The problem, situation, or issue should be in a familiar context where relationships need to be clarified. Alternatively, the context may be unfamiliar to the candidates but the relationships between variables should be clear.
The action plan is likely to involve more than one strand. Some of the tasks may be carried out simultaneously.
Resources used will be less familiar to the candidates and may involve a search. They might include sources of information, set procedures, people, money, equipment, and physical resources.
Once the action plan has been devised the candidates will carry it out and either undertake tasks themselves or supervise the completion of tasks where these have been allocated to others.
Candidates will chose criteria for reviewing and evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of their approach to problem solving. Criteria may include identifying the correct causes of the problem, keeping to time, and appropriate allocation of tasks and use of resources.
Candidates will gather evidence to support their evaluation. Examples of evidence are questionnaires, records of interviews, and minutes of meetings. Candidates will consider the evidence, make their evaluations based on this, and then suggest modifications or alternatives for improving future problem
solving activities.
It may be appropriate for you to gather written evidence produced by the candidates while carrying out the practical tasks. However, written evidence is not essential and is inappropriate if it disadvantages the candidate.
You may wish instead to observe the candidate carrying out a task and use oral questioning. This requires you to create and complete a record of questions asked and candidate responses. From the candidate’s point of view, it is useful to have the means of keeping all the work of this Unit together. You can help here by creating and providing a workbook that includes all the evidence-gathering items. An alternative would be to provide worksheets that can be made into a portfolio or e-portfolio.
If you have chosen to integrate the problem-solving work with other Units being undertaken by the candidate, it may be possible to assess the problem solving process as part of a larger single activity. In this case you must keep separate records for this Unit. You should try to identify naturally occurring
opportunities for assessment where possible. Some of the exemplars in this pack could be used or contextualised for this purpose.
The assessment process is likely to involve one or more of the following:
When assessing by observation, you must keep a detailed checklist. Similarly, if you use oral questioning, you must keep a record of both the questions and the candidate responses. All evidence, whether produced by the candidate or a record made by yourself, must be retained, signed, and dated by you.
You should work out where opportunities for meeting the Unit standards are likely to arise. Where possible, these should be built into the assessment process.
You should explain and discuss this assessment process with the candidates so that they are clear about what is expected of them.