Date: Fri, 10 Dec 1999 11:51:0
To: voced-coord@rite.ed.qut.edu.au
From: "Shelley Gillis" <s.gillis@edfac.unimelb.edu.au>
Subject: Assessment issues (part 1 of 4)

Hello and thank you all for inviting us to be guests of VECO on-line. One of the main reasons for our appearance on VECO is to discuss some of the findings and materials that emerged as a result of the recently completed ASTF funded project Assessment in School-Industry Programs. As we are trying to encourage wide dissemination of the materials produced, with the support of the ASTF, please feel free to download these documents for your own use, reference and review.

Given the national scope of the project, we have probably spoken to many of you during our site visits, but for those of you who are not familiar with this project, lets begin by briefly describing the project aims and outcomes. A little bit of background to the project may help set the scene for later discussion.

Background to the study
The project was conducted by the Assessment Research Centre at The University of Melbourne and aimed to:

• gain an understanding of present and good assessment practices and methods utilised in assessing outcomes of workplace-based learning;

• determine the factors which contribute to the reliability and validity
  of assessment of workplace-based learning;

• gain an understanding of the complexity and diversity of the
  requirements in relation to assessment within existing educational frameworks and the ARF; and

• pilot model 'employer friendly' assessment systems at an enterprise/cluster level to provide operating examples, within the context of state and territory curriculum frameworks and the National Training Framework, of 'lighthouse' benchmarks.

The project concentrated upon the industry areas of metals/engineering, office/admin, and hospitality/tourism. The research project was undertaken in three stages:- a lierature review and policy analysis; case studies and

Part 1: Literature Review and Policy Analysis
The first stage of the project involved a literature review and policy analysis.The literature review was undertaken to clarify the language of assessment, competencies, performance and standards. It was also to identify criteria for best practice assessments.

The policy analysis was undertaken to identify principles, constraints, advice for training framework developers and policy makers, and advise on constraints, roles and responsibilities of key players in VET in School Programs.

The outcomes of the policy analysis are reported in the report titled "Keating, J. (1999). Assessment in School-Industry Programs: Policy Context and Implications, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne".
Policy.pdf

The literature review is reported in Chapter 3 of Gillis, S., Keating, J., & Griffin, P. (1999). Assessment in School-Industry Programs: Research Report, The University of Melbourne: Melbourne.
Research_Report.pdf

We would like to encourage you to download these two documents  for discussion at the following URL address
http://arc.edfac.unimelb.edu.au/research/vet_in_schools/index.html

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First published December 8. Last modified December 21, 1999.