Every Learner is Different | Kathy’s Story
About Kathy
Kathy and her husband have recently started ballroom dancing in their free time, and when she’s not doing that, she plays the trumpet and is in a band! She has 4 adult children and a teenager.
Life before Brooks and Kirk
Kathy had previously completed the D32/33 back in 1996 – the old version of the Assessor course – alongside her PGCE.
Her boss asked her if she had a TAQA qualification, and she said wasn’t sure what it was, as there are lots of acronyms and misconceptions in the further education industry.
Her boss told her to look into TAQA, and see what she can do.
Finding Brooks and Kirk
After a lot of confusion looking into TAQA and the world of assessing nowadays, Kathy was referred to Brooks and Kirk by her boss. She gave us a call, discussed the qualifications she already has with the team, and we advised her to complete the Level 3 Award in Understanding the Principles and Practices of Assessment in order to update her competency.
Course Review
“I thought it was good. I was really used to Moodle, we used it previously at the college I worked at and we use it in my current workplace so it was nice and easy to follow. I blocked time out in my calendar to complete the modules: 2 hours on a Monday afternoon or a Friday morning, that sort of thing. I quite liked that process that I went through, I would watch the video, answer the questions and find the answers. A lot of it was then applying it to what I’m doing in work currently or using my previous experience in education. But I thought it was pretty straight forward. I think it was helpful that I have a lot of experience working in education
I thought the course materials and resources were helpful. The feedback I received was prompt, enabling me to update and submit my work for summative assessment in a timely way.”
Life after the Assessor Course
Kathy now works for a training company that deliver courses including a fully online offering that construction workers need to get their Green CSCS card. She was brought in as an eAssessment Manager as the company were developing their software to carry out remote invigilation.
Kathy’s Advice
“Make sure you assign time and slots to do it in. If you can’t then complete the tasks in that slot, then make sure you assign a new slot that isn’t too far away. Set goals – I was determined I’d finish it by X date and made sure I did. So, all my slots geared me towards that. I set myself an end date and worked out my schedule backwards from that.”