Skills Education

How to determine whether an assessment tool covers the unit of competency

The Standards for RTOs require every RTO to implement a plan to validate the practices and judgements linked to each training product on the RTO’s scope of registration. 

Trouble is, once the assessments have been conducted using tools that have flaws, the implications can be huge - from extra work for staff, dollars on redevelopment, and right up to audit rectification activity, which in worst cases, can mean needing to recall certification issued to students. 

Which is why the 'TAE22' introduced pre-use validation as part of the core competencies in the TAE40122 Certificate IV in Training and Assessment. And with the new 'Design and develop assessment tools' unit, the requirement to be able to "accurately and validly map" an assessment tool to the unit.

As a positive step toward avoiding the type of audit angst that comes from using flawed tools with students, a pre-implementation validation (pre-use validation) of assessment tools should include a validation of the mapping document to confirm that the:

• Assessment tool is going to collect all of the evidence required by the unit of competency 
• Evidence collected will be the right type of evidence per the requirements
• Mapping is accurate and not saying something is covered when it’s not (which, when this happens, presents a risk to the RTO)

Join this session with Michelle Charlton to go through real-life examples of assessment tools to see how to:

• Look for gaps in an assessment against the unit - no matter if they’ve been developed in-house or purchased
• Determine whether the mapping document is accurate - and therefore a reliable indicator of 'compliance'
• Know whether you can rely on the 'validation guarantees' provided with many off-the-shelf products
• Confirm whether the assessment task or question has been developed to collect the right type of evidence as required by the training product
• Ascertain the level of risk to the RTO

Investment in knowing how to properly conduct a validation of mapping will also help set the RTO up for more positive outcomes when it comes time to undertake the mandatory formal validation as described in the Standards.   

Learn about the mindset and methodology as described in the Big Book of kNOw

Other Details:

• Recorded - January 2022
• Duration - Approx. 50 mins
• Access - 30 days from date of purchase (*annual for PD Library Pass subscribers, Education Matters PRO and Elite members)
• Trigger your certificate on completion

Past Feedback

Here's what others who watched this session had to say:

• "Excellent training - thanks Michelle - appreciate it!"
• "Very informative"
• "Great session - thanks Michelle"
• "Highly recommend the Big Book of kNOw"
• "Valuable information especially about having a good grasp of the words in the English language so correct determination can be made. Thanks"
• "The content was excellent; this content was presented clearly and the pace of delivery was excellent"
• "Loved it!"