Sufficiency
“Sufficient evidence” is one of those phrases assessors hear all the time, but it can still feel vague. There’s no magic formula, no checklist that says, “Collect three pieces of evidence and you’re done.”
As assessors, we need to make judgment calls about the evidence in front of us every time we assess. And while that can seem tricky, the truth is we make these types of decisions every day.
Think about when you decide if a meal is filling and nutritious. That same common-sense reasoning can help us make confident assessment decisions.
Quality + Quantity = Sufficiency
Think about a plate of food.
- A meal that’s satisfying usually has enough on the plate to keep you full (quantity)
- And it’s made up of foods that are substantial and nourishing (quality)
Sufficient evidence works exactly the same way.
A balanced plate of evidence
Think about a healthy dinner plate. You’ve got your protein, some veggies, maybe some carbs, and something fresh for balance.
Assessment evidence works the same way:
For example:
- A strong direct assessment, like a workplace observation, is a bit like your protein – the hero of the dish
- Written tasks might be the veggies – providing extra nutrition and taste
- A Third-party report might be a bit like the side salad or sauce
When we’re deciding if a meal is nutritious and satisfying, we don’t look at just one item; we look at how the foods work together.
It’s the same with evidence: some pieces might be stronger than others, but we make our decision based on the whole combination we’ve gathered.
Quality
Deciding what quality evidence looks like is just like judging the quality of a meal.
We use our knowledge, experience, and a bit of common sense.
Which of the following foods will provide our bodies with the most nutrition?
We don’t need to be food scientists to work that out!
And which of the following assessment evidence are of a higher quality?
A bit of good old common sense tells us that seeing the student actually perform the task with our own eyes is going to be better quality evidence than relying on some ticks and scant comments a busy workplace supervisor provided.
So when we’re looking at the assessment evidence we’ve collected, we need to do a quality assessment of each piece of evidence to decide if, overall, we have enough quality evidence to make a decision.
I can’t give you a technical sheet to refer to when you’re weighing evidence – the only tool I can suggest is common sense.
I hope everyone reading has some on hand.
Quantity
Quality is of course important, but quantity is important too. The meal below is no doubt delicious and of a high quality – but would it be enough to sustain us as a full meal?
So even the highest quality evidence sometimes just isn’t enough – and again, this is a common-sense judgement.
That beautiful piece of evidence won’t cut it if you don’t meet the quantity requirements. If the PE requires evidence of 3 occasions – then you need 3 pieces of evidence that were demonstrated at 3 different times.
And even if the PE doesn’t have a quantity stated, never forget that you are making a nationally recognised decision about the person’s competence.
- Would you be happy for the student to care for your parent or child tomorrow?
- Are they ready to drive that heavy vehicle in heavy traffic tomorrow?
- Would you book in to have them colour your own hair tomorrow?
Is seeing the student do something only once really enough for you to be confident of their competence?
Range of Relevant Evidence
ASQA tell us that we can demonstrate validity in assessment judgements by ensuring our judgements of competence are based on a range of relevant evidence.
Your family might love peas, and peas are great – but would they be satisfied with a plate of peas for dinner tonight? Probably not.
Peas are good for you, and there is a good quantity of food on this plate, but it simply will not provide the full range of nutrition we need, and frankly, it’s just not going to be appealing for anyone.
And this is why we need a range of assessment evidence! While the peas might be quality food items, by themselves, they don’t make an appealing or nutritious meal.
Let’s be reasonable and use some common sense
We know we can’t serve the kids a plate of Snickers bars for dinner and call it a nutritious meal. Your kids might beg you to, and it would be efficient time-wise too – but it’s not right. It’s not nutritious. It’s not quality. And any reasonable parent with any common sense wouldn’t do it.
In the same way, any reasonable assessor with common sense would not determine a student as competent with poor quality or insufficient evidence.
Our assessment decisions need to meet the ‘reasonable’ test. We need to be reasonably assured that the student possesses the skills and knowledge described in the UOC. So we need to ask ourselves – would any reasonable person – in the industry, in the workplace, in your own RTO –look at the evidence and come to the same conclusion?
If you’re not sure, then you are not assured.
Go back and gather more evidence.
Cheers
Coleen