Accelerating Continuous Improvementto e-Quip your Workforce & Workplace
Accelerating Continuous ImprovementThe objective of this policy is to provide a framework for the design, development and evaluation of Courses "Curriculum's" delivered by ACI Global Pty Ltd within the context of continuous improvement and quality improvement.
ACI Global ensures all Curriculums of Learning are designed in conformance to the following International Standards:
In designing curriculum's, ACI Global adheres to the training and professional development standards indicated by academic research in its fields of expertise and by the standards and guidelines established by institutions of higher education, professional bodies and peak industry associations by using the DACUM Principle (Developing A Curriculum) and SCID Principle (Systematic Curriculum and Instructional Development) refined to ISO and Industry Standards Requirements and Guidelines and ISO 21001 and 29993 processes. In line with these principles Curriculums are designed to:
NEEDS ANALAYSIS Identify Job/Occupational Priorities |
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JOB/OCCUPATIONAL ANALYSIS Conduct DACUM process to identify Duties and Tasks |
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TASK VERIFICATION Obtain Ratings on importance, difficulty, frequency etc. |
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TASK SELECTION Select Priority Tasks for Learning/Training and Curriculum Development |
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TASK ANALYSIS Analyse Selected Tasks for Steps, Knowledge Required, Safety, Performance Criteria, Cultural Awareness and Personal Disciplines etc. |
 WITNESSED ACTIVITY Online Verification of Knowledge, Skills, Competence, Capability and Ongoing Personal Development |
ISO PERSONAL CERTIFICATION Issue ISO Personal Certification for Three Years |
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COMPETENCY PROFILE Cluster Related Tasks as Appropriate to form Competencies |
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CURRICULUM MATERIALS Based on ISO and Industry Standards Develop Learning Guides, Resource Material, Job Aids, Visuals, Handouts and Resource Material |
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ASSESSMENT AND EXAMINATION MATERIALS Based on ISO and Industry Performance Evaluation Criteria, Develop Performance Criteria, Evidence Guides, Assessment Questions and Minimum Deliverables |
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Curriculum development is grounded in an educational philosophy that emphasises the centrality of the learner within the learning process and which supports the personal and professional development of each student’s competence to foster innovation, critical thinking, and ethical and professional practice. ACI Global and its Registered Alliance Partners Courses “Curriculum’s” are structured to enable participants to be innovative practitioners, expand their professional interests, and develop ongoing continuous improvement to achieve high achiever status through ISO Personal Certification.
Course Development and Recognition of Prior Learning: The curriculum development process begins with a Needs Analysis, which can be conducted in different ways. In a learning environment, the goal of needs analysis is to identify which occupational areas have enough employment opportunities and will attract enough candidates to justify a competency based program. Several factors enter into this analysis, such as required skills, special needs, tasks, knowledge and competencies in the occupation and whether the competency program should be offered online or at the organisations premises.
In an industry or business setting, the focus is more likely to be on identifying training that can be done and that will be most beneficial to employees and to the company. This will likely involve consulting with supervisors and managers as well as looking for training implications in data on the quantity and quality of products or services, worker safety records, new equipment, new work processes, or other factors.
In order to ensure that ACI Global and Registered Alliance Partners curriculum’s meet the needs of current learners, defined processes have been developed relating to recognition of prior learning, recognition of learners expectations and determining current pre-requisite needs as well as recognition of learners language, cultural, literacy and disability needs.
Course Development and Recognition of Prior Learning: The difference between job and occupational analysis is that in a company setting, the focus of analysis is a single job, whereas in most learning situations the focus is on an occupational area consisting of several closely related jobs. Job/occupational analysis involves finding out what should be taught to students or worker trainees. ACI Global has consistently found that the DACUM job analysis process is an excellent option. In the DACUM process, expert workers in the occupation are guided by a trained facilitator in a full day workshop to identify the duties, tasks of the occupation, along with the supportive enablers such as knowledge, skills, tools and equipment, and worker personal Behaviours and competencies. Verification of Competence (VOC) is also addressed at this stage of the process.
The duties, tasks, and supportive enablers identified in the DACUM process provide a solid foundation for any college course or company training program. In addition, involving expert workers from the company or from the larger community generates strong support and buy-in from Industry, Statutory and Regulatory Bodies. The DACUM process used by ACI Global is used to analyze jobs or occupations at all levels, from semiskilled workers to skilled technicians to managers and professionals.
Course Development and Recognition of Prior Learning: In the third component of the curriculum development process, Task Verification, ACI Global verifies selected aspects of each task identified in the DACUM process. Is the task actually performed in the job or occupation? How important is the task? How difficult is it to learn to perform the task? How frequently is the task performed? Task verification data are collected through electronic or web-based surveys of other expert workers and, sometimes, the immediate supervisors of those workers. Data is statistically analysed and becomes a basis for decisions about which tasks should be taught and which should not. The data gained is also valuable for creating test blueprints for future learning outcomes.
Task verification can involve as few as 25 expert workers or supervisors responding to a surveyor as many as thousands. Seeking input and involvement from expert workers and supervisors from within Industry builds further support and buy-in from the local occupational community. Through task verification, many more workers and companies become aware that ACI Global is updating an existing instructional program or creating a new one. All in all, task verification not only provides critical decision-making data for ACI Global; it’s also provides a valuable communications tool for ACI Global and its Alliance Partners in ongoing good public relations with Industry Statutory and Regulatory Bodies further strengthening ACI Global’s desire to accelerate continuous improvement for the selected profession.
Course Development and Recognition of Prior Learning: In the next component of ACI Global’s curriculum development process, Task Selection, data gathered during task verification is used to select tasks for instruction. Instruction would typically not be provided for a task that is of low importance or of low difficulty or that is performed by very few workers unless there is a compelling reason to provide instruction for example, the task is a new one that workers have not yet been trained to perform. ACI Global’s experience has been that if a task is performed by fewer than 25 percent of workers, it should be set aside, and training onsite be provided.
Course Development and Recognition of Prior Learning: The next component of the curriculum development process is to conduct Task Analysis. Whether online or within an organizational context, instructors need more information (unless they have had recent personal experience) on the tasks selected for instruction: the steps of the task, the tools and equipment needed, the knowledge and skills required, safety concerns, relevant worker behaviours, decisions the worker must make, and the criteria used by industry to judge the adequacy of performance.
Whilst ACI Global recommends that ideally, all tasks should be analysed, however, there may be limitations to task analysis in practice. Companies usually want every important task analysed. Company managers often say that they want to capture the intellectual capital of current workers before they leave or retire. A thorough analysis of a single task with many steps can take an hour or more, so limited availability of expert workers from industry and limited time available to instructors can make task analysis difficult, this is where a very close and detailed understanding between ACI Global and its Alliance Partners with Industry and Statutory and Regulatory Bodies is maintained at the highest levels.
ACI Global further strengthens this step with a detailed analysis of the candidates Attitude Cultural Awareness and through the use of both the Hogan Personal Inventory and 360 Degree Models assesses the candidates Personal Behaviour Disciplines.
Course Development and Recognition of Prior Learning: Next, an instructional Competency Profile is established using good direct input from Industry and or Statutory and Regulatory Bodies. ACI Global uses a defined ISO 29993:2017 process in examining the results of task analysis carefully to see which tasks require similar knowledge and worker behaviours. Often, there are multiple tasks in the occupation that require basically the same knowledge, although the knowledge may be applied differently.
To achieve the best learning outcome, it often makes a lot of sense to cluster tasks together and write a new competency statement that encompasses all of the clustered tasks. Whilst not all tasks are of the same size or importance; some tasks are so significant that they deserve to be an instructional competency all by themselves. In many cases, however, if like tasks are clustered into a single competency, students or employees do not have to read the same information two or three times—or more. The necessary information can be supplied once in a single learning guide or module, and learners can spend time practicing and demonstrating the skills involved.
With task analysis completed and detailed, step-by-step information gathered, competency-based Curriculum Materials are developed and secured within the ACI Global Learning Assessment and Certification Platform. The following key assessment criteria are set:
The above key criteria are all developed in line with the competencies set and assessments developed to ensure learning outcomes are achieved.
Learning materials are developed in such a way so that alliance partners have the peace of mind that all learning materials are secured in line with ACI Global’s conformance to the latest ISO Information and Security standards.
Candidates are encouraged to learn at their own pace with no set time limits imposed and a wide range of support materials are provided through the online resource centre.
With task analysis and the competency profile completed and detailed, step-by-step information gathered, competency-based Curriculum Materials can now be developed within the e-quip portal (ACI Academy). Commencing with the course overview the following steps addressed:
Many types of competency-based materials can be developed, including learner-centered learning guides, learning aids, handbooks, handouts, and job aids or instructor lesson plans—to mention just a few. Time, resources, instructor preferences, and institutional preferences are some of the factors that determine which materials are developed. The first of these is developed and shown within course categories on the ACI Global Website displaying the Learning Program Details:
Most of the trainees ACI Global has worked with prefer to use learning guides designed so they can use them at their own pace. ACI Global feels that although learning guides take skill and time to develop, they have many advantages and are developed within e-quip as Minimum Deliverables or "Model Answers".
Learning guides consist of a performance objective and two or more enabling objectives. For each enabling objective, a learning experience with multiple, carefully selected activities is developed. Each learning experience contains a Self-Check and Model Answers and/or a Practice Exercise. Upon completion of all learning experiences, the learner must demonstrate his or her skill; the instructor uses the performance criteria in the learning guide’s Performance Test to evaluate the learner’s performance.
If the learner does not demonstrate competency in the Performance Test, the instructor guides him or her to more practice or other activities until competency is achieved. A knowledge test may also be administered, if desired. The ACI Global Learning Assessment and Examination platform contains a full resource centre for candidates to read and research to ensure they have the highest level of knowledge available to achieve the learning outcomes set.
ACI Global uses its conformance to the ISO 17024:2013 conformity assessment standard along with its certification to Learning Services ISO 29993:2017 to ensure all assessments and examinations conform and in deed are fair so as to ensure the candidate achieves the desired learning outcome. All assessment and examination materials are secured within the ACI e-Quip portal targeted specifically to the following key criteria:
ACI Global's Academy has been tailored so as to ensure flexibility to support the learner co-construction of the learning process based on skills, abilities and interest, including approaches such as:
ACI Global through its Academy facilitates a team environment with adequate resources to support individual learners to meet their optimal potential and provides linkages to workplace opportunities and accelerating continuous improvement for both the learner and their sponsoring organisation.
ACI Global Certification a fully owned Division of ACI Global Pty Ltd appoints by Contract an (IAF) International Accreditation Forum and their Accredited National Body the Joint Accreditation Scheme for Australia and New Zealand (JAS-ANZ), Certified Accredited Body (CAB) independently of ACI Global to conduct the Witnessed Activity.
The appointed CAB delegates a Triple Certificated JAS-ANZ witnessed Lead Auditor to conduct and report on the Verification of Knowledge, Skills, Competence and ongoing personal development of the Candidate whilst they undertake an audit or evaluation of a "System" or "Process" associated with the specified Certification Program. The Certification program is aligned to a specified Curriculum and conforms to ISO/IEC 17024:2013 Conformity Assessment Guidelines.
Whilst ISO Personal Certification can be either "Competency" or Qualifications" based with "Competency" there is a need to ensure ongoing or continuous professional development (CPD) throughout the period of the Certification. ACI Global uses a Triennial Certification process to ensure each professional is competent over a given period of 3 years.
Once the candidate has been certified the candidate is provided unlimited access to its online e-campus to undertake ongoing professional development and verification of competency (VOC) annually for a period of three years. Throughout the 3 years the candidate has unlimited access to view updates to International Standards, Industry updates and news and will be assessed on an ongoing basis to ensure continuity of certification through the ongoing verification of competencies and Skills throughout the period of their ISO Personal Certification. The ISO Personal Certification process is handled by ACI Global Certification an independent division of ACI Global Pty Ltd.
ACI Global has developed a defined process to assess a candidate’s prior learning involving the candidates RPL ensuring the content of the curriculum meets the needs of the candidate. The process involves assessing the following:
ACI Global has a defined process to ensure all learners information provided for the RPL process is held secure within the ACI Global Learning, Assessment Examination Platform "e-Campus" which is outlined in ACI Global’s Digital security policy.
ACI Global users surveys at the beginning and completion of each Curriculum to manage learner’s expectations. Throughout the candidates learning experience facilitators and mentors constantly monitor the learners progress with clear targets set to ensure the candidates expectations are met at all times.
Curriculums do not have set completion dates as the candidate sets the completion date in line with their own expectations.
Pre-requisites of Learners are determined before the candidate commences their Curriculum of Learning. Training plans clearly outline in detail the requirements for each Curriculum and candidates are required to sign off on ACI Global’s "Terms" for the use of the e-Campus before commencing their Curriculum of Learning.
ACI Global addresses learner’s special needs within all Curriculums Training Plans which are available on the organisations web site for the candidate to view prior to the candidate registering and enrolling in any Curriculum of Learning.
At the commencement of all Learning Activities candidates’ special needs are addressed to cater for the following:
All Curriculums offered by ACI Global are subject to ongoing monitoring and evaluation of content and delivery mechanisms. The controls applied to the design and development process ensures that:
Learning Outcomes
Learning activities
ACI Global ensures all resources necessary to successfully complete the learning activities are clearly defined so as to maintain the intended aim of the continuing performance development of the learner (CPD agreement in place for all learners) so as to provide ongoing participation within the learning process with feedback from both the learner and their sponsoring organisation an integral part of the course or program.
ACI Global employs a range of quality assurance practices and mechanisms to ensure ongoing continual improvement to curriculum delivery. These practices and mechanisms are formal and informal, internal and external. Processes for monitoring and evaluating each curriculum include: participant feedback; facilitator feedback; and internal processes of Key Alliance Partner companies such as Digital Learning Solutions, Post Tensioning Institute of Australia and Lockforce International.
Feedback mechanisms include questions relating to Curriculum Content, Competency Unit delivery and Assessment and Examination arrangements. Data collated is analysed by the course administrator. The implementation of any recommendations are the responsibility of the Course “Curriculum” Administrator and Alliance Partner if applicable.
Participants provide continuous feedback throughout the duration of the learner’s activity including at the commencement and completion of the learners curriculum. The data collected is analysed and a comprehensive summary on feedback received from students is created for future reflection before curriculum recreation occurs.
ACI Global is committed to the review annually or as required by ISO amendment or new release of the standards aligned to each curriculum of learning offered. This review will occur after analysis of the feedback and evaluations of each curriculum, amendments and changes to ISO Standards, Industry Regulatory and statutory requirements and discussion with the facilitator, mentor and administrator. Adjustments to these standards will also occur through ongoing evaluation from ISO Certified third parties in line with ACI Global’s accreditation to ISO 21001:2018 and ISO 19990:2010.
Competency Units will be evaluated at least once each a year according to the following procedure:
Curriculum delivery and assessment methods are evaluated systematically to:
Monitoring and reviewing curriculum delivery and assessment enables ACI Global to:
ACI Global is committed to ensuring that the processes for curriculum delivery and the monitoring of the assessment and examination platform lead to continuous improvement. This is achieved through four quality assured processes:
ACI Global is committed to an annual process of monitoring and reviewing its Learning Curriculum’s offered. This review process will be conducted in conjunction with key alliance partners and assigned facilitators and mentors.
The annual review cycle will address the following criteria:
In reviewing curriculum’s the following review guidelines will provide a standardised format to facilitate analysis of data and the generation of critical issues for reporting purposes.
Reviewers should begin evaluation processes by asking the following questions:
Reviewers should consider the curriculum learning outcomes that were originally determined and how the curriculum was designed to enable learning outcomes to be achieved. To this extent, reviewers should ask:
Reviewers should consider the information available to students, teachers and staff. They should consider how learning activities are used to promote understanding about each of the curriculum learning outcomes and the other strategies used to communicate information. Reviewers should ask:
Reviewers should evaluate how the assessment and examination process enables the competency unit outcomes to be demonstrated and assessed objectively. Reviewers should ask:
Reviewers should provide an evaluation of each curriculum and its learning activities backed by supporting documentation. Reviewers should address the following questions:
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