Chapter 8

1. Chapter 8 TAEASS502B Design and develop assessment tools

2. Determine the focus of the tool • Identify your target group, its purpose and context: Table 8.1 List of LLN requirements from Training and Assessment Strategy

3. Determine the focus of the tool (cont.) Access relevant assessment benchmarks such as legislation, units of competency and organisational policies and procedures. Note: • qualification level • industry skills sets • units of competency and accredited modules • learning modules • individual learning outcomes • course curricula • performance specifications • product specifications

4. Determine the focus of the tool (cont.) Ensure that you are aware of and integrate legal, ethical and organisational requirements such as: • industry benchmarks (codes of practice, ethical and Australian/International standards (AS/ISO standards)) • ASQA/AQTF/NVR standards • IR systems and processes, Awards and enterprise agreements where they may affect the assessment process • human resource policies, procedures and legal requirements including: • anti-discrimination • equal employment opportunity • job description, including responsibilities and conditions of employment (continued)

5. Determine the focus of the tool (cont.) (continued) • confidentiality and privacy requirements of information relating to completed assessments • WHS considerations, including: • ensuring that assessment methods and tools incorporate appropriate measures to maintain the health, safety and welfare of candidates • ensuring that WHS requirements and specified benchmarks are accounted for within evidence requirements and assessment materials • identifying hazards and relevant risk control procedures associated with the assessment environment.

6. Determine the focus of the tool (cont.) Locate other relevant documentation to assist in developing the tool including: • the Assessment Guidelines of the relevant training package • competency standards stating the resources required for assessment, the assessment context and appropriate methods • accredited modules derived from the relevant competency standards, showing existing assessment activities • assessment activities in support materials related to the relevant competency standards (often available from the industry skills council that developed the package) • work health and safety or other legislation, codes of practice, standards and guidelines prescribing applicable requirements • any relevant product or equipment manuals and guides

7. Design the tool • Select the methods appropriate to the collection of evidence in your planned delivery context Table 8.4 Summary of common assessment methods

8. Design the tool (cont.) • Determine if RPL is an option • Can the tools you have created be used in the RPL/RCC process? Often assessment instruments created for one use need only minor alterations to meet the needs of other candidates, including those applying for vocational competency recognition.

9. Design the tool (cont.) • What instruments will you use to gather the evidence? • Will the evidence be valid, authentic, current and sufficient? • How will the tools be implemented? Table 8.5 Aligning assessment methods and instruments

10. Develop the assessment tool • Create the instruments that meet the criteria from your design phase • Define and document the procedures for both the assessor and the candidate • Review the tool to ensure that it meets the policy and system requirements of the RTO or training organisation

11. Review and trial assessment tools • Check the draft for accuracy and validity • To check effectiveness and relevance against the competency standard you need to review the instrument you have created against the mapping document you used to plan the tool. You should be able to demonstrate how each performance criterion, critical aspect of evidence and item of required skill and knowledge is addressed in the tool.

12. Review and trial assessment tools (cont.) • Trial the tool—note down any areas for improvement • Methods of reviewing the quality of the tools include: • panelling the tools with subject matter experts (SME) • panelling the tools with colleagues who are not SME but have expertise in the assessment tool • piloting the tools with a small number of individuals who match the target group characteristics, encouraging feedback throughout • trialling with a group of individuals who match the target group characteristics, treating the activity as a dress rehearsal undertaken under normal assessment conditions

13. Review and trial assessment tools (cont.) • Collect feedback from the participants This can be done by categorising feedback as: 1. critical 2. enhancement 3. superfluous

14. Review and trial assessment tools (cont.) • Make amendments as needed. Where criteria are not met, or when expert feedback recommends changes, make changes in accordance with the document management system of the training organisation. In most cases this will mean using a unique version control number for any changed documents and submitting them for an internal review process (in addition to the validation or moderation activities that you have already undertaken).

15. Review and trial assessment tools (cont.) • Format and save the tool in accordance with RTO policy and legislative requirements The tool needs to be incorporated into the RTO’s document management system for compliance purposes. Ensure that the document meets the corporate format, including requirements for: • document type and layout • file type (pdf, docx, doc, jpeg etc.) • naming conventions (e.g. BSBCMM201A TEST 1) • version control policies (e.g. v.1.0201)