Mr_Steve_Ellis

Steve Ellis CU3049 Part 2 4 Understand how to involve learners and others in assessment. Question 4.1 Explain the importance of involving the learner and others in the assessment process. Question 4.2 Summarise types of information that should be made available to learners and others involved in the assessment process. Question 4.3 Explain how peer and self-assessment can be used effectively to promote learner involvement and personal responsibility in the assessment of learning. Question 4.4 Explain how assessment arrangements can be adapted to meet the needs of individual learners. 4.1 When involving the learner in the assessment process the aim is to have the learner become independent. This can be achieved by making sure the assessor and the learner will have a plan set in place of what you want the learner to learn by the end of the session and how he/she is going to do it. The learner will need to understand the assessment requirements and ask for help when needed, be involved in all aspects of assessment planning, take ownership themselves to produce evidence, understand the terminology and involve their managers, colleagues and customers. 4.2 Types of information that should be available to the learners and others involved in the assessment progress are the appeals procedure (which should be shown first), awarding body, paperwork he/she will be provided with and grading criteria, Centre or college for all times and places for assessments and for complaints procedures, costs and dates for any award ceremonies, The learner should also have access to information from the assessor such as assessment plans which have been agreed, evidence required, assessment schemes, results of their assessments and any feedback from the assessor. The learner should also be aware and inform the assessor of any special learning requirements before the assessor comes on site and should have already taken a functional skills test unless they have GCSE grades from A-C. 4.3 Peer and self-assessment can be used to promote learner involvement and personal responsibility in the assessment of learning. A learner must prove he has done his own work and it is authentic and has not committed plagiarism, the qualification cannot be given to the learner unless he can prove he has the knowledge, this promotes independence to the learner and helps them develop and have the capacity to evaluate his/her own performance rather than just the assessor. 4.4 It is the assessor’s duty to share all information and explain course expectations clearly not discriminate against any learners needs and give feedback. The learner must be responsible for his own work and be able to reflect on what has been covered in order to improve. 5 Understand how to make assessment decisions. Question 5.1 Explain how to judge whether evidence is: • sufficient • authentic • current Question 5.2 Explain how to ensure that the assessment decisions are: • made against specified criteria • valid • reliable • fair 5.1 When making assessment decisions you need to know how to judge whether the evidence you have been given is sufficient, authentic and current, The work needs to be sufficient to meet the course requirements and meet the learning outcomes, necessary regulations and requirements and assessment criteria identified in the assessment plan and is sufficient to prove achievement at the appropriate level. The work needs to be authentic and can be confirmed that it is the learners own work and not that of a college or manager and has not committed plagiarism and all witness statements come from reliable sources. 5.2 The work needs to be current and still valid to conform to the organizations policy and show that the learner is up to date with knowledge and skills in the criteria agreed in the assessment plan. The assessor must be aware that he/she and the learner know their units as well as the appropriate methods for assessment and any special requirements for the learner are met and is always fair and use standard practices to confirm the reliability of any decisions made. Understand quality assurance of the assessment process Question 6.1 Evaluate the importance of quality assurance in the assessment process. Question 6.2 Summarise quality assurance and standardisation procedures in own area of practice. Question 6.3 Summarise the procedures to follow when there are disputes concerning assessment in own area of practice. 6.1 The importance of quality assurance in the assessment process is to ensure that the assessors have a standard practice throughout QCF and NVQ qualifications are nationally recognised and need to keep a consistent standard so everybody being assessed will be assessed to the same standards and criteria all over this means that assessors are required to attend standardisation meetings to ensure they are making the same judgements as other assessors. 6.2 Internal quality assurance is crucial and this will be verified by the Internal Verifier (IV) and this that will run the standardisation meetings which are held quarterly. Awarding organizations are approved by Ofstead to offer qualifications through an External Verifier (EV), The IV watches the assessor and the EV watches the IV. The IV should manage the assessor in your organisation by sampling all types of assessments, decisions. IVs can only do samples due to the amount of people taking the course; new assessors will be sampled often. The purposes of quality assurance of assessment is to assure that there is reliable data of assessments that gives information to benchmark the quality of a qualification or a course, this can be used to see if a high proportion of learners achieve qualifications and that the course is affective, results and to avoid risks to the integrity of the qualification and so you can reflect and improve where needed and attract more people to the courses on offer. 6.3 The assessor must make the learner aware of the appeals procedure in the first meeting; this is so the learner knows what to do if they are unhappy with any part of the assessment process or assessment plan. Necessary use for the appeals procedure is for when problems cannot be resolved by the assessor, disagreements over the assessment decision, where coursework seems to have been lost by the centre or not returned to the candidate on time, cases where plagiarism is suspected and complaints about any discrimination, everybody should have an equal opportunity to learn. This should be reported to the IV, the IV is also there to protect the assessor for instances such as learners not keeping to appointments or meeting their course criteria and following their assessment plan or using plagiarism. Stages of the appeals procedure are Informal stage where a discussion between the assessor and learner are held, if this is not resolved it will then be taken to the next stage which is involving the IV or the candidates manager who the reviews the assessment decisions and responds in writing, if this is unresolved then it will go to the next stage which is an appeal hearing which is chaired by the senior management of the assessment centre, if still not resolved it will then go to the final stage which is an external appeal which would be dealt with by the awarding organization. Best practice for the assessor is to keep as much information as possible on each assessment plan, this will ensure that the assessor has accurate records and can reflect on them at any time and has proof of anything discussed during the assessment process, all records of the assessment must be kept for three years. The assessor is responsible for all information gathered from the trainee and must keep this safe at all times and can be held liable if it is lost. The assessor must safeguard him/herself at all times, when working in vulnerable areas the assessor must never use a mobile phone to take pictures in case he captures something unlawful, however the assessor can get permission and be watched by a manager when doing this if taking pictures for evidence of work. The assessor is required to keep his/her own CPD up to date, this is a legal requirement and all training must be noted on this, the assessor is also responsible for his/her own training and is required to be up to date in all areas of information regarding their own field, this can be obtained by receiving newsletters, using web sites or through Ofsted and all training must be added to the assessors CPD. 7 Understand how to manage information relating to assessment Question 7.1 Explain the importance of following procedures for the management of information relating to assessment. Question 7.2 Explain how feedback and questioning contribute to the assessment process. 7.1 The assessor is responsible for following procedures for the management of information relating to assessment; this information is subject to provisions of the Data Protection Act. The assessor could be prosecuted if he/she loses a document or laptop with the learner’s personal data on, places a learners assessment information where it can be read or altered by others, fail to upload assessment information by the end of the day could lead to disciplinary action. The assessor must make sure that anything written down must be legible, records must be kept up to date in order to track the learner’s progress and records must be available for sampling by the IV at all times, records must be kept for three years after the completion of the course. 7.2 Feedback is a large part of the assessment process, the assessor needs to ensure that the learner is up to date with his/her work so they can advance to the next part of the course, giving feedback often on how they are doing can encourage this, it is always best to start with positive feedback and give praise for good work, don’t be vague and give constructive criticism, listen to how feedback is received and limit what you cover in order not to overwhelm the learner and at all times keep to the criteria and discuss the assessment plan and update where needed and always ask questions, this is important as it helps to build vocational skills and can give evidence that the learner has knowledge of their job and can explain the decisions they have made during their training. 8 Understand the legal and good practice requirements in relation to assessment. Question 8.1 Explain legal issues, policies and procedures relevant to assessment, including those for confidentiality, health, safety and welfare. Question 8.2 Explain the contribution that technology can make to the assessment process. Question 8.3 Evaluate requirements for equality and diversity and, where appropriate, bilingualism in relation to assessment Question 8.4 Explain the value of reflective practice and continuing professional development in the assessment process. 8.1 Legal issues, policies and procedures are put in place to insure the confidentiality, safety and welfare of the learner. The assessor must know how each procedure works in the assessment progress; the assessor must have systems in place for confidentiality meaning the safe storing and recording of all the learners’ personal details and must restrict access to this information and never lose this. When entering a site risk assessments must be made to cover the health and safety policy. Assessors must meet all requirements of the health and safety legislation, equality and diversity legislation, The Data Protection Act and the safeguarding of children, young people and vulnerable adults. The assessor must also follow any company policies determined by the work place while on site and have a valid CRB check. All learners with special learning requirements must also have these requirements taken in account before the assessment so the assessment can be fair. 8.2 The contribution technology has made to the assessment process is that the learner can now actually be filmed or recorded performing his/her task, If using photo evidence the assessor must safeguard him/herself by asking a manager to witness the photographs being taken, this is to ensure the assessor does not break the vulnerable peoples act, online tests can have the results accessed immediately. Learners can now have electronic portfolios where work for qualifications can have evidence stored and can be accessed electronically; this also helps ensure that work is not lost. 8.3 The assessor must evaluate requirements for equality and diversity, they must ensure that they have a respect bilingualism if needed during the assessment, the assessor must be fair and not bias and make sure that everybody has an equal opportunity during their assessment process and all information is available regardless of age, gender, religion, ethnic group, disability or geographical location and have respect for all equality and diversity during the assessment process. 8.4 During the process it is always good practice for the assessor to reflect on past experiences, the assessor can do this by always making notes or keeping a diary which can help the assessor to improve on his/her own performance, the assessor must at all times keep his/her knowledge of their respective field up to date as well as their CPD.