Understanding the Principles and Practices of Assessment - Unit 1

Level 3: Award in Understanding the Principles and
Practices of Assessment (Knowledge and understanding
unit) Unit 1
Unit number: D/601/5313
Credit: 3
GLH: 24
Level: 3
Overview:
This qualification is intended for those who wish to gain an understanding
of the principles and practices of assessment without any requirement to
practice as assessors.
Mandatory Questions – Must Answer following question.
1. Understand the principles and requirements of
assessment
1.1 Explain the function of assessment in learning and development
The function of assessment in learning and development is to provide a
barometer which is measurable for understanding the progress of the
students. The assessment is carried out through various types of formative
checks and test against the previous marks received by the students. These
activities helps the learner to see the development of the student.
1.2 Define the key concepts and principles of assessment
The key concepts and principles includes :
Fairness – Assessment must be done properly meeting the internal and
external checks.
Reliability – The assessment decisions should be taken by an assessor with
good competence in the field of discipline.
Safety – The assessment methods must be suitable for the candidates.
1.3 Explain the responsibilities of the assessor
The responsibilities of the key assessors are :

Planning – Organizing and scheduling various types of plan will be a very
essential part of an assessors job.
Assessing – Marking the work and grading them will be helpful in
determining the progress update of the student.
Feeding back – It is a very useful method for the learners to- learn and
develop new things.
1.4 Identify the regulations and requirements relevant to the assessment
in own area of practice
The regulations and requirements relevant to the assessment in own area
of practice are :
The Equality Act 2010, Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 often referred
to as HASAW or HSW, The Data Protection Act (1998) and internal Privacy
polices and procedures, The Children Act 2004 and the Enquiries and
appeals policies (Cameron et al 2018)
2. Understand different types of assessment method
2.1 Compare the strengths and limitations of a range of assessment methods
with reference to the needs of individual learners.
The strengths and limitations of a range of assessment methods with reference
to the needs of individual learners are :
Observation - This allows the chance to view whether the students are able to
communicate freely and are developing professional team skills and record the
video where the students is performing the activities. The only drawback is that
it is very time consuming.
Work Product – It is a very useful tool which can be used by the assessor to
grade the student performance. The end product of this type of assessment is
difficult to assess as because it is difficult to contextualize the evidence of the
individual learners
Questioning – It is a very quick method of learning and developing the student’s
engagement in the learning process. The only limitation is the method of
questioning the learner. Therefore if the questions are not properly asked it can
worry the learners.
3. Understand how to plan assessment
3.1Summaries key factors to consider when planning assessment
The key factors which are to be considered when planning assessment are:
Recognising prior learning, Gathering information of a students knowledge,
Suitable time timing of assessment, Formative feedback, Convenience for
the workplace (Baron 2018.)
3.2Evaluate the benefits of using a holistic approach to assessment

The benefits of using a holistic approach to assessment is that it will provide
an overview of the learner’s performance, it will provide an ability to provid a
grade that reflects the learner’s ability to grasp things. It provides a valid
feedback to the learner from the vlogs, texs that are used in the process
(Busse et al 2018).
3.3 Explain how to plan a holistic approach to assessment
In order to plan a holistic approach to assessment the student should use
the examining body criteria from the official. This will act as a reference
point and help the student in constructing the assignment which will clearly
meet the outcomes that are listed. This will be able to provide opportunities
to the student in order to flourish in the project.
3.4 Summaries the types of risks that may be involved in assessment in own
area of responsibility
Explain how to minimize risks through the planning process
Few of the risks that are involved in assessment in own area of
responsibilities includes the risk of equality and diversity. Risk which are related
to the Health and Safety needs to maintain the safe working area of the
environment.
In order to minimize the risks the college should aim to ensure that the
organizational risks are acknowledged and sorted out. This will require an extra
meeting, implementing strategies that will e able to develop safety and health
standard.
4. Understand how to involve learners and others in
assessment
4.1Explain the importance of involving the learner and others in the assessment
process
It is important to involve the learners in the assessment process both in the
formal and the informal assessment a becaue it is the only the way of helping
the learners to manage and take ownership of the learning process. It thus
helps them in thinking what is to be achieved and what has been achieved.
4.2Summaries types of information that should be made available to learners
and others involved in the assessment process
The types of information that should be made available to learners and others
involved in the assessment process are the assessment criteria of the paper,
proper analysis of the student paper and fairness when marking the grades.
4.3Explain how peer and self-assessment can be used effectively to promote
learner involvement and personal responsibility in the assessment of
learning.
Peer self-assessment can be used effectively to promote learner involvement
and personal responsibility in the assessment of learning as because it helps
the student to assess each other and themselves which encourages them to