Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2000 10:23:09 +1100
To: voced-coord@rite.ed.qut.edu.au
From: Shelley Gillis <s.gillis@edfac.unimelb.edu.au>
Subject: Re: Enhancing validity of assessments!

Hi Paul and others.

Paul Kearney requested that I explain what I mean by assessment tasks. According to my understanding and use of assessment tasks, I argue that at a minimum, any assessment task should have the following components:

Instructions to the assessor
* clearly defined purpose and context for the assessment (including links to other units)

* description of evidence requirements (demonstrating match to the full components of competency - perform task, task management skills, contingency management skills, job/role environment skills and transferrability skill)

* Instructions for interpreting evidence to make a judgement of either "competent" or "not yet competent" decisions.

* Assessment task specifications (these should be developed for every assessment method chosen)
- Information to be provided to the student
- Materials required
- Administration procedures
- Scoring procedures
- Allowable adjustments to the procedures for collecting evidence

* Decison making rules for synthesising evidence from multiple sources to make a holistic judgement of competence

* The boundaries and limitations of the assessment tasks and procedures

When training people in designing assessment tasks and procedures, we try and encourage them to document the process so that any other assessor will be able to pick up the materials and know exactly what to do. Instead of having the information in the assessor's head, we encourage them to write it down. This makes the process extremely transparent and helps to work towards achieving inter-rater reliability (ie consistency of judgement across different assessors using the same assessment task and procedure).

As you can see, Evidence Guides do not provide such detailed information. The ultimate aim of assessment tasks is to standardise the procedures for gathering and interpreting evidence of competence to make inferences and judgements of competence.

I go even further and argue that checklists are not assessment tasks!!! They are merely a means of recording ones observations. Instructions to the assessors still need to be documented for carrying out the observations (eg when, where, how long, whether it is unannounced, unannounced etc, whether it is in real time or simulated) and for interpreting these observations and synthesising the evidence with other forms to make a final judgement.

Examples of assessment tasks developed as part of the ASTF funded assessment in school industry programs can be found at http://arc.edfac.unimelb.edu.au/research/vet_in_schools/index.html

under the instruments link. This document also has a useful template for people to design their own assessment tasks.

Shelley Gillis
Research Officer
Centre for Vocational Assessment Research
Assessment Research Centre
Dept of Learning Education and Development
Faculty of Education
The University of Melbourne
Parkville VIC 3052
Ph 03 9344 8572
Fax 03 9344 8790

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First published February 10, 2000. Last modified February 24, 2000.