Taqa - Understanding the Principles and Practises of...

Understanding the principles and practices of assessment 1.1 Assessment measures the learner’s progress towards or the completion of, the learning aim and criteria, and can be used at any point during the learning cycle. It can provide information to adapt the delivery to suit the learner’s needs and abilities; a learner may need more help or time on some aspects, or has progressed quicker than planned and requires additional goals. By standardising the assessment process this creates uniformity for all learners. 1.2 There are three main areas of assessment, which are the initial, formative and summative assessment. Initial assessment includes work done prior or during a learner’s induction to the programme. Formative assessment includes†¦show more content†¦Formative assessment can be an effective tool in building positive relationships as it gives cause for two-way communication at any point of a learning course. It can be written or verbally delivered, offering the opportunity to appeal to a variety of learning styles. It enables the learner to influence their learner programme and helps them build essential life-skills such as goal setting and self assessment. Its main disadvantage for the trainer is the amount of time the type of assessment can consume, and a learner may become disengaged by repetitive assessment exercises that interrupt the flow of learning. Summative assessment The assessment used at the end of a learning programme to determine finally whether the learning programme to determine finally whether the learning aims have been reached can be described as summative. It is often essential to fulfil contractual obligations with external bodies, and correct execution is necessary to ensure financial recompense. It can have real value to the learner as it offers recognition of achievement, but can cause anxiety in more nervous learners as the finality of the exercise is realised. 3.1 When planning assessment, several factors need to be taken into consideration. An assessor needs to take into consideration of safeguarding and the safety of both the learner and themselves, often risk assessments are