Student’s Name: ………………………………………..……. Teacher’s Name: ………………..…………………………….

YEAR 12 BIOLOGY
ASSESSMENT TASK 2

Task Title: Infectious Disease Research Task

Content: Module 7: Infectious Disease
Weighting: 30%
Research (started in class and finished at home)
Nature:
Development of form of communication (at home)
Date Given: Thursday 12th April 2018
Due Date: Thursday 10th May 2018

Task Description:
You are required to create either a flyer, brochure, poster or webpage to communicate information
about a chosen infectious disease outbreak in the community. Your information medium must
identify what is an infectious disease, the history of infectious diseases and the cause, transmission,
symptoms, diagnosis, host response, control and prevention strategies directly related to your
chosen infectious disease.

Outcomes Assessed
Analyses infectious disease in terms of cause, transmission, management
BIO 12-14
and the organism’s response, including the human immune system.
Conducts investigations to collect valid and reliable primary and secondary
data and information.
BIO11/12-3  Select and extract information from a wide range of reliable
secondary sources and acknowledge them using an accepted
referencing style.
Selects and processes appropriate qualitative and quantitative data and
information using a range of appropriate media.
BIO11/12-4  Select qualitative and quantitative data and information and
represent them using a range of formats, digital technologies and
appropriate media.
Communicates scientific understanding using suitable language and
terminology for a specific audience or purpose.
BIO11/12-7
 Select and use suitable forms of digital, visual, written and/or oral
forms of communication.

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 Submission Instructions
A hardcopy of the assessment must be submitted to your biology teacher during class on Thursday
10th May 2018. Your completed assessment task and this marking criteria booklet should be handed
in together in a single plastic sleeve. Make sure your name is printed on this booklet and your
assessment task. For students wishing to create a webpage, screenshots of the webpage and the
URL should be handed in with the marking criteria by the due date.

Declaration of Original Work:

This declaration much be completed and submitted with your assessment task. You should only
sign this if you fully understand what you have read. If you need help to understand what plagiarism
is, you can ask a teacher, parent or guardian.

Declaration:
 The work I have submitted is my own work and has not be submitted for any other
assessments for any other subjects or at any other schools.
 I have kept a copy of the assessment and all relevant notes and reference material.
 I have referenced all sources of information that are not my own, including words, ideas
and images of others.
 I have not plagiarised the work of others.

Student Name: …………………………………………………………………………

Student Signature: ………………………………………………………………..... Date: ………………………………...

Student’s Mark
Total/number % Rank

/30

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..………………….
Assessment Task 2 Receipt – Infectious Disease Research Task

Student Name: …………………………………….. Teacher Name: ………………………………………………

Due Date: 10th May 2018 Date Submitted: ………………………………….………..

Student Signature: ……………………………………………………..

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 TASK DETAILS

Background:

Dear CDC Member,

We have been advised by your supervisor that you would be the best member of our team to handle the
following request.

There has been an outbreak of an infectious disease in the community. The Centres for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) has stepped in and is trying to control the outbreak. As the head of communications
for the CDC we are tasking you with informing and educating the members of the community about this
infectious disease. We do not want to spread panic amongst the community so would like you to create a
flyer, brochure, poster or webpage to convey information about the infectious disease to the community.
A check list of the information you need to present to the community has been provided to you below.

We wish you all the best in developing your communication form. We eagerly await your fully developed
and finished form of communication for our review. Obviously, time is of the essence and we hope to have
your finished copy by Thursday 10th May 2018, so that we can begin mass production as soon as possible.

We also ask for your sensitivity with this matter and ask that you do not discuss your work with anyone
else, this includes community members and other CDC employees. If you have any further question please
direct them to your supervisor, but we are sure given your experience that you should have no problems
completing this request.

Kind Regards,
Director of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

In order to successfully complete the project required by the CDC you must complete all three sections set
out below. First select the infectious disease which has caused the outbreak in the community, second
develop a form of communication which includes all of the information asked for in Part 2 and lastly create
a bibliography page so that the CDC can see the resources you used to gather information for your form of
communication.

3
Part 1: Select one of the following infectious diseases as the cause of the outbreak in the community:

 Malaria
 Small pox
 Ebola
 Diphtheria
 Tuberculosis

Part 2: Create your form of communication, remembering to include all of the following information:

 Define what is an infectious disease.

 Analyse the history of infectious diseases and analyse the contribution of Pasture and Koch to the
understanding of infectious diseases.
 For your selected infectious disease evaluate:
 Cause (also identify the kind of pathogen that causes the infectious disease)
 Transmission
 Symptoms
 Diagnosis
 Host response; including immune response
 Treatment
 How can the spread of the infectious disease be controlled or managed? Is there a governing
body the infectious disease must be reported to?
 Prevention strategies
 Evaluate the role of antibiotics in the management of infectious diseases and problems relating to
antibiotic resistance.
 Pictures should be included in your form of communication.

Part 3: Include your bibliography on a separate page not as part of your information sheet. Your bibliography
page should include your name, be stapled to the rest of your assessment task and placed in a single plastic
sleeve.
 References list should be written in alphabetical order.
 No references need to appear in your form of communication (i.e. flyer, webpage etc.).
 You should reference at least 3 different sources of information e.g. website, textbook and article.

4
Document on the internet:
Author Year, Title of document, Name of sponsor of the source, viewed date, URL
 Smith, J & Black, G 2018, The history of infectious diseases, The Science Academy, viewed 12 April
2018, http://www.thehistoryofinfectiousdiseases.org.au/documents/report
 If there is no date for the document on the internet you should replace the year with ‘n.d.’

Article:
Author Year, ‘Title of article’, Name of Journal, vol. #, no. #, pp. #-#.
 Smith, J 2018, ‘The history of infectious diseases’, Journal of Infectious Diseases, vol. 10, no. 5, pp.
16-22.

Textbook:
Author Year, Name of book, Publisher, Place published.
 Smith, J & Black, G 2018, The history of infectious disease, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

5
 Scaffold: Not all students will require a scaffold, the following document will only be provided to students
who need more help.

There has been a malaria outbreak in the community and you are to create a form of communication to
provide information to the community about malaria. The task has been broken down into different sections
and all sections should appear in your chosen form of communication. Some links to useful information have
also been provided.

Part 1: The infectious disease malaria has been selected for you and further information about this infectious
disease is provided below.

Part 2: Below are some definitions that explain key terms from the part 2 questions

Term Explanation
Identify components and the relationship between them; draw out and
Analyse
relate implications
Evaluate Make judgement based on criteria; determine the value of
Define State meaning and identify essential qualities
Describe Provide characteristics and features
Cause That which brings about the disease
Transmission How is the disease passed to or between other people or hosts
Symptoms Any indication of the disease noticed by the patient
Diagnosis How is the disease present in the host confirmed medically
Host response How the host of the disease responds to the disease
Treatment How is the disease combated and managed
Control How is the disease limited
Prevention How can you keep the disease from happening

Where to go for information? Here are some sites and an article to get your started on your research.
History of infection disease:
 https://www.sciencehistory.org/historical-profile/louis-pasteur
 https://www.britannica.com/biography/Robert-Koch#ref700442

Malaria:
Websites
 https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/malaria
 http://www.who.int/malaria/en/
 http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/factsheets/Pages/malaria.aspx
 https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/malaria
Article
 https://ac-els-cdn-com.ezproxy.uws.edu.au/S0140673616307991/1-s2.0-S0140673616307991-
main.pdf?_tid=ed1f097f-d633-4b7a-a223-
65cd4d37fd53&acdnat=1525173254_3ac99d6e2786753c8c92bf002ee41985

Antibiotics:
 https://www.nps.org.au/medical-info/consumer-info/antibiotics-explained
 https://www.nps.org.au/medical-info/consumer-info/antibiotic-resistance-the-facts

6
Marking Criteria Student’s Name:
Outcome Criteria Basic Limited Sound Thorough Outstanding
Defines infectious  Does not define  Identifies infectious  Defines infectious
BIO 12-14 disease infectious disease disease disease in detail
Mark 0 Mark 1 Mark 2
Describes the  Identified little  Describes the history  Describes the history  Explains the history of  Analyses the history
BIO11/12-4 history of infectious relevant of disease of disease and disease and describes of disease and
diseases including information to the identifies the the contribution of analyses the
the contributions of history of disease contribution of either both Pasture and contribution of both
both Pasture and Pasture and Koch to Koch to the Pasture and Koch to
Koch the understanding of understanding of the understanding of
infectious disease infectious diseases infectious diseases
Marks 0 – 1 Mark 2 Mark 3 Mark 4 Mark 5
Analyse the cause,  Identifies little  Describes relevant  Explains relevant  Analyses relevant  Evaluates relevant
transmission, relevant information about the information about the information about the information about the
symptoms, information about chose disease chosen disease chosen disease chosen disease
diagnosis, host and the chosen disease  Includes 3-4 points  Includes 5-6 points  Includes up to 7  Includes all 8 points
immune response,  Includes 1-2 points  Cause  Cause points  Cause
control and  Cause  Transmission  Transmission  Cause  Transmission
prevention  Transmission  Symptoms  Symptoms  Transmission  Symptoms
strategies for the  Symptoms  Diagnosis  Diagnosis  Symptoms  Diagnosis
chose infectious  Diagnosis  Host response  Host response  Diagnosis  Host response
disease  Host response  Treatment  Treatment  Host response  Treatment
 Treatment  Control  Control  Treatment  Control
 Control  Prevention  Prevention  Control  Prevention
 Prevention  Prevention
Marks 1 – 2 Marks 3 – 4 Marks 5 – 6 Marks 7 – 9 Marks 10 – 12
Describes the role of  Does not define the  Identifies the role of  Describes of the role  Explains role of  Evaluates the role of
antibiotics in role of antibiotics in antibiotics in the of antibiotics in the antibiotics in the antibiotics in the
disease control and disease controls or control of infectious control of infectious control of infectious control of infectious
problems relating to problems relating diseases diseases diseases diseases
antibiotic resistance to antibiotic  Explains the problems  Evaluates the
resistance relating to antibiotics problems relating to
resistance antibiotic resistance
Mark 0 Mark 1 Mark 2 Mark 3 Mark 4

7
 Select and use  Inappropriate form  Work lacks structure  Presents a well-  Presents a well-  Presents a well-
BIO11/12-7 suitable forms of of communication or creativity structured or creative structured and structured and
digital, visual, used  Frequent typographic form of creative form of creative form of
written and/or oral  Frequent or spelling errors communication for communication for communication with
forms of typographic and chosen infectious the chosen infectious flair, which targets
communication spelling errors disease disease the chosen infectious
 Grammatically correct  Grammatically correct disease
Presents work structure with some structure with few  Grammatically correct
professional, typographic or typographic or structure with very
creatively and with spelling errors spelling errors few typographic or
clear academic spelling errors
writing Mark 0 Mark 1 Mark 2 Mark 3 Mark 4
Select and extract  Referencing list is  Referencing list is  Reference list is  Reference list
BIO11/12-3 information from a not included included on separate included on separate included on separate
wide range of piece of paper piece of paper piece of paper
reliable secondary  Some elements of  Most elements of  All elements of
sources and referencing style are referencing style are referencing style are
acknowledge them present present present (
using an accepted  Less than 3 sources  At least 3 sources  At least 3 different
referencing style used used sources used
Mark 0 Mark 1 Mark 2 Mark 3

Feedback:
You have

You should now

8
Discussion

The NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) (2017a) defines assessment as “the process

of gathering valid and useful information and making judgements about student achievement

for a variety of purposes” (p. 4). Teacher’s effective use of assessment and feedback have been

identified as important components in the teaching and learning cycle. Teachers use the

guidelines set forth by NESA and the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST)

to design authentic tasks which allow students to demonstrate their knowledge, understanding

and skills linked to syllabus outcomes. Assessment has many positive attributes including

evaluation of student learning and also allows teachers to collect data and reflect on their own

effectiveness in teaching syllabus outcomes. The appropriate design and accommodation for

all student’s learning needs helps to create a rich learning environment and not only allows for

evaluation of student achievement but teacher practices as well.

Different forms of assessment, such as formal examinations or informal questioning in class,

are used by teachers to gather evidence on student achievement (Havnes, Smith, Dysthe &

Ludvigsen, 2012). In regard to the assessment of Stage 6 students, schools are required to

develop assessment programs for each course in Stage 6, which meet the assessment guidelines

set forth by NESA (NESA, 2017a). Assessment is said to be most effective when students

understand the assessment criteria. The criteria given to students should be explicit so that they

know exactly what is expected of them in assessment tasks. In the case of the Module 7 research

task, students are presented with an assessment sheet which outlines a series of questions that

need to be addressed and also how they must present the information they collect. The marking

criteria also outlines where marks will be allocated and to what degree the assessment should

be completed to receive which mark. These points are important in enabling students to succeed

9
and appropriately demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and skills to meet selected

syllabus outcomes.

The purpose of assessment is to inform teachers of student progress and understanding of the

content and outcomes. Assessment allows for teachers to quantify student achievement and in

the case of the HSC this mark then contributes to a student’s overall rank and is vital in the

accommodation of their final HSC grade. Teachers also use assessment to inform and reflect

on their own teaching and learning strategies. Data from the HSC is collected and made

available to teachers and schools through the use of the Result Analysis Package (RAP) and

the School Measurement, Assessment and Reporting Toolkit (SMART). RAP data allows for

teachers to compare their school’s performance against the state in regard to each HSC

questions, course mark or bands achieved (NESA, 2018). SMART data allows teachers to

analyse results by splitting the data by class and creating scatter plots where you can identify

the success of particular students (NSW Department of Education, 2017). This is useful in

comparing the achievement of different class’ and how teacher’s teaching and learning

strategies influenced student knowledge, understanding and skills. Both data tools are designed

to support the analysis of Stage 5 results by teachers and schools and are important in being

able to address which parts of the syllabus students understood and which parts need working

on. Teachers are able to reflect on how they taught particular parts of the content and outline

methods that were good and not so good in the achievement of that cohort.

Not all students have the same access to education as one another, as a teacher it is important

to differentiate your pedagogy to meet the diverse needs of students. It is important for teachers

to understand the educational needs of their students so they can make adjustments to the

classwork and to assessments which will allow for all students to demonstrate what they know

10
and can do in relation to the syllabus outcomes and content (NESA, 2017b). In the Module 7

research task there is a scaffolding sheet that can be provided to students who require extra

assistance in completing this task. This scaffold allows all students an entry point into the

assessment task. It is also important to give students choice as it allows them to work towards

their strengths. In the Module 7 research task students are given a choice in the way they present

information and are also able to choose the infectious disease they wish to research if they do

not require scaffolding in which case they are presented with an infectious disease. All students

should be given equal opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and skills of

the content this can only be successfully implemented if assessment tasks are differentiated to

meet students’ needs.

Feedback is an important component of assessment and has a strong influence on student

learning and is regarded as important to improving knowledge and skills (Hattie, 2009;

Moreno, 2004). Feedback as well as having an influence on achievement, is a significant factor

in motivating learning (Havnes et al., 2012; Shute, 2008). The length and complexity of

feedback strongly impacts its effectiveness, if feedback is too complicated or long learners may

not pay attention to it (Shute, 2008). In the Module 7 research task feedback is provided to

students explaining what student have completed correctly and what students should do next

in order to improve. This combines two forms of feedback; formative and goal-directed. Goal-

directed feedback provides students with information about their progression and keeps them

motivated that their achievement goals can be met (Shute, 2008). Feedback can also be used as

scaffolding for further study, it shows areas where students are excelling and areas where more

work is required to meet the appropriate outcomes. Feedback is important for all learners and

particularly in the HSC where students are preforming under high stress conditions and need

to know where they should improve before their final examination. Often students focus solely

11
on their mark in an assessment task but this gives little information about areas for

improvement. If students aren’t aware of the knowledge, understanding and skills they are

lacking then there is no way for them to improve or put more focus into these areas. One way

to get students to pay attention to their feedback would be to provide feedback to students a

day or two before giving students their mark. This will allow them time to reflect on their

learning and identify a course of action in order to achieve in all outcomes. Providing valuable

feedback to students to assist in their progression through their schooling and particular in

Stage 6 is an important skill for teacher to develop and master.

The Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST), govern teachers in Australia and

set forth the ideals contributing to raising the status of the profession (Australian Institute for

Teaching and School Leadership [AITSL], 2011). The APST consist of seven standards which

outline what is expected of quality teachers as they progress through the stages of expertise.

Standard 5 outlines the expectations of teachers in assessing, providing feedback and reporting

on student learning (AITSL, 2011). This standard state that teachers should demonstrate

different strategies for assessing students, provide feedback which is appropriate, timely and

effective to student learning, make comparable judgements, be able to interpret student data

and report on student achievement (AITSL, 2011). These are all vital components in student

achievement and assist in a student’s continued leaning. The Module 7 research task addresses

all five of these focus areas. Students’ learning is assessed based on specific outcomes

explicitly outlined in the assessment task and there is space for the teacher to provide feedback

to students based on what they have done well and what they should do next to improve their

learning. The marking criteria allows for teacher to make consistent and comparable

judgements on student learning and achievement based on the selected outcomes. There is also

scope within this assessment for teachers to interpret student data and evaluate the learning

12
process to reflect on and modify their own teaching strategies. If most students answered a

particular component of the assessment task well and struggled to answer other parts a teacher

could reflect on how they taught the different outcomes and how this could have influenced or

be changed to improve student learning. As this assessment contributed to the overall HSC

mark it is also important for teachers to correctly record and report these marks.

In conclusions, assessment and feedback are both important factors in the learning cycle.

Effective teachers use NESA guidelines and the APST to create authentic assessment tasks that

allow for differentiation to meet the learning needs of students. In school assessments in the

HSC go towards a student’s final overall HSC mark, it is important for teachers to reflect this

in their design and create meaningful tasks that meet the syllabus outcomes. Assessment tasks

are useful tools in evaluating student achievement and also allow teacher to reflect on their

own teaching practices. Feedback on assessments is need to give students direction on what

they are doing well and what they can further improve on. These concepts have been reflected

in the development of the Module 7 research task.

13
Reference

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership. (2011). Australian Professional

Standards for Teachers. Retrieved from https://www.aitsl.edu.au/teach/standards

Hattie, J. A. (2009). Visible learning. A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses related to

achievement. New York: Routledge.

Havnes, A., Smith, K., Dysthe, O., & Ludvigsen, K. (2012). Formative assessment and

feedback: Making learning visible. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 38(1), 21-27.

doi: 10.1016/j.stueduc.2012.04.001

Moreno, R. (2004). Decreasing cognitive load for novice students: Effects of explanatory

versus corrective feedback in discovery-based multimedia. Instructional Science,

32(1), 99-113. doi:10.1023/B:TRUC.0000021811.66966.1d

NSW Department of Education and Training. (2012). Every student, every school. NSW

Government. Retrieved from https://www.det.nsw.edu.au/media/downloads/about-

us/how-we-operate/national-partnerships-program/every-student-every-

school/learning-and-support.pdf

NSW Department of Education and Training. (2017). Smart data. Retrieved from

https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/student-assessment/assessment-

and-reporting/smart-data

NSW Education Standards Authority. (2017a). Principles of assessment for stage 6. Retrieved

from http://syllabus.nesa.nsw.edu.au/assets/global/files/years-11-12-assessment-

advice.pdf

NSW Education Standards Authority. (2017b). Assessment and reporting in biology stage 6.

Retrieved from https://syllabus.nesa.nsw.edu.au/assets/global/files/assessment-and-

reporting-in-biology-stage-6.pdf

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NSW Education Standards Authority. (2018). Results Analysis Package – HSC. Retrieved

from http://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/11-12/hsc/results-

certificates/results-services-schools/results-analysis-package-hsc

Shute, V. J. (2008). Focus on formative feedback. Review of Educational Research, 78(1),

153-189. doi: 10.3102/0034654307313795

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