Chapter 1 - 12
44.8.
Simulation. In general, awarding organisations prefer not to allow assessment of
simulations of work. Exceptions to this rule exist in the explosives industry in jobs where it
is manifestly unsafe for either an assessor or work colleague to observe the actions of the
learner directly. A classic example of this situation can be seen in the work of an explosive
ordnance disposal operator who is required to work on their own, at a safe distance and
often out of sight of their team or line-manager. This absolute requirement for working in a
‘one-person risk’ environment must, however be assessed in training in order to ensure
that the potential operator is competent to be able to work safely outside the training
environment.
44.9.
Product/process evidence. This type of evidence, also known as ‘naturally occurring
evidence’ includes such things as check sheets, attendance sheets, signed documents
resulting from actions in the workplace, work diaries; almost anything that can be used to
demonstrate that the learner did a particular task on a particular occasion.
44.10.
Other… The list above is comprehensive but not necessarily all-inclusive. A good
assessor will work with the learner to find the best evidence of the learner’s competence
and the types of acceptable evidence are almost unlimited.
45.
Ideally, the assessor will use more than one type of evidence to make their judgement of
competence of the individual and ‘observation’ should be included whenever it is safe and
practical to so.
46.
Whatever form the evidence takes, it must adhere to the same requirements i.e. it must be:
46.1.
Valid: provide genuine evidence of achievement of the Standard/element;
46.2.
Authentic: be the candidate’s own work;
46.3.
Reliable: give consistently reproducible results
46.4.
Current: give a current picture of competence/ knowledge; (as a rule of thumb, to
be current evidence would be less than 2 years old)
46.5.
Sufficient: cover all the requirements of the standard;
47.
In achieving these requirements, we are likely to achieve validity and reliability – which are the
key requirements of effective assessment.
48.
EUExImp project partner GJR recognised that to qualify their members of staff they would need
to be able to work in Portuguese as well as English. Their solution was to qualify two Portuguese
nationals, both greatly experienced in the industry and having excellent English language skills,
as assessors.
49.
The procedure for the two assessors to achieve the qualification was carried out by QinetiQ
Qualifications Centre and was based on the understanding of the assessment methodology and
their skill to prepare and conduct two partial assessment of two different. Five days were used
to perform the training and assessment of the two candidates. The first two days were used for
Chapter 1 - 13
the candidate assessors to receive the theory elements of the qualification, two days were used
for observations of the assessor candidates in the work environment (conducting partial
assessments) and one day was used for professional discussion with each candidate.
50.
The theoretical stage was conducted in a meeting room at a local venue and covered the
principles and practices of assessment in the workplace. The practical stage was done at the
factory and required each candidate assessor to be seen to undertake 2 assessments (by
observation, questioning and work product) of 2 learners, i.e. a total of four assessments. This
was followed by a professional discussion between the candidate assessor and the
instructor/assessor which allowed the instructor/assessor to gain a deeper understanding of the
candidate assessor’s knowledge and attitudes and performance during their own training and
assessment.
51.
At the different steps of the assessment process, each candidate added to a Portfolio that was
completed at the end. The accredited Internal Verifier assured the maintenance and
improvement of quality assessment, supporting the assessor and monitoring the quality of the
assessor’s performance, ensuring standardisation between assessors and to meet the external
quality assurance requirements.
52.
The two assessors were accredited by the ‘Open Awards’ awarding organisation, achieving the
Open Awards Level 3 Award in Assessing Competence in the Work Environment (OCF).
53.
A Coutinho, a 3
rd
-party accreditor who is now one of the assessors for GJR, writes that
“My participation in this project was as follows:
•
Analysis of Standards;
•
Analysis of company processes;
•
Qualification as a certified assessor;
•
Realization of assessments to 3 GJR level 2 employees
The qualification process as an assessor took place during one week with room and factory
training, and it was very important for me to understand the methodology of assessments, its
benefits and how to perform them in the future.
At this moment, I am working with the other qualified assessor in GJR's company to complete
the qualification of three level two employees of GJR.”
Assessment for purposes other than qualification
54.
Assessment of competence is a natural part of management and supervision, and it certainly
features as a major part of any formal appraisal process or procedure. As can be seen in Figure 2,
occupational standards can be used throughout the appraisal process, from setting objectives at
the beginning of the appraisal period through to the appraisal review and formulating an
individual and group development and training plan or programme.
55.
In the EUExImp project,
Bofors Test Center
(BTC) recognised that “One of the key issues lacking
today is a system to verify the personal skills and competences of our employees. One possible
solution is to implement the occupational standards. BTC participation in this project aims to
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