Collecting evidence related to practical knowledge

Table 9. Standardised versus individual and flexible assessment approaches

Indication of increase – combinations Countries

Increase is indicated by less than 50% of respondents in both cases ES, IT Increase is indicated by 50% or more of respondents in both cases AT, RO, SI,

UK Increase related to the use of individual and flexible assessment approaches is indicated by more than 50% of respondents, less than 50% of respondents indicated an increase of the use of standardised approaches

FR, HR, NL, FI

Increase related to the use of the use of standardised assessment approaches is indicated by more than 50% of respondents, less than 50% of respondents indicated an increase of the use of individual and flexible approaches

PL

Source: Cedefop, based on VET provider survey. Data from selected countries. n = 893.

Based on these observations, it can be concluded that there is no clear trend in one or the other direction. The developments are very country-specific and depend in each case on which role and function is associated with the assessment.

The reform of the vocational pathway initiated in 2018 in France provides for each young person to produce a chef-d’oeuvre (‘masterpiece’) using knowledge and skills acquired during their general and professional training (⁴⁸). The assessment of the work produced by students and apprentices in CAP (Professional skills certificate) and vocational baccalaureate is based on the verification of transversal skills and key competences.

In Croatia, parallel to the introduction of the State matura exam, the VET student’s final practical assignment was introduced in 2009. This assignment is obligatory for all VET students and it marks the successful completion of the VET programme (the final assessment in VET does not cover general subjects). It includes the preparation of a thesis, as explained in Box 13.

Box 13. Final practical assignment in Croatia

In Croatia, as part of the final practical assignment, learners have to prepare a practical final thesis, and also defend it. The aim of this procedure is to evaluate and assess the students' achieved professional competences acquired through the training according to the prescribed vocational theoretical and practical parts of the curricula, in order to complete the educational programme undertaken and to create the conditions for integration into the labour market. The final thesis may be a project, an experiment or another task consistent with the VET programme. Final theses have the characteristics of a research or project work and require independent literature research, analysis of the data obtained, evaluation of the data. In cases where the final thesis consists of practical work, the written elaboration should include an account and description of the practical part and the results (Croatian Agency for Vocational Education and Training And Adult Education, 2020).

A certificate is issued to the student who has defended the thesis. The certificate of the final thesis is a document confirming the acquired professional competences. By passing the final thesis, students acquire the secondary school leaving certificate and receive a certificate of completion from the VET school.

The Centre for External Evaluation of Education has explored the idea of standardising the final practical assignment, similar to the State matura, but no significant developments have been made in this regard. The major challenge was that Croatia has a large number of VET programmes and it is difficult to standardise them.

Source: Pavkov (2022).

In Poland, external examinations in VET have also developed since 2012 in the direction of performance assessment that resembles real work situations to a greater extent. Nowadays, the external examination consists of a written part and a practical part. The latter can last 120 to 240 minutes and can take different forms, as explained in Box 14.

(⁴⁸) A dedicated guide has been published by the Ministry of National Education (France.

Ministère de l’Education nationale et de la Jeunesse, 2019).

Box 14. Practical part of the final external examination in VET in Poland

The practical part of the final external examination can take the form of a documentary or a performance.

• Documentation (so called model ‘d’): as an examination task, learners have to solve a case study or a series of case studies related to a professional task in a specific occupation. A case study can be solved on paper but, in some

occupations, this is done using computers and special IT programmes (e.g.

accountants use special IT accounting systems). The solved case studies are sent to the regional examination board after the examination (either in the form of a paper or electronic copy) and are then assessed by external examiners

(raters/assessors).

• Performance (so called model ‘w’): a learner has to perform a work activity during an examination and the examiner (rater/assessor) assesses this performance according to the national assessment criteria. For example, a car mechanic has to diagnose and repair an engine failure during the examination, and a massage therapist has to perform a massage on a real person, while the examiner assesses whether it was performed according to the assessment criteria and professional knowledge and practice. In some occupations, this performance may also be done with the help of computers or special programmes: for example, a mechatronics technician has to programme a control system as an examination task.

In most upper secondary occupations, learners have to take two examinations, one of which is usually in the form of documentation and one in the form of performance. The documentation part focuses on abstract thinking and problem solving, while the performance part tests whether the learner has acquired practical skills. In this way – it is assumed – learners are prepared to fulfil the active roles as required in the labour market.

Source: (Dębowski, 2022).

In several countries, project assignments have been introduced as part of the final practical assessment, as the example from Luxembourg and the recent reform from Hungary show (in the latter case, portfolios are also used). In Luxembourg, a reform in 2008 ‘replaced theoretical and practical final exams with assessment based on an integrated project, which corresponds to a simulated or real working situation, undertaken over a period of up to 24 hours. The integrated projects are developed and assessed by teams of experts from employer organisations, and technical teachers from secondary schools (plus some additional assessors).

Success in this final assessment leads to certification’ (Field, 2021, p. 19). A new legal regulation in 2020 brought radical changes to the Hungarian VET system that also has an influence on the assessment procedure: the vocational exam consists of a central examination module specified in the training and outcome requirements and a project (a complex, work-based task), as presented in Box 15.

Box 15. Projects as part of the final exam in VET in Hungary

The project is determined by the accredited examination centre, taking into account the training and outcome requirements, and serves a more comprehensive assessment of the candidate's practical skills. The project must be prepared for the vocational exam and defended orally, demonstrating the acquisition of the skills required for the practice of the respective profession. The project also includes a portfolio showing the development of the candidate's professional, social and personal competences.

The project exam (practical exam and portfolio) enables the examining board to assess whether the candidate has mastered the complexity of the expected learning outcomes and is able to practise the respective profession independently and effectively. The presentation of the project and the portfolio is a new element of the final examination in VET and thus replaces the ‘traditional’ oral examination.

The portfolio consists of two main parts. One is the document, which can include a range of different documents (e.g. references, photos, videos, presentations, competence competitions, Erasmus+ mobility projects, works produced in workplaces) and a self-assessment or self-reflection part. The main objective is to make the learner's competences widely visible. The portfolio must be kept continuously by the learner during the course of study.

Source: Authors, information received from Éva Farkas (email, 22 February 2021).

Czechia is currently conducting pilots to experiment with a new form of the maturita exam (school-leaving examination) (ReferNet Czechia and Cedefop, 2022). Several upper secondary VET schools are testing the use of a comprehensive graduate thesis as an alternative form for the profile part of the exam. This part focuses on the thematic profile of the various VET schools and used to consist of separate examinations for individual subjects. This new approach transforms this part of the exam into a long-term comprehensive task within a real work environment. It places higher demands on students as the elaboration of the thesis should cover a broader and practice-related topic. They also have to present and defend the thesis and the conclusions of their work in front of the examination board. The board evaluates the students' knowledge and skills in the relevant subjects.

The increased introduction of practical final examinations or tasks, including project assignments and assessment formats that resemble real work situations, suggests a greater emphasis on the use of sources and assessment methods that provide evidence related to practical knowledge. There is generally more emphasis on gathering evidence of the ability to make use of knowledge, skills and competences acquired and to solve work-life problems in real work environments than on (only) written examinations. The corresponding assessment formats provide the opportunity to focus more strongly on determining vocational action competences.

Different sources and methods are being used. This is in line with the observations of Psifidou (2014, pp. 144-145) who pointed to a tendency in VET to broaden learners’ assessment ‘not only in terms of the purposes and methods used but also in terms of the learning outcomes measured. Increasingly, more holistic approaches to assessment are used to effectively measure the new higher-order skills that modern investment strategies demand, for example, key competences’.