Computer‐based assessment in safety‐critical industries: the case of shipping

Abstract

Vocational education and training (VET) concerns the cultivation and development of specific skills and competencies, in addition to broad underpinning knowledge relating to paid employment. VET assessment is, therefore, designed to determine the extent to which a trainee has effectively acquired the knowledge, skills, and competencies required by employers. Across a range of occupations, such testing has traditionally comprised a portfolio of practical on‐the‐job assessments, oral tests and laboratory tasks. In recent years vocational training assessment has increasingly adopted new computer‐based assessment (CBA) methods and, as a consequence, consideration of the scope of computer‐based assessments and their appropriateness for vocational training evaluation is timely. This paper examines the growing adoption of CBA within the safety‐critical field of maritime education and training (MET), particularly, in relation to the summative assessment of seafarers for licensing purposes. It discusses the implications for validity, reliability and security.

Keywords:

• vocational education and training
• computer‐based assessment
• summative assessment
• maritime education and training
• competence‐based training
• seafarer licence examinations

Notes

1. There are three types of electronic portfolios comprising evidence collected for different purposes. A developmental e‐portfolio is a record of things that the owner has done over a period of time, and may be directly tied to learner outcomes. A reflective e‐portfolio includes personal reflection on the content and what it means for the owner's development. A representational e‐portfolio shows the owner's achievements in relation to particular work or developmental goals.

2. Simulator equipment is generally very advanced in the shipping sector with ‘full mission’ bridge simulators costing millions of dollars constituting a commonplace installation in maritime colleges and training centres. In developing nations such equipment is often acquired via grants from OECD countries or on a ‘gift’ basis funded by consortia of interested parties seeking to benefit from the future supply of labour.

3. According to the BIMCO and ISF manpower update of 2005 there is a 10,000 shortage in the supply of officers.