This is a course for Science teachers.

The NESA Standards: Stage 5 Course Performance Descriptors (CPDs) STage 6 Performance Band Descriptions (PBDs) and define what students should know and be able to do at each level. The Standards can be used as a reference point for planning teaching and learning programs, and for assessing student progress. Standards should help teachers set targets and monitor achievement and develop programs that support and improve student learning.

This course unpacks the standards and demonstrates these as the basis of a universal assessment framework and the basis of an integrated reporting framework.

The course includes numerous exemplars of depth studies and practical tasks across a range of Senior Science courses. Student work samples are included. Participants interrogate these against  the assessment framework in a moderation exercise before creating their own tasks.



Course Curriculum

  • 1

    Session 1 - Introduction, surveys and curriculum knowledge

    • Tools used in this workshop

    • Why am I here?

    • Depth study survey

    • Subject preference survey

    • What's new!

    • What constitutes an hypothesis?

    • Accuracy, Reliability and Validity Continua - Stage 4 --> Stage 6

    • * Hypothesis
  • 2

    Assessment and reporting frameworks

    • The Stage 6 Performance Band Descriptions

    • An assessment framework

    • An integrated assessment & reporting framework
  • 3

    Session 2 - Depth Studies - exemplars and moderating exercises

    • Depth studies

    • Prelim Earth and Environmental Science: Introduced species (Research report)

    • Prelim Biology: Adaptations (Research Report)

    • HSC Physics Inquiry: The nature of light (Poster)

    • Prelim Physics Inquiry: Air resistance, rolling resistance and friction (poster)

    • Prelim Physics Inquiry: Momentum, Energy and Simple Systems (Research Report)

    • HSC Chemistry: Pharmaceutical development (Poster)

    • Prelim Chemistry: Rates of reaction (Research Report)

    • HSC Chemistry: Chemical equilibria (Research and prac report)
  • 4

    My task

    • Poster competition rubric development

    • How can a task limit achievement?

    • Assessment validity

    • Depth Study - My Task
  • 5

    Session 3 - Prac tests: standards-based assessment

    • Moderation exercise: Prelim Physics Practical Task - Refractive index

    • Moderation exercise: HSC Chemistry Practical Test - Titration

    • Moderation exercise: HSC Chemistry Heat of neutralisation

    • Moderation exercise: Prelim Biology - Enzyme activity

    • Development of an assessment task

    • My practical task
  • 6

    Reflection

    • Reflection
  • 7

    Resources

    • Resources

About the instructor

Curriculum and assessment advisor

Jim Sturgiss

Jim is an educational researcher and independent educational consultant. A recipient of the NSW PTC Distinguished Service Award for leadership in delivering targeted professional learning to teachers, he works with schools to align assessment, reporting and learning practice. He has been a DoE Senior Assessment Advisor where he developed many statewide assessments, (ESSA, SNAP, ELLA, BST) and as Coordinator: Analytics where he developed reports to schools for statewide assessments and NAPLAN.

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