What areas need to be covered when assessing the Mandatory Unit?

How can an assessor be fully satisfied that the ITQ candidate is competent, and that the candidate has been given a fair chance to show that he/she is capable and confident of making selective use of IT?

So what about candidates who are claiming part or full APA (Accreditation of Prior Achievement) for ITQ? Is a Professional Discussion an acceptable method to collect the evidence to show full competence?

The areas that need to be covered are described in these documents and fully explain the criteria for performance and knowledge and understanding.

ITQ Mandatory Unit criteria Level 1
ITQ Mandatory Unit criteria Level 2
ITQ Mandatory Unit criteria Level 3

How does an assessor ensure all areas are covered?

It is always good practice to use a range of assessment methods and this is usually the best way to ensure all criteria are covered. However, Professional Discussion is particularly suited to the Mandatory Unit because this Unit involves the candidate reflecting on how he/she uses IT. But don't forget that Professional Discussion is often best used in combination with other assessment methods, particularly observation and examination of product.

So how can a Professional Discussion ensure that competence is fully demonstrated?

An ITQ assessor needs to handle the Professional Discussion in such a way to keep the candidate on track and to ask specific questions if the depth of discussion is not sufficient to demonstrate the candidate's competence. With skilled use of questions, particularly open questions, a candidate can be guided to explore and explain a range of situations where IT can be suitably used in the workplace.

Competence and Confidence

When someone is referred to as being 'confident' they are likely to be referring to that person's self-confidence. Self-confidence is the level and belief of one's own ability to carry out a task or action.

Throughout a Professional Discussion should an assessor also be looking for evidence of competence? Should an assessor be satisfied only when the 'unconscious competence' level of the candidate is demonstrated? In other words this might be when the candidate is so capable of a skill that it becomes "second nature" and a task can be performed easily in front of you. Perhaps he/she could teach the skill to others and therefore a witness could vouch for that person's competence and indeed confidence.

The ITQ student 's workbook published by Hodder Arnold considers competence in its introduction to the Mandatory Unit. "Competent people can work out how to use IT for more complex tasks and purposes, taking into account of their own skills and capabilities, They can explain decisions and actions taken using IT, find and evaluate information using appropriate methods, organize information and review their own use of IT and feedback from others."

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Last modified: 16 Oct 2007