How to Ensure That Assessment Decisions are Made Against Specified Criteria, Valid, Reliable, Fair

Making judgements against criteria:

• Assessment is about making a judgement as to the extent to which the required learning has been demonstrated (Barton, 2015). This judgement has to be made against the criteria in the unit specification. For example, when I provide feedback against criteria in an assignment, the contents against which I judge the criteria are provided in the unit specification.

Validity:

• This is the ability of an assessment to test what it intends to measure and provide information that is both valuable and appropriate for the intended purpose (Kime, 2017). For example, in assignment one of my HNC unit 3, for the student to achieve the M1 criterion, they would have to assess how risk assessments can be used to address significant hazards posed by selected materials or activities. To achieve this criterion, the students have to produce a risk assessment document relevant to the assignment scenario. To be adequate for the HNC level, the document must contain risk ratings of the various construction hazards. This may not be included at level 3 of the qualification.

Reliability:

• The reliability of an assessment refers to the consistency of results. Kime (2017) opined that the factors that contribute to the reliability of an assessment are the precision of the questions and tasks used in prompting learners’ responses and the accuracy and consistency of the interpretations derived from assessment responses. For example, when I check prior learning on a topic, I use Kahoot, an interactive learning tool, to set multiple-choice questions constructed in simple sentences. I avoid the use of complex sentences to avoid ambiguity in the questions and options provided. Also, I can observe the performance of the students in real time. I ask for feedback from students about questions they performed poorly to understand the reason for this and shape my teaching to reflect their concerns.

The role of evidence in making assessment decisions:

• There may be a need to upload supporting evidence to achieve the criteria. For example, when I assess the NVQ units, I ensure the students upload pieces of evidence when the criteria are performance-based. For example, a student needs to produce pieces of evidence when a criterion requires him/her to produce a safe system of work or assess the cost plan.

• Importance of objectivity and fairness to learners:

• This is necessary to ensure that my personal bias is not introduced when assessing a learner’s work and that the same standards are applied to all the students without prejudice. For example, when I taught the geology unit using the University of XXX specification, the specification required an exam as the summative assessment. Prior to the exam, I prepared the marking sheet/solution sheet for all the questions and ensured the students are judged according to that standard.

Reference/Bibliography

Barton, J. (2015) Writing your assignments – tips and wrinkles. Available at: https://www.britishschoolofcoaching.com/writing-your-assignments-tips-and-wrinkles/ (Accessed: 03 November 2021)

Davies, A. and Stiling, L. (2021) TAQA – training assessment and quality assurance [PowerPoint presentation]. 22 October.

Gravells, A. (2014) Achieving your assessment & quality assurance units (TAQA). 2nd edn. London: Learning Matters SAGE.

Kime, S. (2017) Four pillars of assessment validity. Available at: https://evidencebased.education/pillars-assessment-purpose-validity/ (Accessed: 03 November 2021).