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Transforming Industry-Led Assessment of On-Job Learning

Project Leader(s): 
Karen Vaughan

Transforming Industry-Led Assessment of On-Job Learning is a collaborative project between the New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZCER) and the Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation (BCITO). The project illustrates effective systems of on-job assessment and shows how these systems can build organisational capability and improve outcomes for learners.

The project is based on four previously identified principles of good practice (Vaughan & Cameron, 2010):

  • ITOs and workplaces should have a clear purpose for assessment and work together
  • The ITO’s assessment structures and systems must support the learning process
  • Good assessment systems require appropriately recruited, trained and professionally developed people
  • Moderation contributes to reliability and validity

This project provides an example of how these principles can be implemented into practice.

In this study we observed assessment events and interviewed those involved - the “assessment team” of assessors, carpentry apprentices, moderators, and trainer/evaluators. By taking the previous study a step further, ITOs and tertiary providers and stakeholders can learn about both the process of assessment system change and the interim and likely learning outcomes from such a change.

This project has also produced a guide Taking Charge of Your Apprenticeship, which is being used by BCITO apprentices but can be adapted for other ITOs under the Creative Commons Licence as long as you credit the author/s and license your new creations under identical terms. 

Transforming Industry-Led Assessment of On-Job Learning project publications:

Year published Title Publication type
2012 Taking charge of your apprenticeship Professional learning resource
2012 A Transformational System for On-Job Assessment in the Building and Construction Industries Research report