Services

We can assist you in designing research, managing projects and applying for funding.

Ruth Walker, the CEO of Independent Assessment Validation Services, has over 27 years experience in VET as a trainer, auditor and researcher.

She specialises in managing projects and conducting research for RTO’s to inform decisions and practices in vocational education.

If you have an idea for a project and would like assistance with tenders, grant writing, research, or project management please contact us today to discuss.

These are some of Ruth’s past research and projects:

Evaluation of the Annual Conference of the Australian Evaluation Society

Conducted in 2024, this project involved stakeholder engagement, evaluation design including design of data gathering instruments, analysis of data, reporting and data visualisation. The evaluation report is published on the AES website.

Work-based Learning in Community Providers

Funded by Community Colleges Australia this research investigated the extent to which community providers deliver training through work-based learning arrangements and the styles of work-based learning that have been successful in up-skilling workers.

The research findings were presented at several conferences including AVETRA and ACAL. View the AVETRA presentation here.

Community Service Obligations

Funded by the NSW Department of Education, this research investigated provision of the Community Service Obligation (CSO) program, the factors that contributed to the success of programs and ongoing professional development needs in relation to the CSO program. Read the final report here.

LLN and VET Community of Practice
This project involved LLN and VET practitioners working together to develop learning and assessment strategies and assessment materials for the Foundations Skills Training Package.

My role involved designing the project, applying for funding, managing the team, validating assessment strategies and materials and researching into the enablers and barriers to LLN and VET practitioners working together. The project resulted in several presentations (NCVER, ACAL, Cooperative Learning Limited) and a number of publications including: Language, literacy and numeracy and vocational education collaboration: enablers and barriers, NCVER Research report.

A Quality VET Teaching and Learning Framework for Community Colleges
This project involved researching various teaching and learning frameworks across school, VET and higher education and hosting focus groups to determine a framework that would be suitable for Community Colleges. Results were presented at the 2012 AVETRA Conference.

Sustainable College Kit 
This project involved working with a team of sustainability experts to develop an online resource to support colleges to implement sustainable practices and green skills training within their colleges.

Data Management Champions 
This project  involved developing an online course to support RTOs in managing quality data for funding and reporting purposes. It also involved training and group of champions in the use of the online course.

Stepping Stones 
This project involved analysing the role played by community colleges in providing pathways from non-accredited and lower level qualifications to further education.

Training and Assessment (TAA40104) Community Providers in NSW
Training and assessment (TAA40104) community providers in NSW: Participant intent and outcomes. This research was conducted in 2010 within the NCVER VET Practitioner Research Community of Practice. The report is published here.

For more details of projects, publications and presentations see https://au.linkedin.com/in/ruthwalker2