102091: Secondary Curriculum 2B Blake Chandler: 17534550

102091 Curriculum 2B: Assignment 2

Assessment Task Information

Faculty: Society and Culture

Course: HSC Society and culture (Stage 6)

Unit: HSC Core: Social and cultural continuous change

Task Title: The Impact on Educational technology growth in schools of Australia

Task marks: 1 out of 30

Weighting: 30% Task No: 4 Of 4

Date issues: 18/4/2018 Date for submission: 10/5/2018

Assessment Task Details

Description of Activity:

Students have will submit a 2 part research tasks that aims to highlight the importance of
changing technology and social impact within Australia.

Part A: Research Journal-Students will collect and reference all material used to
complete the task and on completion of part B students will have a detailed research
journal. (15 marks)

Part B: Report- Students will write a report on Australian Education with regards to
Technology. Students must consider 2 of the unit core concepts:

Unit Core Concepts: Society, culture, environment, gender, authority or time.

Task instructions:

Students will complete and submit part A and B:

Part A: When researching its important to record information, to complete this task you
must document and reference every source. Students will use a scrap book provided and
document relevant sources, Students must:

 Number each page of your journal

 Give copies of all the information used i.e. websites or journal articles

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 Paste in all pages of the original document

 Include all pictures, statistical data, notes, websites etc.
 Provide an evaluation (1 page) that highlights how the information was found,
selected and organised and what could be changed if you were to repeat this task
again.
 Provide a detailed bibliography at the end of the journal that shows all sources.

Note: This task is completed during the researching section of your report, DO IT AS
YOU GO!

Part B: Students will write 1000 words on Australian education and growing technology
within schools.

The report must highlight BOTH of the following questions with reference to current
(within 10 years) resources and 2 of the unit core concepts (See task description).

1. Evaluate the changes that have occurred in schools due to the impact on individuals
and community groups.
2. How has current and/or new technology within schools impacted the direction of
change for these groups?

Context
Contextual statement:

Throughout this core unit students will have learnt and demonstrated a previous
understanding towards social and cultural change in society and communities. Students
will understand about the ‘direction of change’ concept and growing technologies in
Australia. Students will demonstrate links with technology and social change within
population groups while demonstrating skills in researching and referencing. Each section
of the task allows high achieves to excel while providing opportunities for all learners to
show their skills in the unit.

Task rationale
Contextual statement:

The assessment aims to develop researching and key learning concepts while broadening

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the perspective on student’s social and cultural understanding. The task brings together key
terms of importance while highlighting issues or impacts of changes within a school
setting. This allows students to relate to the material while still growing their understanding
of modernisation and changes through society.

Outcomes to be assessed
Outcome Description

H1 Evaluates and effectively applies social and cultural concepts

H2 Explains the development of personal, social and cultural identity

H3 Analyses relationships and interactions within and between social and cultural
groups

H4 Assesses the interaction of personal experience and public knowledge in the

development of social and cultural literacy

H6 Evaluates social and cultural research methods for appropriateness to specific

research tasks

H7 Selects, organises, synthesises and analyses information from a variety of

sources for usefulness, validity and bias
H9 Applies complex course language and concepts appropriate for a range of
audiences and contexts
H10 Communicates complex information, ideas and issues using appropriate
written, oral and graphic forms

Criteria for assessing learning

Marking criteria

This task will assess students ability to:

 Understand and explain concepts of society and technology

 Design a report and research journal
 Make links with current changes in schools
 Evaluate the barriers of cultural concepts within target groups

Achievement Mark Criteria

level range

Highly 24-30 - Completes all sections of Part A and B

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Developed - Evaluate the impact of change for different groups/individuals

- Demonstrates extensive understanding of direction of change
concepts and access to technology
- Records research journal article with extensive resources and
complete references/bibliography and justification
- Uses correct terminology and language
- Referencing is complete with little to no errors

Developed 16-23 - Completes most section of Part A and B

- Evaluates some impact of change for different
groups/individuals
- Demonstrates moderate understanding of direction of change
concepts and access to technology
- Records research journal article with a good range resources
and mostly complete references/bibliography and justification
- Uses mostly correct terminology and language
- Referencing is mostly complete with some errors

Satisfactory 8-15 - Completes some of part A and B sections

- Evaluates very little impact of change for different
groups/individuals
- Demonstrates little to minimal understanding of direction of
change concepts and access to technology
- Records research journal article with a minimal resources and
some complete references/bibliography and justification
- Uses some incorrect terminology and language
- Referencing is not fully complete with some errors

Elementary 0-7 - Does not completely Part A and B sections

- Evaluates no impact of change for different groups/individuals
- Demonstrates very little understanding of direction of change
concepts and access to technology.
- Records research journal article with minimal resources does
not complete all sections.
- Uses mostly incorrect terminology and language
- Referencing is not complete with many errors
- Demonstrates very little understanding towards the topic.

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Scaffold:

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Explanation:

Assessment is a large aspect when it comes to student growth and determining if learning has been achieved

within a unit of work. There are many different types of student assessment, all of which have unique roles

and work differently to determine what changes need to be made, either by the student or teacher. This

explanation will focus on the importance on the various types of assessment such as formative and

summative and how the influence on differentiation and feedback play a critical role in student progression.

According to Begum and Farooqui (2008) most student assessments only allow students to grasp basic

concepts and use skills such as; memorisation and information recall. For assessments to be effective it’s

important for students to develop multiple skills while allowing all learners the opportunity to expand on

their current knowledge. Within the stage 6 Society and Culture unit, this is a fundamental element that

should be recognised by teachers in order to avoid repetitive assessing on literacy skills and further develop

the growth of students overall understanding.

Assessment for student learning is the main area in which teachers can determine if the content has

progressed the understanding on student achievement. Not only does assessment allow for a greater

understanding of these elements but it also gives an indication on what further changes to learning are

required. There are 2 main areas of assessment that can be used in the Society and Culture stream these are;

Summative and formative also known as ‘OF’ and ‘FOR’ learning (NSW Education Standards Authority,

2018). It’s important especially when focusing on the Society and Culture syllabus that well-rounded forms

of assessment are undertaken, this ensures the complexity of student progression is achieved (Evans, 2013).

For example if only high achieving students are excelling in essay writing, by giving more options and

opportunities it allows all students the potential for growth including those who struggle with such activities.

This is another example to why multiple methods of assessing are essential especially when it comes to

areas such as summative assessing.

Summative assessment is normally done at the end of a unit of work or a subject to test multiple area and

outcomes of learning, this can be done in many different forms such as; exams, written reports or essays.

According to Black, Harrison, Hodgen, Marshall and Serret (2010) summative assessment can be unreliable
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if the teacher does not fully comprehend the validity of the task, this shows teachers must determine what

the students are required to show when completing a summative task. This can be achieved with activities or

assessing methods that focus directly on the outcomes of the unit, in turn creating an equal opportunity for

students to progress (Taras, 2009). For example when directly looking at the Society and Culture stage 6

syllabus outcomes such as; ‘evaluates and effectively applies social and cultural concepts’. It suggests that

students should be able to link and produce work that coincides with the key ideas and concepts of culture

and social aspects. Summative assessment can be used in this instance to assess if students have the ability

to meet these skills/requirements and gives a benchmark that can be recorded by the teacher. Taras (2009)

suggests that summative assessment is an important aspect in testing student progression and potential,

however it becomes a more reliable source when used together with a range of methods such as formative

assessment throughout the learning process.

Formative assessment is another key area of importance when looking as the growth and learning of

students. Formative assessment or ‘FOR’ learning is different from that of summative assessment as

opposed to being done at the end of a unit it takes place throughout the teaching and learning process, which

is further developed with teacher feedback (NESA, 2018). Some examples include: in class submission

tasks, questioning and think pair shares activities. Formative assessment is a broader scope of assessing; this

gives the benefit of easy implementation of differentiation, which gives more students the opportunity to

show their strengths. Falchikov (2013) suggests that student involvement through giving options and

allowing students to have choices, especially within assessments, can increase student interest and

performance. Formative assessment can be used along side summative assessing to involve and push

forward learning, this shows the importance when quality methods are employed to push forward with

learning. Overall the design of the assessment directly influences the assessing potential, meaning teachers

must use methods of differentiation to help all students including diverse learners (Hertberg-Davis, 2009).

Differentiation is a must for any teacher to incorporate in the design and use of student assessment, as

mentioned it allows more students, including high achievers, to excel and show the skills they have

acquired. It also allows students who may struggle in these areas the ability to complete tasks and get
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involved in the content. According to Hertberg-Davis (2009) differentiation is a critical component in

student assessment and teachers must have the skills to incorporate these methods. The reason

differentiation is so important is the idea of pushing forward high achieving students while allowing tasks to

be of a standard that can be completed by all students. Individual students learn in different ways with

unique strengths, however these skills only become known when tested effectively (Tomlinson, 2008).

Differentiation through a large range of assessments that targets these skills allows for further development

and students the opportunity to excel. However the use of differentiation must be developed in the

assessment design phase through integration of multiple areas or tasks that use different learning skills and

student choices rather than during the learning phase prior to the completion of the assessment (Tomlinson

& Moon, (2013). In Society and Culture at the stage 6 level, students are to produce work mostly geared

towards literacy and writing activities as the syllabus links heavily with these academic skills. Tomlinson

and Moon (2013) suggest to be successful with differentiation, content can be linked with personal

experiences or activities to push forward learning in different ways such as videos or role-plays. Within

Society and Culture this could be an effect form of formative assessment to help build student learning as

opposed to writing the majority of content. This could further be developed with effective forms of feedback

to help encourage and help with any difficulties students may encounter during the implementation of this

content.

Feedback is another aspect that can help all students, however similar to assessment when used incorrectly

especially with certain students it has the potential to disengage and cause lack of motivation (Colvin,

Flannery, Sugai & Monegan, 2009). There are different forms of feedback all of which can be used to help

students with assessments, these are: oral, written and even peer reviewed feedback (Williams, & Kane,

2009). However regardless of the feedback a teacher chooses to implemented its important the teacher does

so in a positive way while mentioning areas that could be improved. According to Lee (2008) negative or

harsh feedback has very negative consequences; in order to avoid these issues feedback can be consistently

given to students during both formative and summative assessing. Its also important for teachers to give

students the opportunity to self assesses their own feedback either through peers or individually.
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According to Williams and Kane (2009) their studies have shown that student feedback has the potential to

progress learning and re-assure students in certain areas of learning. This study also found that listening to

students about their ideas or views on feedback has substantial increase in student educational satisfaction.

Meaning that students are more likely to take on board quality feedback making it more reliable and a great

tool for progression. Overall feedback is a critical component in student assessment and should be used

effectively by teachers as it has the potential for further academic development (Gielen, Tops, Dochy,

Onghena, & Smeets, 2010). Teachers should take on board a range of various strategies to implement

feedback as it becomes more reliable and has greater benefits for teachers and students in the education

system when it is used critically and effectively.

In conclusion assessment is a vital part of determining the level of student academic achievement, it gives a

benchmark and indication of knowledge and potential for future growth. However its important for teachers

to implement a range of diverse tasks that assess multiple outcomes to be effective as some students will

excel better in areas of learning, therefore this gives more students the chance to succeed. Its also a strong

importance that teachers differentiate feedback and assessment tasks to allow for diverse and high achievers

to complete and excel in learning as opposed to catering for a smaller number of students. Overall

assessment is a vital importance when it comes to student progression, however teachers must create quality

material to meet the needs for these students if they are to progress in education.

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i Reference:

Begum, M., & Farooqui, S. (2008). School Based Assessment: Will It Really Change the Education

Scenario in Bangladesh?. International education studies, 1(2), 45-53.

Black, P., Harrison, C., Hodgen, J., Marshall, B., & Serret, N. (2010). Validity in teachers’ summative

assessments. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 17(2), 215-232.

Colvin, G., Flannery, K. B., Sugai, G., & Monegan, J. (2009). Using observational data to provide

performance feedback to teachers: A high school case study. Preventing School Failure: Alternative

Education for Children and Youth, 53(2), 95-104.

Evans, C. (2013). Making sense of assessment feedback in higher education. Review of educational

research, 83(1), 70-120.

Falchikov, N. (2013). Improving assessment through student involvement: Practical solutions for aiding

learning in higher and further education. Routledge.

Gielen, S., Tops, L., Dochy, F., Onghena, P., & Smeets, S. (2010). A comparative study of peer and teacher

feedback and of various peer feedback forms in a secondary school writing curriculum. British

educational research journal, 36(1), 143-162.

Hertberg-Davis, H. (2009). Myth 7: Differentiation in the regular classroom is equivalent to gifted programs

and is sufficient: Classroom teachers have the time, the skill, and the will to differentiate

adequately. Gifted Child Quarterly, 53(4), 251-253.

Lee, I. (2008). Student reactions to teacher feedback in two Hong Kong secondary classrooms. Journal of

Second Language Writing, 17(3), 144-164.

NSW Education Standards Authority. (2018). Assessment For, Of and As Learning. Retrieved April 28th,

2018, from https://syllabus.nesa.nsw.edu.au/support-materials/assessment-for-as-and-of-learning/

Taras, M. (2009). Summative assessment: The missing link for formative assessment. Journal of Further

and Higher Education, 33(1), 57-69.

Tomlinson, C. A. (2008). Goals of Differentiation. Educational Leadership.

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Tomlinson, C. A., & Moon, T. R. (2013). Assessment and student success in a differentiated classroom.

ASCD.

Williams, J., & Kane, D. (2009). Assessment and feedback: Institutional experiences of student feedback,

1996 to 2007. Higher Education Quarterly, 63(3), 264-286.

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