Strengths and limitations of assessments used in the Level 3 Award in Education and Training

The term meeting individual learning needs gets thrown around a lot within the Level 3 Award in Education and Training and its not just about learning difficulties, its about all issues that your learners face. This could be learning styles, our own learning preferences, it could be our availability, I need to drop the kids to nursery, or it simply may mean my own motivation and goals. Each learner needs are different, and they are not always obvious. Therefore learner interviews and individual learning plans are essential.

Level 3 Award in Education and Training Qualification Specification

You need to follow the awarding organisations qualification specification as you may not have the flexibility to adapt assessments to meet individual learning needs therefore you may need to find alternative methods for supporting your learners. In the Level 3 Award in Education and Training, there is slight leeway on how you can meet individual learning needs but ultimate, it is down to the awarding organisation to determine if you make adjustments to the programme to accommodate individual learning needs.

Level 3 Award in Education and Training Observations

We’re first going to look at observations as this method is one of the key assessment methods within the Level 3 Award in Education and Training. First and foremost, the Microteach allows to tutor to see the skills in action, putting theory into practice. Learners can make mistakes and hopefully they’ll pick them up in the self-assessment and create an action plan to overcome them. A major benefit of an observation is that it is generally quick to do, you can cover multiple aspects in one go for example, you could extend the microteach teach assessment and use the session as evidence for the assessment requirements in the Level 3 Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement (CAVA) so evidence for both qualifications could be captured in one go. A limitation with this is that you have to arrange a time to suit the learners and assessors which can often be difficult during self-study courses. Unless the session is recorded, there is no permanent record of the assessment therefore it is reliant on the tutors notes and learner’s feedback. Observation is perfect for individuals that may have dyslexia or those that are kinaesthetic learners as they will be assessed in the ideal environments and not be assessed on their limitations.

Level 3 Award in Education and Training self-assessment

Following the microteach, the Level 3 Award in Education and Training (AET) requires you to complete a self-assessment and your peers to complete a peer assessment. Self-assessment is great as it encourages you to think about your own performance and can often lead to critical analysis. More often than not, learners are too harsh on their sessions therefore spend more time putting themselves down then praising themselves for aspects that went well. The biggest limitation to this is the learner’s own judgement, are they suitably qualified or experienced to give an accurate reflective account? Same could be said for peer assessment where peers may mark you high if they like you and could mark you down if you don’t get on with them, so this is always a risk. But a massive strength to peer assessment is that learners are typically more encouraged by feedback from their peers then they are with their tutor so if comments are accurate and realistic, these are likely more valuable to the learner. Self-assessment is suited to introverts as they tend to be critical thinkers where extroverts may thrive on peer-assessment as they get to express their views to others.