Aboriginal Studies

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Research and Inquiry Methods: Major Project

Welcome

Overview

Consultation & protocols

Research methods

Assessment

Copyright & cultural ownership

Student work

Assessment

Sample HSC assessment program

Task 1

Task 2

Task 3

Task 4

Task 5

Task type and weighting

Research

Examination

Oral Presentation 5
Written Report 10

Project Log 15
Final Project 25

Trial HSC Exam

Approximate date of task
Year 11
Term 4 Year 12
Terms 1 & 2 Year 12 Terms 2 & 3 Year 12 Term 2 Year 12
Term 3

Outcomes

H1.2
H2.3
H3.2

H1.1
H1.2
H2.1
H2.3
H3.1 H1.1
H2.1
H3.2

H4.1
H4.2
H4.3
H4.4
H4.5 H1.2
H2.1
H2.2
H2.3
H3.2
H3.3
H4.4

Topic focus

Aboriginal
initiatives to
address
racism
Social Justice
and Racism
Issues

Part 1
Social Justice and Human Rights Issues
a) Criminal
Justice

b) Economic
Independence

Government
policies and
legislation

Major Project

Part I
Social Justice and
Human Rights
Issues
a) Criminal
Justice

b) Economic
Independence

Part II
Aboriginality and
the Land

Part III
Research and
Inquiry Methods

Syllabus component & weighting in task
Part I Social
Justice and
Human Rights
Issues Part I Social
Justice and
Human Rights
Issues

Part II Aboriginality
and the Land

Part III
Research and
Inquiry Methods Part I          10
Part II         10
Part III        10

Weighting
10 10 10 40 30

Sample unit of work and assessment task

The following steps provide an approach to the next stage of programming the HSC Aboriginal Studies syllabus. This entails the detailed planning of the teaching, learning and assessment activities for each unit of work. The samples provided in this document are for Part I: Social Justice and Human Rights Issues. The steps involved in planning this unit of work include the following:

Step 1
Identify from the program overview the outcomes to be targeted for the units of work and the assessment task.

Step 2
Determine the content to be taught within the unit of work.The content is to be found in the syllabus through the learn to and learn about statements.These statements are found on page 25 of the syllabus for Social Justice and Human Rights Issues, on page 30 for Criminal Justice and page 31 for Economic Independence. The learn to statements are linked to the targeted outcomes and the learn about statements.

Step 3
Design and select teaching and learning strategies and activities as well as identify key resource areas and how they will be used in order to allow students to engage with the content and provide opportunities for each student to achieve the targeted outcomes.

Step 4
Design an assessment task (as outlined in the assessment program) in order to facilitate the measurement of student performance in relation to the targeted outcomes.

This sample assessment task has been designed to indicate:

the outcomes to be assessed

the course components and weightings attached to them

the two areas of assessment and the weightings for each

the task and criteria used to assess it.

The sample assessment programs and task provided in this document have been developed using advice provided in the Board of Studies publication The New Higher School Certificate Assessment Support Document. This document was sent to schools in Term 3, 1999 and assists teachers to incorporate the key features of standards referenced assessment into their assessment planning. Teachers are strongly advised to consult this document when developing assessment programs and designing individual tasks.

The task provided has been developed from the sample HSC unit Social Justice and Human Rights Issues and has been designed using the steps outlined on pages 14-15 of the assessment support document. The task provides:

a clear indication of outcomes to be assessed

clear instructions to students

advice to the students about the criteria to be used for assessing their performance.

All material on this page reproduced with the kind permission of the Board of Studies NSW