TAA40104 Certificate IV Training and Assessment

Stages of Learning

admin — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 11:48:29 +0000

The Conscious Competence Model of Learning suggests that learners go throughfour (4) stages of learning as follows:

Unconscious Incompetence – I don’t know what I don’t know
Conscious Incompetence – I suddenly realize that I don’t know something
Conscious Competence – If I really concentrate, I can do it.
Unconscious Competence – I don’t even realize I am doing it, it just happens naturally

Trainers conducting Certificate IV in Training and Assessment or any other training program need to be aware what stage their learners could be at when delivering a training session. If all learners are at the same level it will be easier to train them accordingly. Usually the learners are at different levels of competence and as a trainer it is a challenge to manage them accordingly. Training programs that have pre-requisites indicate that the learners should be at the same level to make it easier for the trainer to put together the training session.

Target Learners

admin — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 11:47:40 +0000

One of the first steps in developing a training program which you’ll find out when you enroll in Certificate IV in Training and Assessment is to identify the target learners.

Each individual learner will bring with them a set of expectations and pre-determined views on learning. Previous experience for learners can impact how they deal with the learning they are attending.

Assumptions about the Learners

Learners will attend a training session such as the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment for varying reasons – they may be forced to attend, they may want to attend, or they may need to attend (even if they don’t want to).

Brainstorm

Think of a time when learners will be attending a training session where they want to attend or have been forced to attend.

Overall, the following principles apply to adult learners:

They need to know what they are learning and why they should be learningor taking up Certificate IV in Training and Assessment.
Adult learners will always have a wealth of experience and are best suited to a learning environment where they are involved in case studies, discussions, role plays, simulated activities and other activities where they can draw on previous experience.
Situations where they feel they are being imposed will often be resisted, and that includes being forced to attend a training session, or being forced to accept ideas and concepts at a training session they may not necessarily agree with. For this reason, adult learners need to be given a chance to incorporate their own experiences into a training session such as the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment.
They need to feel valued and included.
They will often be attending further training as a direct result of wanting to expand their career options, change careers, learn a new skill, earn more money, or improve their overall quality of life.
The experiences they have had in the past (which are not always good ones) can impact on how they approach learning.
They will always be tuned in to WIIFM – “What’s in it for me?” Why are they there? What do they expect to achieve from completing Certificate IV in Training and Assessment? How quickly will they achieve it?

Stakeholders

admin — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 11:45:25 +0000

Some of the relevant stakeholders who are available for consultation on training needs include:

Anyone in the organisation who is responsible for organizing training and development for staff, including Human Resources, Line Managers,Supervisors, not to mention Certificate IV in Training and Assessment qualified trainers
RTO’s or industry bodies
Industry experts
The actual learners.

Brainstorm

Who are some of the stakeholders you can think of that are relevant to your organisation?

Identify Training Needs

admin — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 11:44:31 +0000

When putting together a training program, enrollees in the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment will be taught that the overall need for training shouldfirst be considered. In some cases it will be necessary to use an accredited training course and access information from the relevant training package or it may be necessary to develop or research sources for training material, depending on client needs.

If the training to be delivered is for Nationally Recognised Training, then the material will need to be based on the training package for that course.

Any Certificate IV in Training and Assessment trainer will inform you thatnationally recognized training also needs to be delivered by either an RTO (Registered Training Organisation) or by an organisation or individual that has partnered with an RTO to deliver Nationally Recognised Training.

Learning material is available for purchase – it is often possible to buy an entire training program ready built to be delivered to learners. Industry Skills Councils have material available for purchase for Nationally Recognised Training courses. These are usually on a per user basis. The term ‘per user’, as you’ll learn from your TAE40110 Certificate IV in Training and Assessment trainer, means it is a requirement that one copy is purchased per learner.

Some private industry providers can also sell their materials with an unlimited uselicense, which means the material can be branded with organizational details and used over and over again.

What is learning?

admin — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 11:41:29 +0000

The learning process in any training program such as the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment is different for all learners. Previous experience can play a large part in how the learner will approach any new learning situation. They can feel motivated, excited, unsure, threatened or apprehensive depending on their past experiences in a learning environment.

A trainer assigned to conduct Certificate IV in Training and Assessment has a large part to play in how he or she influences a learner – whether they walk away from the training determined to continue their learning pathway, or whether they choose to abandon their learning altogether can often have a lot to do with the trainer and how the training was managed.

Prior to writing a training program, your Certificate IV in Training and Assessment trainer will discuss that relevant client groups should be consulted to determine what the learning needs of a target audience are. Client groups and stakeholders will play a large part in the program coming together.

Who are the key stakeholders in any learning situation?

The key stakeholders in any learning situation will include;

An individual learner or group of learners
The organisation or business that has requested the training
Government departments or agencies
External consultants
Internal and external staff

Find out more about training and assessment when you enroll in Certificate IV in Training and Assessment.

Certificate IV Training: Legislative requirements and standards

admin — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 23:57:11 +0000

Whether or not you work in a Registered Training and Assessment Organisation, when coordinating a learning program, there will be legislative requirements or standards to consider. These may include:

Lead and coordinate Certificate IV Training services

Occupational Health and Safety (OHS)

OHS considerations are important for any organisation. All organisations are subject to national and state legislative requirements. In addition, Registered Training and Assessment Organisations must check the details of any Training Package they use for specific OHS considerations that must be taken into account for delivery and/or assessment of particular programs.

The Australian Safety and Compensation Council website (accessed October 2008.) provides useful information and links on occupational health and safety issues in Australia.

The Australian National University website < http://info.anu.edu.au/hr/OHS/index.asp> (accessed August 2008) provides useful local, national and international sites on this topic.

Privacy legislation

The website for The Office of the Privacy Commissioner (accessed August 2008) provides information and links to other privacy sites.

Anti-discrimination legislation

The Law link NSW website at (accessed August 2008) provides links to commonwealth, state and territory legislation relevant to anti- discrimination. Anyone managing staff should be aware of this legislation.

Other

Depending on the learning program being delivered, there may be other legislation, codes of practice or standards that need to be considered. See the following examples.

Building:

Building regulations
Code for working on roots

Oxywelding:

Codes of Practice for working in confined places
Dangerous goods storage and handling legislation

Aviation:

CASA licensing requirements

Tax Accounting:

Taxation laws and guidelines

Teacher training:

Vocational Education and Training acts and Standards
Privacy Act
Teaching registration standards in specific sector

Assessor:

National Assessors code of ethics

ACE provider:

ACEFE Act

Certificate IV Training: Training Organisations which are not Registered Training and Assessment Organisations

admin — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 00:50:50 +0000

Quality standards and best practice

Training and assessment organisations which are not nationally registered have their own policies, procedures and quality systems to support the effectiveness and efficiency of their Certificate IV training.

For organisations with ISO accreditation, there are specific standards that relate to training program design and delivery, and adherence to this ensures quality.

Reporting requirements for training organisations which are not Registered Training and Assessment Organisations

An organisation may collect and monitor a range of data relating to its business operations. Key performance indicators relating to learning programs can be part of the human resources management or financial management plans. This can include expenditure, profit and loss, number of staff trained, return on training investment, specific program outcomes and type of training undertaken. For more detailed information on this topic, consider the elective unit BSBRKG502A Manage and monitor business or records systems.

A key element to the success of the reporting will be the data collection systems.

In this regard, organisations need to allocate financial, capital and human resources to ensure these systems are adequately maintained and managed.

Certificate IV Training: Reporting requirements for RTOs

admin — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 00:59:13 +0000

Australian Vocational Education & Training Management Information Statistical Standard (AVETMISS)

What is it?

AVETMISS is a nationally consistent standard for the collection, analysis and reporting of vocational education and training. It is the agreed national data standard for the collection, analysis and reporting of vocational education and training information in Australia. The Standard consists of three parts-the AVETMIS Standard for Vocational Education and Training Providers, the AVETMIS Standard for New Apprenticeships, and the AVETMIS Standard for Financial Data.

More details about AVETMISS, including support information can be found on the NCVER website at (accessed August 2008).

Why is AVETMISS important?

Many Registered Training and Assessment Organisations are required, under their performance or funding agreement with their state or territory training authority, to report on their activities. The AVETMISS data is used in benchmarking exercises, for example, participation in Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), and Module Load Completion Rates.

How is the data collected?

A range of data collection systems exists for the management of student records-these differ between states and territories.

The DEEWR website (accessed August 2008.) provides information on reporting requirements for Registered Training and Assessment Organisations and additional information on systems relevant to each state or territory.

The NTIS website (accessed August 2008) also provides a link to AVETMISS classification reporting.

Who works with the data?

The unit or person responsible for the student records function in the Registered Training and Assessment Organisation completes the collation and lodging of this data to state or territory bodies.

Depending on the size of the organisation, there may be different people in the organisation entering data that affects the AVETMISS reports. It is important therefore that all relevant staff are aware of the implications of their data entry, including teaching, program coordination and administration staff.

Once the data is submitted to the state or territory agency, it is analysed, trends are determined, and comparisons undertaken.

Certificate IV Training: Alterations to the Scope of Registration

admin — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 00:33:37 +0000

Adding programs

Registered Training and Assessment Organisations should check with their state or territory registering body as to what needs to be done to add programs to their Scope of Registration.

RTOs that provide services to overseas students in Australia must also be listed on the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS). The state or territory training authority can provide advice on the additional requirements for this listing.

When adding a program, such as the Certificate IV Training, to the Scope of Registration, a key requirement under the AQTF is that an organisation must have ready access to all resources and facilities required to deliver the program. This is a key concern for RTOs who may want to offer the program but do not currently have the capacity, as it can be costly to prepare resources and facilities if the demand for programs is unknown.

Removing programs

To remove a program from the Scope of Registration, advice needs to be sent to the state or territory registration authority, who will then update state and national records. For example, if a Registered Training and Assessment Organisation no longer wants to offer an accredited program because of lack of demand or capability to deliver, it can have the program removed from its Scope of Registration.

Alterations to programs

When there are changes to Training Packages or curriculum, the relevant state or territory registration authority will advise RTOs as to whether they need to apply for any alterations in their Scope of Registration or whether they are automatically covered.

More information on the Scope of Registration can be found on the DEEWR website (accessed August 2008) under the ‘Australian Quality Training Framework’ section and then under ‘Registration’

Certificate IV Training: Framework to support Vocational Education and Training (VET) learning programs

admin — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 05:50:47 +0000

Establishing a framework to support the effectiveness of learning programs, assessment services and organisational operations ensures that risks and improvement opportunities are identified and managed. Certain people will have defined responsibilities to ensure that compliance with the required standards occurs, and this underpins the success of outcomes for learners and practitioners within the Vocational Education and Training sector.

When establishing a framework that allows for the provision of quality training and assessment services, the following aspects need to be considered.

AQTF Standards for Registered Training and Assessment Organisations (RTOs)

Any organisation with a Certificate IV Training has the option of becoming a Registered Training and Assessment Organisation (RTO). This is an organisation that is registered in accordance with the Australian Quality Training Framework (AQTF) with a defined Scope of Registration. It must comply with the standards within that framework to ensure the quality of its learning programs. Information relating to the registration of RTOs can be found on the DEEWR website at (accessed August 2008).

You can also find this information on the website of your state or territory training authority.

Australian Quality Training Framework (AQTF)

To maintain registration, RTOs must comply with the standards described in the AQTF Standards for Registered Training and Assessment Organisations. The Australian Quality Training Framework (AQTF) has been revised to improve the quality of training and assessment in the Vocational Educational and Training sector. The changes came into effect on 1 July 2007.

Reducing the regulatory burden
Streamlining and standardising processes for national consistency
Ensuring stakeholder confidence in quality skills outcomes
Continuous improvement of training & assessment

The new arrangements encourage greater participation of licensing and industry regulatory bodies in ensuring the quality of training, and will also achieve greater national consistency through new standards for State and Territory registering bodies. Outcomes-focused audits will allow Registered Training and Assessment Organisations to focus more on the quality of the outcomes of their training and assessment, which in turn will give industry greater confidence in the outcomes of training.

For further information on the AQTF 2007 changes and compliance, go to the following website: http://www.training.com.au/documents/aqtf2k7_ess-std- reg_fina12.pdf.

Depending on the size of the Registered Training and Assessment Organisation, responsibility for compliance with these standards may be given to different staff. People involved in the coordination of learning programs should be aware of all the standards and of the organisational systems which support the compliance requirements.

In particular, they should be familiar with the requirements of the standards relating to the competence of RTO staff; RTO assessments; and Learning and assessment strategies.

A copy of the AQTF 2007 Standards for Registered Training and Assessment Organisations can be downloaded from. (accessed August 2008).

Scope of registration

To offer training delivery and/or assessment services and products, and issue Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) qualifications and Statements of Attainment, you must ensure that programs delivered and/or assessed are on your organisation’s Scope of Registration. This is the defined scope for which a training organisation is registered and identifies the particular services and products that can be provided.

The organisational representative who manages corporate governance will generally be responsible for managing the Scope of Registration. However, those in a learning program coordination role are strongly encouraged to find out their specific responsibilities relating to program registration.

All programs listed on any RTO’s Scope of Registration can be found through the National Training Information Service (NTIS) at (accessed August 2008).

To find this information:

Select the ‘Registered Training and Assessment Organisations’ option.
Select ‘Search by RTO name or national code’
Enter the name of the Registered Training and Assessment Organisation.