Friday, 14 May 2010
New research report into e-assessment practices
2:57 pm | 
Posted by
Service Industries Training Advisory Council
According to the 2009 national E-learning Benchmarking Survey, 62 per cent of teachers and 46 per cent of registered training organisations (RTOs) are using online assessment activities due to the flexibility they provide.
E-assessment and the AQTF is a new report that examines key e-assessment issues for practitioners and auditors and includes recommendations to promote better understanding and improved practices in e-assessment, particularly in relation to Australian Quality Training Framework (AQTF) 2007 .
The research included targeted interviews, teleconferences and small group discussions with VET auditors, quality managers and practitioners. Some key observations include:
- E-assessment is maintaining quality standards – auditors indicated the majority of audits employ quality assessment practices, and that standards were applied as rigorously or more rigorously to e-assessment than to traditional assessment methods.
- Auditors and practitioners have confidence in e-assessment – but there is some tension and confusion between practitioners and auditors around various forms of e-assessment.
- E-assessment is a popular type of formative assessment - e-assessment is primarily being used as a form of diagnostic and formative assessment. While e-assessment is not commonly used now for summative assessment this is envisaged to change in the future with the growth in e-examinations and other tools to test knowledge.
- The potential of Toolboxes – practitioners are becoming more aware of the potential for Toolboxes around e-assessment, especially as Toolboxes involve projects that can be completed on line.
The research also reveals challenges around improving the overall quality of e-assessment tools; the provision of guidelines and good examples for e-portfolios; auditor consistency and training; and increasing the number of well trained and informed practitioners.
A specific feature of the research comprises three case studies of e-assessment practice which were developed to support the findings of the research, and that demonstrate how different organisations have implemented e-assessment.
In general, the research points to the need to build confidence around new and emerging forms of e-assessment, in order to maintain high quality training and assessment in the VET system.
Article excerpt from the The Loop 10/05/2010
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