Activities
Phase 1 – Test verification and focus groups (February to December 2011):
- University engagement and recruitment, resulting in 10 Australian universities agreeing to participate in the study.
- Support for participating universities, involving the provision of a detailed Institution Coordinator (IC) Manual, a Package of Materials to assist institutions in carrying our focus groups, IC training and ongoing contact and support.
- Implementation of focus groups, resulting in the participation of 10 institutions and more than 70 final year engineering students (see Table 1).
- Academic Review of AHELO instruments, conducted by academics at three universities.
- Collation of test results and feedback from students and academics, including marking of test papers, collation and coding of surveys and construction of a national database.
- Providing feedback on test instruments, including suggestions for adaptation of technical terminology.
- Analysis of Phase 1 outcomes, exploring the results from focus groups and academic review to provide feedback to the AHELO Consortium.
- National Symposium, held in October 2011 to review outcomes to date and discuss the final phase of the Feasibility Study.
- Reporting, provided to DEEWR and the AHELO Consortium relating to Australia’s participation in the first phase of the Feasibility Study – Nov-Dec 2011.
Phase 2 – Pilot testing and validation of testing and systems (December 2011 to December 2012):
- System and material development, providing feedback from Australia to the AHELO Consortium relating to the operationalisation of system-wide testing of the AHELO instruments.
- Deployment and training, involving the NPM providing detailed information sessions to Institution Coordinators relating to student sampling, system administration and test deployment.
- Test administration and monitoring, pilot testing of up to 150 students in participating universities takes place.
- Reporting, producing a document to detail Australian participation in the AHELO Feasibility Study, highlight outcomes and provide recommendations for future engagement in the project.