Collecting Evidence Using Holistic Direct Observation

This is one of a series of articles available at www.nvqweb.com that aim to develop understanding of NVQs and their assessment.

In this NVQ Assess I am taking a look at the holistic approach to Direct Observation. The following discussion aims to discuss my own experiences of this method of collecting evidence.

Please bear in mind that this may be different to the consensus in your own centre. If in doubt ask your verifier or co-ordinator. Another area of clarification is that my own interpretation of the term 'direct observation' is that this only refers to observation by an NVQ Assessor of their candidate carrying out their normal work activities.

A non-holistic approach

You will probably be aware that NVQ units are based on National Occupational Standards (NOS). The NOS break down a person's job into individual competencies and knowledge criteria. The terms unit, element, performance criteria and knowledge specification come from this process. In this way a person's ability to perform as a care worker is broken down into thousands of competencies.

Because of the way the NOS breaks down the person's job, when people are assessed there has been a tendency to assess the NVQ in the same way. Take the unit HSC223 (Contribute to moving and handling individuals level 2) . An assessor and candidate may on one day look at preparing a client to be moved for element 2.

This approach has been criticised. It fragments the process of assessment. It adds considerably to the amount of paperwork and time needed to prove someone's competence. Imagine a driving test where you had to keep stopping and starting every time you completed each turn. At its worst; I have seen candidates actually assessed one criteria at a time with each single unit needing a Level Arch File to itself!

An holistic approach

In an holistic assessment, the planning and collection of evidence through direct observation uses a whole award approach. For example I may agree a plan with the candidate that includes me working with them across part of a morning shift. In this time I may expect to observe them assisting patients with; washing and dressing, breakfast, mobilising, communication, maintaining health and safety, promoting equality etc. (Units 21, 22, 24, 218, 223). During this 'evidence rich' observation I will be able to collect evidence that proves their competence across many of the individual criteria within each unit.

This holistic approach is sometime refered to an 'activity based' assessment as it is centred on work activities rather than NVQ units.

Recording of the observation needs to provide the verifier sufficient information for them to understand how assessment decisions were made. In my opinion the best way of covering this is to write around the elements and scope and always to note things that happened that might be unusual. I will reference the observation record to all of the units/elements/scope/performance criteria that I observed. Verifiers can get a bit jumpy when they see an observation on one topic that covers a lot of unrelated performance criteria!

Holistic Direct Observation is being encouraged because it is seen as a more accurate assessment of how people do their job because it is more natural to observe someone doing a complete job rather than stopping and starting. It is also seen as a part solution to some of the problems associated with slow achievement as it can allow very efficient collection of evidence. In one observation, on a good day, you could cover every unit in an whole award.

Pitfalls of Holistic Observation

There are however pitfalls to an holistic approach so there is still the need to be cautious. One verifier I know of who trained his assessors to assess holistically had the remarkable figures of 100% dropout on his programme! This happened because the assessors were new and the added complexity of working across many units was the straw that broke the camels back.

Personally I always allow assessors to start off assessing at unit level until they start getting to know the units, usually this is when they have finished their first complete award. Another approach to support the novice assessor by allowing them to work alongside a qualified assessor. This way the candidate is not slowed down whist the new assessor is learning and the assessor can learn directly from the experience assessor.

Another risk is that without strong verification the holistic approach can be abused. For example there are examples of training providers using this approach to justify certification of an NVQ that has only one direct observation for the whole award.

There is also a risk that the candidate does not know what they have been assessed on, especially when vast tracts of the units are covered in single observations. It is not possible for the candidate to keep up with what is being assessed! With the old step-by-step approach it was a lot easier for the candidate to make sense of a unit at a time.

In conclusion

For experienced assessors an holistic approach can be mind blowing in its efficiency and speed through a qualification. It can significantly reduce the amount of writing so more time can be spent on development and assessment. For new assessors and perhaps candidates however this may not always be the right approach and a unit by unit or a combination of both may be a better choice. What do you think? Please feel free to use the message boards to discuss this topic.

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