Assessor Award

|assessment as a process of making judgments of learners’ knowledge, skills and competence against set criteria |

Initial assessment is the starting point of a learning journey. The information gathered provides a base on which to plan your learner’s progress. Initial assessment is very important so you find out the learners individual needs in order for you to support them appropriately.

Assessment plays a significant role in the learning experience of students. It determines their progression through their programmes and enables them to demonstrate that they have achieved the intended learning outcomes. It is assessment that provides the main basis for public recognition of achievement, through the awarding of qualifications and/or credit.

Unit 2, 1.1, unit 3, 1.1,1.2,1.3- I have also learned and familiarised myself with different methods of assessment that can be used to assess competence and knowledge. They are namely: Observation of performance in the work environment and simulated environments- used in practical situation in work environment where a learner demonstrates their competence (natural performance) whilst learners are being observed. Simulation-this is similar to observation but a simulated activity is used rather than natural performance to assessed learners. Simulation is used when it has not been possible to carry out a task. Examining products of work- assesment is done on the culmination of learner 's training, e:g certificates, health and safety reports, memos, checklist for patiaent care, letters, charts. Questioning the learner, witness testimony: any other people who has been involved with the learner 's progress can write a statemen to show how the learner has successfully covered relevant aspects of the courset, learners ' personal statement: it is a reflective account where learners explains the thinking behind their decision to take certain approach or why they decided to change aspects of a task or activity ,

Assessment can be defined as the systematic gathering of information regarding the knowledge and ability of learners which enables learners to obtain feedback on the quality of their learning and enables teachers or assessors to evaluate the effectiveness of their teaching/assessment.

The term ‘formative assessment’ is used to describe the activities and processes used by teachers and learners to gather information that informs future teaching and learning. Assessment becomes formative if the information gathered is used as feedback to adapt and modify teaching and learning (Black and Wiliam, 1998, p.2). There are a variety of different methods and techniques that can be used by teachers and learners that can contribute to enhancing learner progress. These include

Evidence is deemed to be sufficient if it is understandable and presented in a clear manner, contains content deemed appropriate for the level of the award and meets all the learning criteria, regulations and requirements set out in the assessment plan.

Our process for internal quality assurance involves planning the units that will be sampled for each student. This is planned on an internal verification sampling plan (Evidence index 5) and we use the alphabetical listings and diagonal lines that cross the units to be sampled. If however, the units are infrequently selected then I will ensure that they are sampled and also with the new NVQ specification that has recently taken place then I would carry out a 100% check. We also like to carry out formative assessment as this is good practice and aids to our standardisation process in supporting all our assessors. Regarding support I always liaise with our more senior assessors and the external verifier to ensure I am continually meeting the quality standards required and they are always available to offer their assistance and advice. If we have a very inexperienced assessor or new assessor then the NVQ’s they assess would be sampled far deeper and more support would be given to them. I would ensure that I assess a variety of evidence ranging from Observations, Recorded discussions, Reflective accounts, Witness statements and Work products to list a few. I ensure that the levels and quantities of these are consistent, authentic, valid, and reliable especially regarding new standards.

Assessment, both formative and summative, plays a significant part in the learning experience as it determines progression and enables learners to demonstrate that they have achieved their desired learning outcomes.

There is a large variety of assessment methods available for assessing learners’ achievements. These include observation; questioning the learner; examining product evidence; discussion; witness testimony; looking at learner statements; recognising prior learning; simulated environment; skills tests; oral and written examinations; assignments; case studies and projects. Choosing the most appropriate assessment methods is vitally important, to help and support the learner and to ensure the job of the assessor is as straightforward, reliable and problem-free as possible.

“Assessments should be a regular process; it might not always be formalised, but you should be observing what your learners are doing, asking questions and reviewing their progress throughout their time with you”.

For example, assessment provides clear measurement and recording of achievement during a course that provides identification of individual

Assessors need to determine a learner's knowledge and performance against a set of pre-defined criteria. These criteria may be set up to assess learning for an eventual formal qualification in a particular topic or job role.

The learner must have sufficient time to prepare for an assessment. Learners must have clear instructions, dates, times and be aware of what treatments that they will be doing.

3.2 Evaluate the benefits of using a holistic approach to assessmentBy collecting evidence/ information from the learner via