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EKAS LS - Generation

 

The standard of performance of a competent worker is described in Competency Standards. This is the standard required by industry for certifying relevant technical, productive, and safe work practices.

 

Competency Standards Units (CSUs), Assessment Guidelines, and Qualifications for vocational training in the electrical, electronic, electricity, energyutilities and associated industry areas are found in various National Training Packages. Training Packages show how individual Competency Standards Units are to be grouped to form National Qualifications. The Assessment Guidelines provide general information mostly related to broad processes, which informs and guides Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) about their own policy arrangements for managing assessment activities.

 

National Training Packages provide no specific advice regarding the delivery of training to aid the achievement of competence. Therefore, to assist RTOs with the management of Vocational Education and Training a guideline Competency Development Model has been developed by EE-Oz with its respective industry sectors. A copy of the model can be obtained from the Industry Policies and Advisories section of the website.

 

The model that best accommodates a learner who has had no prior experiences (new entrant) in the industry is one that recognises that learning occurs:

 

  • from experiences resulting from reoccurring workplace events;

  • workplace learning activities that are directed; and

  • structured off-the-job educational activities.

 

 

This model is based on the combination of on and off-the-job learning experiences in which learning occurs in an active way and involves appropriate management practices.

 

 

Competency Standards Units

 

Competency Standards Units are specifications of work performance and do not provide information about the provision of training or detailed ways about how assessment activities are carried out. Hence, given the nature of the information (content and its interrelationship) contained within the competency standards units there is the potential for a variety of interpretations to occur when RTOs are designing training programs.

 

Consequently there is the likelihood for considerable variation and inconsistency in delivery and assessment outcomes among RTOs; that is, the outcomes are different, even if the process for assessing competence against individual Units is similarly applied.

 

Using agreed learning specifications (see below) that are commonly adopted by all RTOs can significantly reduce the likelihood of variation and increase the consistency of assessment outcomes among RTOs, as they provide:

 

  • clarification of the relationship of the essential knowledge and associated skills in different sections of the Competency Standards Unit , for the purpose of learning efficacy and delivery efficiency: that is, a structured approach for training delivery is derived

  • clear and specific details of the breadth and depth of the information required for delivery and achievement of competency

  • more information regarding what constitutes sufficient and appropriate evidence for attributing competence

  • a means of delivering education and training in manageable lots that can be assessed, reported and administered in ways that suit learners and RTOs

    Note:
    The specification approach encompasses the term Learning Specification (LS) or Work Performance Specification (WPS). Specifications are based on subject matter and are used to describe a detailed learning strategy. A Specification is generally a document of approximately five to ten pages that has been derived from the Competency Standards Units within the Competency Standards part of a National Training Package. The quantum, breadth, and depth of individual Specifications associated with Competency Standards Units, depends largely on the technical nature of the Unit and the educational efficacy considerations.

 

Additional support materials including delivery materials and assessment instruments based on agreed learning specifications further improve quality and consistency in outcomes.

 

 

Essential Knowledge and Associated Skills Learning Specifications (EKAS LSs)

 

The purpose of an Essential Knowledge and Associated Skills Specification (EKAS LS) is to expand on the brief content statement in the ‘Required Knowledge and Skills’ section and related clauses of each competency standard unit. EKAS LSs are specifically designed to:

 

  • provide a clear purpose statement about their relationship to the overall educational program,
  • ensure they support the needs of the workplace,
  • support a variety of delivery modes (e.g.; face to face, distance, computer assisted learning or other),
  • provide content, depth, and structure that facilitate learning retention,
  • provide clarification regarding the type and quantity of evidence needed for assessment purposes.

 

 

Work Performance Specifications (WPSs)

 

The purpose of a Work Performance Specifications (WPSs) is to bring together information from relevant parts of a competency standard unit that relate to routine day-to-day work activities as well as providing clarification regarding the type and quantity of evidence needed for training and assessment purposes.

In the workplace activities are planned for, then undertaken on a range of apparatus and equipment, using a variety of tools, procedures, tests, and so forth, normally found, and/or used in the workplace. The work is completed when the appropriate and necessary ancillary specifications and processes such as housekeeping, documentation, return to service permits, are finalised. Consequently the most effective way of confirming that both the knowledge and skills are being applied is one that captures information relating to routine day-to-day work.

For more information about the Competency Development Model refer to the Industry Policies and Advisories in this section of the website.

 

 

Final Assessment

 

The final decision about attributing competence is based on an evaluation of all acquired evidence relevant to each competency standard unit. This is always a complex process made simpler when records of previous assessment events are accumulated on a per competency standard unit basis and cover the aligned WPS and EKAS LSs.

 

Essential Knowledge and Associated Skills Learning Specifications (EKAS LSs)

 

EE-Oz Training Standards has commenced the development of Essential Knowledge and Associated Skills Learning Specifications (EKAS LSs) and Work Performance Specifications (WPSs).

 

A PDF copy of those developed thus far a listed below, along with the numbering system adopted for both:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
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