Providers and partners

Designing assessment activities

When designing assessment activities, it is important to identify the required outcomes, and assess against these outcomes.

Outcomes identify the skills or knowledge to be achieved. Evidence requirements and range statements identify the evidence to be considered.
Assessment activities:
- assess against the outcomes
- provide instructions that are clear, complete, easily understood and give the candidate the opportunity to meet the requirements of the unit standard(s).
  See Assessment tools and approaches for ideas.
An assessment schedule (DOC, 28KB):
- specifies the evidence expected from the candidate for each element being assessed
- includes judgement statement(s) which identify the standard to be achieved.

When designing new assessment tasks, consider:

Which outcome(s) will the assessment activity be based on?
Can assessment against outcomes from other standards be integrated?
Will the assessment be integrated with the learning programme or normal workplace activity, or will it be a special event?
What underpinning knowledge, skills (including generic skills) and ideas required need to be incorporated into the assessment activity?
What conditions should apply (e.g. test conditions, assessment completed in candidate's own time, reference to source documents allowed, etc.)?
What degree of learner interaction and assessor assistance is allowable in completing the activity? Is specific direction or only general guidance appropriate?
Will the student have the opportunity to produce sufficient evidence, i.e. is there enough evidence to make a judgement about competence, and could the performance to the required standard be repeated consistently?
Does each assessment task validly assess the outcome, i.e. does it assess what it should assess (in terms of the standard) and not something else?
Can authenticity be assured, i.e. is it the learner who has produced the evidence, or is outside assistance distorting the assessment?