FIRSTLY, WHAT IS CLUSTERING, AND HOW WOULD IT BENEFIT YOUR RTO?
Clustering allows you to deliver and assess two or more units in groups to avoid duplication and repetition. This is a great way to create an organised flow from one assessment unit to the next in your training. Just think about the number of times you have had to assess learners on the same industry codes or legislation in an un-clustered course.
Clustering is an effective way to improve the student experience. By clustering, you can increase student satisfaction and engagement, improve the quality of courses, and save time or resources.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF CLUSTERING TO ASSESSORS AND TRAINERS?
Many units have very similar skills and knowledge requirements that, in a unit-by-unit approach, would need to be delivered and assessed again and again. However, the benefit of a clustered approach is grouping common themes across units to remove this need for duplicate assessment and training delivery.
Having to review the same content repeatedly can lead studentsto become disengaged and frustrated witht the course delivery.
The benefits of clustering for students also benefit trainers and assessors. With clustering, trainers no longer need to go over content again and again in class or online, and they will no longer have to answer the same questions again and again.
The benefits of grouping units into clusters can be extensive. For instance, when you group three or four units together, there are typically about four to five assessment tasks that holistically assess all the skills in one unit across those various areas for each task. If you assessed four units individually, each with a minimum of three, that would have been twelve total assessment tasks.
That’s twelve assessment tasks compared to a possible five in the clustered example. Those five assessment tasks may be large project-style but are often more realistic and meaningful to the real working world.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF CLUSTERING TO THE RTO?
There are three main benefits to the RTO when clustering:
1. Improved learner engagement
2. reducing duplication of the performance criteria across units
3. Cost savings with fewer assessments to be marked
1. Improved Learner Engagement
Learner engagement is one of the key indicators for quality in an RTO. As we uncovered above, clustering units can improve student engagement by helping to reduce boredom. This will likely lead to more positive experiences in an RTO, more positive reviews, and more students who will be more likely to recommend your RTO personally.
2. Reducing duplication
Many performance criteria have very similar elements, and when clustering, this can be taken into account to reduce students having to repeat the same assessments in individual units where the elements and PCs are the same.
3. Cost Savings to your RTO
With clustered assessment, your RTO saves time because fewer assessments are needed. Not only will you have fewer assessments to mark, but also less administrative work. File processing in the student management system can take up much time and effort, so reducing their paperwork will keep your assessors happy and positively impact your bottom line.
Want to learn more about clustering your assessment and training? Our assessment validation service can confirm that your RTO’s assessment system can produce valid judgments. Get in touch to chat with us today at 1300 833 424 or email info@rtointelligence.com.au
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