Easy Guide with Contextualise Examples Your Assessment Tool and Learner Resources

Creating effective assessment tools and learner resources is essential for delivering quality training. However, to truly engage learners and ensure compliance, it’s crucial to contextualise these materials—making them relevant to the specific needs of your students and the industry they’re training for. This guide provides clear, actionable steps to help you tailor your assessment tools and resources, making them both effective and compliant with industry standards. Whether you’re new to the process or looking to refine your existing materials, this guide will help you enhance learning outcomes and create more impactful training experiences.

1. Definition of Contextualising

Contextualising refers to the process of adapting assessment tools and learner resources to reflect the specific needs, experiences, and real-world applications of learners. It involves tailoring content to align with the learner’s industry, workplace environment, and cultural context. By making learning materials relevant, engaging, and applicable, contextualisation enhances understanding, improves retention, and ensures that assessments effectively measure competence in a practical, meaningful way.

Here are some examples of contextualisation:

• Industry-Specific Scenarios: In a hospitality training course, use case studies that focus on real-world situations in restaurants, hotels, or cafes, allowing learners to directly apply the skills they’re learning to their specific work environment.
• Job-Specific Tools: For an automotive repair course, provide learners with the tools, manuals, and equipment they would use in their own workplace, rather than just theoretical examples, to ensure practical, hands-on learning.
• Adapting Learning Resources: In a construction course, use local building codes and real-world building plans as examples in the learner’s assessments, allowing them to see how the theory applies to actual projects they might encounter on the job.
• Using Real Work Examples: In a project management course, provide learners with examples from actual projects within the industry they are training for, rather than using hypothetical or outdated examples, so they can see how to apply the concepts directly in their careers.

These contextualisation strategies help learners connect their training to real-world environments, making learning more effective and engaging while ensuring they gain practical, job-ready skills.

2. Why do we need to contextualise the assessment tool and learner resources?

Contextualising the assessment tool and learner resources is essential because it makes the learning process more relevant and engaging for students. By aligning materials with real-world scenarios, industry standards, and the specific needs of learners, trainers can ensure that the content is both practical and meaningful. Contextualisation helps learners apply their knowledge in their future workplace, enhances retention, and allows assessments to better measure their true competence. Additionally, it ensures compliance with industry regulations and training standards, making the learning process more effective and audit-ready.

3. Who can contextualise the assessment tool and learner resources?

Trainers and assessors are primarily responsible for contextualising assessment tools and learner resources. They tailor the content to align with the learners’ specific needs, industry requirements, and real-world scenarios. Additionally, RTO managers and subject matter experts may also be involved in the contextualisation process, ensuring that the materials are up-to-date, industry-relevant, and compliant with regulatory standards. By adapting the tools and resources to suit the learning environment, these professionals help ensure that assessments are both meaningful and effective in measuring learner competence.

4. What contextualised assessment do I need before I start contextualising learning resources and assessment tools?

I always check the training and assessment strategy before I start any contextualisation. I usually check the following information:

1. Key characteristics of learner cohort – for example, international students, students who are working in the industry. This will help me to identify who the learners are, what prior knowledge and qualifications they have completed, so I can contextualise the resources according to the cohort.
2. Deliver mode – For example, classroom, online, workplace. This will help me to identify different assessment methods and how to collect the right and sufficient evidence from the learner.
3. Duration and contact hours of the unit and course – Based on this information, I get the idea to design assessment instruction, resources, and a session plan.
4. Entry/admission requirements – This information helps me to identify the learner’s prior educational, English and age requirements.
5. Course code and name – This provides me with the information on what specific industry I need to focus on while I contextualise the assessment and learner resources.
6. Unit Requirements – I review the unit requirements on the Training.gov.au website to identify the performance and knowledge evidence, and determine which components of the unit can be tailored through contextualised assessment strategies to align with specific industry or organisational needs.

5. How do I contextualise the assessment tool and learner resources for the unit?

I mainly follow the following five steps to contextualise the resources:

Step 1: Research- In this step, I follow the information explained in the previous question.

Step 2: Review of available assessment tools and learner resources

In this step, you need to identify all the relevant resources that are available for the unit, including:

• Student assessment pack
• Marking guide
• Mapping document
• Relevant policies and procedures
• Relevant form and appendices
• Learner guide, PowerPoint slides, session plan

Step 3: Identify the areas/sections that require updates

I ask the following question while reviewing the assessment tool and learner resources:

Questions related to learner resources

1. Are learner resources information relevant to the industry?
2. Is provided industry related assessment tools, examples and information provided in the learner resources aligned with the industry?
3. Do learner resources meet training package requirements?
4. Does the subject matter expert review the resources?
5. Is the session plan aligned with the delivery hours or timetable?

Questions related to assessment tools

1. Are assessment tasks aligned with the industry and delivery mode?
2. Does the subject matter expert review the assessment tool?
3. Are simulation tasks closely related to the real workplace?
4. Are assessment tools meeting the training package requirements?
5. Are assessment methods appropriate to the industry and learners?

Step 4: Make changes

Based on the information collected from the above steps, now I have a much clearer picture of what changes are required in the assessment tools and learner resources. You need to make sure that you need to meet the training package, principles of assessment, and rules of evidence in assessment requirements.

Please refer to the ASQA guidelines on the principles of assessment and rules of evidence in assessment HERE.

Step 5: Quality check

After contextualising, make sure someone from a compliance background reviews the assessment tools and learner resources to make sure that the RTO meets ASQA contextualisation guidelines and other legal obligations.

Conclusion

In conclusion, contextualising assessment tools and learner resources is essential for delivering effective, engaging, and relevant training. By tailoring materials to meet the specific needs of learners and the demands of the industry, trainers and RTOs can create a more meaningful learning experience that aligns with real-world applications. This approach not only improves learner outcomes but also ensures compliance with industry standards and regulations. Whether you are adapting existing resources or developing new ones, contextualisation helps bridge the gap between theory and practice, empowering learners to succeed in their careers.

FAQs:

1) What does contextualising assessment tools mean?

It means adapting assessment tools and learner resources to fit specific learner needs, industry standards, and real-world applications.

2) Why is contextualisation important in training?

It makes training relevant, engaging, and aligned with real-world scenarios, improving learner outcomes and retention.

3) Who is responsible for contextualising resources?

Trainers, assessors, and RTO managers are responsible for tailoring resources to meet industry standards and learner needs.

4) How can I contextualise materials for diverse learning styles?

Use different methods like visual aids, hands-on tasks, and real-life examples to appeal to various learning preferences.

5) Does contextualisation improve learner outcomes?

Yes, it enhances understanding by making learning more applicable to the learner’s career, leading to better results.

6) How do I align contextualised resources with industry needs?

Collaborate with industry experts and refer to current regulations to ensure materials meet sector-specific requirements.

7) What mistakes should I avoid when contextualising resources?

Avoid using outdated examples, vague scenarios, or neglecting industry-specific requirements.

8) How often should I update contextualised materials?

Review and update materials at least annually or whenever there are changes to industry standards or learner feedback.

9) Can I apply contextualisation to both practical and theoretical assessments?

Yes, it can be applied to both by using relevant scenarios and real-world examples for theoretical and practical tasks.

10) How can I ensure compliance when contextualising assessments?

Refer to the latest training packages, follow ASQA standards, and consult with experts to ensure compliance.