requirements

·       What documentation is needed?

·       Sampling – what to validate?

·       How to review assessment practice

·       In reviewing assessment practice, what should validators consider

·       How to reviewing assessment judgements

·       During the validation – what the team will look for

·       The approaches for validating components of the assessment strategy and description of validation approaches

·       How to select the appropriate validation strategies

·       How to plan validation activities

·       How to evaluate the chosen validation approaches

·       Validation outcomes

·       Why the RTO must have a records management process to retain evidence of the validation.

COURSE DURATION:

The typical duration of this course is approximately 2-3 hours to complete. Your enrolment is Valid for 12 Months. Start anytime and study at your own pace.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

You must have access to a computer or any mobile device with Adobe Acrobat Reader (free PDF Viewer) installed, to complete this course.

COURSE DELIVERY:

Purchase and download course content.

ASSESSMENT:

A simple 10-question true or false quiz with Unlimited Submission Attempts.

CERTIFICATION:

Upon course completion, you will receive a customised digital “Certificate of Completion”.