The Key Factors to Consider When Planning Assessment

Standards, complying with the assessment strategy, choice of assessment methods, types, and volume of evidence:

• The requirements for assessments are different based on the qualification standards. For example, the Pearson units I teach to level 4 students are not fixed on summative assessment methods. It can either be a written assignment, oral presentation, etc. According to the standard, a maximum of four assessments can be set for unit 3, science and materials, with each assessment covering the four learning outcomes. One of the learning outcomes, LO3, requires a practical assessment. I have required answers to assessment one to be presented in a written report, assessment two to be an oral presentation, assessment three to be a practical and written assessment type, and assessment four to be a written report.

• Also, the level 4 NVQ units I assess require both performance and descriptive pieces of evidence. The measurable verbs within the criteria are used to determine the type of evidence that would be required. For example, if the criterion requires the students to assess or produce resources, they would need to upload pieces of evidence. If the criterion requires the students to explain or describe concepts, they only need to produce written evidence discussing the concepts without uploading pieces of evidence to support the discussion.

• The level 4 units I taught using the University of XXXX specification in my previous employment mandated a time-constraint examination (40% weighting) and two units of coursework (60% weighting).

Communication with learners and others:

• It is helpful to communicate to the students about their availability for a workplace assessment and/or their academic workload in relation to the deadlines of assessments from other units. In my previous employment, the department avoided the overlap of assessment hand-out or hand-in dates. We had meetings where we designed the assessment plans to minimise the stress of students completing multiple assessments in a short period of time.

Location and resources, learner needs, and support required:

• The assessments should be put in a secure and easily accessible location that can be accessed by the students at any time. An assessor or tutor must provide supporting teaching and learning resources that would assist the students in completing the assessments. My assessments are set in the assignment section of MS Teams and the students get automatic notifications once they are set. My lesson resources and support materials are uploaded in the Class Notebook or File section of MS Teams for easy accessibility by the students. When I publish the assignments, I always do a breakdown session of the assignment requirements or tasks. This is to ensure that every student knows the information to consider to achieve all the criteria of the assessments. This promotes fairness and transparency in the assessment process. Also, in the level 4 unit 1 assessment, which involves the production of an academic report, I set-up one-to-one tutorial support sessions with the learners to ensure they are clear about the requirements of the unit.

Time and duration of assessment:

• The internal verification process ensures that the duration of the assessment is appropriate for the learners to complete the criteria set in the assessment. I ensure that the teaching and learning sessions have been completed prior to handing out the assessments to the students. Depending on the units, they have between three and six weeks to complete them. For example, the level 2 students would have five weeks to complete assignment two of unit 5. This assignment has three pass criteria, one merit criterion, and one distinction criterion. It would require more time to complete as it involves the production of a working drawing of a bungalow. In another instance, the level 4 students would have three weeks to complete assignment one of unit 3. This assignment has one pass, merit, and distinction criteria.

• Feedback, recording assessment, and decisions: It is important that the assessor or tutor provide information about the performance of the student relative to the learning outcomes or aims set out in the assessments. In my previous employment, the feedback for the summative assessment had to be provided within three weeks of submission. Within three weeks, the assessor will provide the initial grades and feedback, and the internal verifier will confirm the grades and feedback. Once the grade has been agreed upon by the internal verifier, the assignments with the feedback are then returned electronically via MS Teams to the students. I then officially record these grades on the ProSolution management information system.

Reference/Bibliography

Akubuilo, F. (2012) ‘Holistic assessment of student’s learning outcome’, Journal of Education and Practice, 3(12), pp. 56 – 60.

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.

The College of Social Work (2012) Understanding what is meant by holistic assessment. Available at: https://www.skillsforcare.org.uk/Document-library/holistic-assessmentASYE1.pdf (Accessed: 11 November 2021).