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 4 of 4)

Why teachers/trainers as main assessors?
You will note that these materials referred to in parts 1, 2 and 3  have been written with the major responsibility for making judgements of competence being given to the teacher/trainer.

The reason is that the research revealed that many workplace supervisors do not have the time nor the inclination to take on the role of assessor and to satisfy the assessor requirements described in most Training Packages.

Role of workplace supervisor
Hence we have argued that for many, the supervisor's role will mostly be associated with gathering evidence of workplace performance to inform the teacher/trainer of the student's performance.

The teacher should then be responsible for synthesising this source of evidence with other sources such as the student's performance in simualation exercises, essays etc.

All this information then needs to be integrated and decision rules applied to make an holistic judgement of the competence level of the student. To do this, the assessor needs to use professional judgement and make inferences or predictions about how the student will perform outside the assessment event.

Transferability of competence
The transferability of competence to new situations is one of the conditions required for competent performance. To ensure the quality of the assessor's (eg teacher's) decision, we also encourage that the assessment decisions be verified and moderated through meetings between the teacher and the workplace supervisor.

Consistent with the ARF, ensuring the quality of the assessment and resultant decisions rests with the RTO. It appears that with most VET in Schools programs, this will either be the school or local training provider (not the local small business).

Feedback appreciated...
We would really appreciate some feedback on your local experience with the quality of assessments conducted in the workplace and the varying roles and responsibilities of the workplace assessors. In particular:

1. How do you ensure the validity and reliability of workplace assessments?
2. How does this differ to classroom-based?

We are both extremely keen to discuss any of the findings that emerged as a result of this study and to gain some feedback on whether the materials will be useful for your own specific needs.

Alternatively, you may want to raise some concerns or innovative solutions you have discovered with implementing Competency Based Assessment  in your own context. We are open to any discussion on CBA, so lets get started!!!

Jack and Shelley

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First published December 12. Last modified January 31, 2000..