Standards-referenced assessment for vocational education and training in schools

C1 - Refereed Journal ArticleThis study examined a model of assessment that could be applied nationally for Year Twelve Vocational Education and Training (VET) subjects and which could yield both a differentiating score and recognition of competence. More than fifty colleges across all states and territories of Australia field-tested the approach over one school year. Results showed that the model allowed for a standards-referenced model to be used: that the approach was compatible with the diverse range of senior secondary assessment systems in use throughout Australia and that there were considerable cost benefits to be had in adopting the logic of item response modelling for the development of rubrics for scoring performances on units of competence from National Training Packages. A change in the logic of competency assessment was proposed, in that the performance indicators were not rated using a dichotomy but with a series of quality ordered criteria to indicate how well students performed specified tasks in the workplace or its simulation. The study validated the method of assessment development, demonstrated the method's consistency, and showed how the method could address the issue of consistency across states. The study also proposed a set of principles for a joint assessment of both quality and competence

Potential energy distributions within and on single-walled and double-walled carbon nanotubes

The potential fields arising from dispersion forces induced by single- and double-walled carbon nanotubes of various chiral configurations and sizes on an argon test atom have been calculated, employing a discrete summation method that takes into account the translational symmetry of the carbon lattice of the different armchair and zigzag chiral conformations. The total interaction potential was considered to be pair-wise additive and described by the Lennard-Jones 6-12 potential expression. This has yielded radial field distributions as a function of axial distance within, outside, and between the walls these carbon nanotubes. It was found that these distributions depended not only upon position but also upon orientation of the axes with respect to the graphene sheets. The potential barriers at the open end of the carbon nanotubes have also been studied. The effect of surface curvature was evaluated by comparing a single graphite sheet to the corresponding segments of nanotubes containing the same number of carbon atoms. Using the calculated data, the Henry constants and diffusion coefficients have been computed together with their temperature dependencies and compared to other planar and microporous carbon systems

Empirical validation of the Strengthened Australian Qualifications Framework using Item Response Theory

This study set out to empirically examine the revised architectural design of the Strengthened Australian Qualifications Framework. There were four elements of the strengthened framework that were to be examined: 1. A levels structure with ten levels expressed as learning outcomes (referred to as Levels Criteria) 2. Revised descriptors for each of the existing 14 Qualification Types (and two kinds) expressed as learning outcomes (referred to as Qualification Type Descriptors). 3. The interaction between the Qualification Types and the Levels Structure. 4. A measurement of the notional duration of student learning for each Qualification Type. The study was designed to examine the measurement properties of three of the four elements listed above (i.e., 1, 2 & 3). It was also designed to examine the appropriateness of the assigned notional duration of student learning for each Qualification Type (i.e., 4)

Does 1 = 1? Mapping measures of adult literacy and numeracy

Measuring literacy and numeracy proficiency and any changes in the level of skill are important in getting a sense of how well language, literacy and numeracy programs are working. The Adult Literacy and Life Skills (ALLS) survey and Australian Core Skills Framework (ACSF) are tools for assessing these. While the ALLS is a national survey conducted on an irregular basis, the ACSF can be applied at the individual level and provides evidence of progress. This report explores the two frameworks and finds that, while it is broadly possible to translate the five ACSF performance levels to the ALLS scales, there is not an exact match between the two, especially at the higher levels

Overview of the Empirical Validation of the Strengthened Australian Qualifications Framework

The aim of this study was to undertake an empirical analysis of the revised design of the strengthened Australian Qualifications Framework. In particular, four elements of the revised framework were to be examined: the levels structure, with 10 levels expressed as learning outcomes (referred to as 'levels criteria'); revised descriptors for each of the existing 14 qualification types (and two kinds [the Master's and Doctoral Degree qualifications types had two kinds: other and research]) expressed as learning outcomes (referred to as 'qualification type descriptors'); the relationship between the qualification types and the levels structure; [and] an estimate of the notional duration of student learning for each qualification type. The major aims of the empirical validation were to: estimate the complexity of the criteria for each of the levels, and for each set, compare the estimates with the proposed 10-level structure; estimate the complexity of each qualification type descriptor for each of the 14 qualification types; identify any potentially redundant and non-discriminating levels criteria and/or qualification type descriptors; determine where each qualification type is typically positioned within the proposed 10-level structure; [and] investigate the adequacy of the suggested duration for each qualification type

Mapping adult literacy performance — support document

In 2010, the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) conducted a preliminary study to determine the feasibility of mapping the performance levels of the international Adult Literacy and Life Skill Survey (ALLS) to those of the Australian Core Skills Framework (ACSF) using a Delphi technique (Circelli, Curtis, Perkins, 20111 ). In that study, a small number of adult literacy and numeracy experts used their professional judgement to qualitatively align a sample of ALLS items to the ACSF levels. At the completion of the study, there was general consensus among the participants that: • the mapping process was feasible for the: o Reading domain of the ACSF to the ALLS prose and document literacy domains; as well as the o Numeracy domains of the two frameworks. • a larger-scale research study should be undertaken to empirically align the two frameworks onto a single scale for each of the two domains (i.e., Reading and Numeracy). The National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) commissioned Victoria University (Shelley Gillis) in conjunction with Educational Measurement Solutions (Margaret Wu and Mar k Dulhunty) to undertake the larger-scale research study