Unit rationale, description and aim
In order to plan and deliver lessons that promote learner engagement and enhance student learning, intending secondary teachers need knowledge and understanding of the senior secondary curriculum, along with theoretical frameworks and pedagogical approaches that are emblematic of teaching in their chosen teaching areas, including teaching/learning that responds to the high-stakes assessment that is a usual feature of senior secondary schooling.
In this unit, pre-service teachers will consider the place of Geography education in contemporary Australian society, and the senior secondary Geography curriculum, in particular. They will explore a range of evidence-based approaches for curriculum development and alignment and to plan for effective teaching and learning, including formative and summative assessment. Pre-service teachers will learn approaches for building knowledge of Geography and how to provide constructive feedback and reporting. They will learn approaches for engaging senior secondary learners and to meet the learning needs of diverse students in the senior secondary years. They will further develop skills to shape the dialogic talk of the classroom. Pre-service teachers will formulate unit and assessment plans in order to demonstrate a knowledge of curriculum, learning and assessment theory. They will assemble a resource folio to demonstrate capacity to collect, create and critique resources for effective teaching and learning and to link with curriculum. They will investigate issues and considerations of curriculum implementation as found in the practical reality of schools.
The aim of this unit is for the pre-service teacher to develop their pedagogical content knowledge through becoming familiar with the knowledge, understanding and skills necessary for teaching Geography at a senior secondary level.
Campus offering
No unit offerings are currently available for this unitLearning outcomes
To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.
Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.
Explore the graduate capabilities.
Generate and critically evaluate a Geography Educa...
Learning Outcome 01
Critically analyse, synthesise, develop and implem...
Learning Outcome 02
Analyse the relationships between learning task de...
Learning Outcome 03
Analyse and articulate the relationship of assessm...
Learning Outcome 04
Content
The topics will include:
- factors in the educational context (international, national, state, territory and local levels) including curriculum policies and perspectives that shape the identity of Geography Education in the senior years
- the concepts, substance and structure of senior secondary curriculum content in Geography
- specific professional practices and key pedagogical approaches related to teaching and learning in Geography Education, and their theoretical underpinnings (eg. OHS, safe practices)
- alignment and coherence in content, learning outcomes, pedagogy in curriculum programming in Geography Education
- the relationship between reflexive learning and effective concept formation to build higher order thinking in Geography Education
- catering for a diverse range of learners in Geography Education
- strategies to develop students’ literacy and numeracy skills in the context of Geography
- discipline specific teaching strategies and issues related to Indigenous students in Geography Education
- effective use of resources for teaching, including ICT’s and technologies specific to Geography Education
- pedagogical strategies to facilitate creativity, promote problem solving and foster critical thinking in Geography Education
- ways to assess student learning, provide effective feedback, make consistent and comparable judgments, interpret student data, report on student achievement and ethical practice in assessment in Geography
- maintaining student safety in Geography including risk identification, management and legislative requirements
- resources and sources of professional learning for teachers for teachers, including professional associations, external professionals, community representatives and support networks.
Assessment strategy and rationale
The assessment tasks and their weightings are designed so that the pre-service teacher can progressively achieve the course learning outcomes and the professional standards. The Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment units in this course focus on pre-service teachers acquiring content knowledge and developing the skills to assimilate conceptual knowledge in order for that knowledge to inform skills that will be applied in practice.
The two assessment tasks are sequenced to allow feedback and progressive development. By completing Task 1 the pre-service teacher will apply knowledge of assessment strategies. In Task 2 pre-service teachers develop a program of work for senior students over a period of time.
Overview of assessments
Assessment Task 1: Curriculum, assessment and ev...
Assessment Task 1:
Curriculum, assessment and evaluation practice
A program/unit of work constructed for senior students over a nominated period of time (e.g., term/semester). The program will be evidence-based and designed to address:
- the scope and sequence
- a current issue or innovation in the teaching area or a particular context/scenario
- nominated curriculum content represented in a learning and teaching sequence
- differentiation of assessment for learning tasks to suit the needs of diverse learners
- literacy/numeracy strategies in the teaching area
- learning outcomes/indicators of learning
- the integration of assessment in learning and teaching tasks
- nominated pedagogical strategies to support higher order learning
- resources, including ICT and a field trip or excursion
a proposal for curriculum evaluation.
50%
Assessment Task 2: Formative and Summative Asses...
Assessment Task 2:
Formative and Summative Assessment Folio
Develop an assessment plan of two or more assessment for learning tasks designed for senior students. Each task designed will include:
- a variety of assessment strategies, including diagnostic, formative and summative, that reflect the assessment requirements specific to the curriculum area while catering to diverse learner strengths and needs
- a rationale which accounts for the inclusion of content in relation to how the demand of each task supports the development of higher order thinking
- learning outcomes/achievement standards
- strategies for making consistent and comparable judgements, including marking guidelines/criteria, and moderation
- strategies for providing feedback
source material as appropriate.
50%
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
This unit applies a social constructivist approach to develop the pre-service teacher’s understanding of effective pedagogies through active engagement and collaborative learning. The pre-service teacher will build an understanding of teaching strategies through critical reading, lecturer modelling, discussion, and practice in tutorials. The pre-service teacher’s skills of professional communication and ability to work collaboratively will be practised through group work. The pre-service teacher’s teaching skills of planning and assessing, and his/her ability to locate and synthesise information, will be developed through designing curriculum appropriate for a Geography education context. The pre-service teacher will continue to gather and reflect upon evidence of attainment of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers: Graduate.
Teaching and learning strategy described above will use an appropriate selection of approach, including, for example:
- Weekly face-to-face lectures and / or online lectures (synchronous and asynchronous)
- Hands-on tutorials and discussions that promote peer learning
- Microteaching opportunities
- Self-directed reading and research
- Collaborative learning opportunities
AUSTRALIAN PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS FOR TEACHERS - GRADUATE LEVEL
On successful completion of this unit, pre-service teachers should be able to: