2H

2018

REPORT

ROUBA BARDOUH
18006201

CONTEMPORARY TEACHER LEADERSHIP | 102098

Table of Contents

Executive Summary (300 words) ...........................................................................................................................

Context & Objective ........................................................................................................................................ 1
Goals ................................................................................................................................................................ 1
Recommendations........................................................................................................................................... 1
Background Information (200 words) ................................................................................................................. 2
Comparative Table .............................................................................................................................................. 3
Recommendations............................................................................................................................................... 5
Reconstructed unit .............................................................................................................................................. 8
Scope and sequence ........................................................................................................................................ 8
Concept map ................................................................................................................................................... 9
Redesigned unit outline................................................................................................................................. 10
References ......................................................................................................................................................... 17
Appendix ............................................................................................................................................................ 18
a) Assessment Task .................................................................................................................................... 18
b) Marking criteria ..................................................................................................................................... 24
Executive Summary (300 words)

Context & Objective

This report will provide where necessary, recommendations for the improvement of a unit outline,
assessment task and scope and sequence, designed by the Human Society and its Environment (HSIE) faculty
at Cabramatta High School, for the Place and Liveability topic in Stage 4 Geography. The unit was originally
taught in a 7th grade Geography class. Despite the high level of students from an LBOTE, the students in the
class were of high ability and identified as ‘Gifted and Talented’.

Considering a new Geography syllabus was designed and introduced in 2017, the HSIE faculty were quick to
create a comprehensive program to assist lesson planning and preparation for upcoming assessment tasks.
The program does however, lack aspects crucial for student engagement and achievement of required
outcomes due mainly to resource limitation and lack of student direction. During my Professional Placement
at the school, students completed an in class summative assessment which will also be reviewed throughout
this report. Recommendations for change will be backed by recent evidence-based literature.

Goals
The provided recommendations aim to better achieve cross-curricular priorities required by the Australian
Curriculum and to maintain student interest and motivation in doing so.

Recommendations
- Increase application of numeracy through further focus on skills and data
- Promote critical and creative thinking through integration of stimulating activities (eg. groupwork,
hand-on activities)
- Promote connectedness between class tasks and real life
- Apply UbD framework throughout unit outline
Background Information (200 words)
Cabramatta High School is a comprehensive co-educational high school located in the Western Sydney
suburb of Cabramatta. In 2017, the school accommodated upwards of 1,500 full-time students in its
mainstream classrooms, in-house Intensive English Centre (IEC) and disability support unit. The schools
population is highly diverse with 96% of students being from a language background other than English
(LBOTE) and 1% of students identifying as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. The distribution of male to
female students is relatively even with males outnumbering females by just 4%. A large majority (65%) of the
school’s student population fall into the bottom quarter of the Index of Community Socio-Educational
Advantage (ICSEA), while only 3% fall into the top quarter.

Source: ACARA (2018). School Profile. Retrieved from https://www.myschool.edu.au/school/41563

Comparative Table

Area of Strengths of the area of Concerns of the area of Suggested Changes to Research support for the
consideration consideration consideration counteract concerns changes suggested.

- heavy focus on
metalanguage
- integration of ICT
Literacy
- Assessment Task: extended
response, scaffolded
(including PEEL method)

Steen (cited in Hillyard, 2012)

- activity: examination of - increase numeracy states that numeracy integration
- lack of numeracy
statistics application through “will enhance students’
Numeracy application throughout
- Assessment Task: required integration of skills understanding of all subjects and
lesson activities
calculations (graphing) activities their capacity to lead informed
lives”.
 Gregory, Hardiman,
- Increased activities Yarmolinskaya, Rinne & Limb
Critical and - Assessment Task: extended - “critical and creative
promoting creative thinking (2013) determine the benefits of
Creative response employs Blooms thinking” promoted by
(eg. hands-on activities, collaboration in promoting
Thinking Taxonomy activities is very superficial
group work etc.) critical and creative thinking
through problem-based learning.

SEL learning promoting self-

awareness, self-management,
social awareness, relationship
Personal and - great opportunity for - no explicit reference to or - explicitly link topic and
skills, and responsible decision
Social promotion throughout the promotion of throughout activities to real-life
making through community
Capabilities topic and activities unit of work (connectedness)
interaction (Durlak, Weissberg,
Dymnicki, Taylor and Schellinger,
2011; CASEL, 2014)

- Assessment Task: extended

response is scaffolded and
Understanding requires that students apply
by Design several of the assessment
facets outlined by the UbD
framework
Florian and Zimmerman (2015)
- Little consideration for skills
- Further in-class activities to conclude that in conjunction with
aspect of assessment task
prepare students for skills Moodle and blended learning,
throughout unit outline
activities and outcomes UbD allows for students to
activities
achieve required outcomes.
Recommendations

The HSIE faculty of Cabramatta High School was successful in creating and providing extensive resources
including a new and polished unit outline, scope and sequence, assessment task and marking criteria.
However, some of the resources undoubtedly have limitations including limited focus on particular cross-
curricular priorities (eg. numeracy and personal and social capabilities) and lack of consideration for
differentiation to meet the diverse abilities of students. The following recommendations are proposed and
backed using McTighe and Wiggins’ (2012) Understanding by Design (UbD) framework. The framework
recommends that unit programs and learning activities are designed with the final learning outcomes and/or
assessment tasks in mind.

1. Increase application of numeracy through further focus on skills and data

Towards the end of my teaching period, students completed a scheduled skills and topic test as outlined in
the initial scope and sequence (see page 8). The initial unit outline payed little attention to numeracy despite
the significant potential for the area to be explored throughout the unit of work. ACARA (n.d) state that
when provided the opportunity to apply mathematical knowledge and skills outside the mathematics
classroom, students are able to recognise the interconnectedness of mathematical knowledge with other
learning areas as well as apply this in every-day life.

In his publication Mathematics and Democracy, Steen (cited in Hillyard, 2012) states “like writing, numeracy
must permeate the curriculum. When it does, also like writing, it will enhance students’ understanding of all
subjects and their capacity to lead informed lives” (p. 11). This can be achieved through the further
implementation of numeracy in learning activities like skills and data interpretation and application. Often
times, data offered by such activities is relevant to the everyday lives of students (eg, climate graphs and
data) and can therefore contribute and/or be of benefit to their knowledge and understanding.

2. Promote critical and creative thinking through integration of stimulating activities (eg. groupwork,
hand-on activities)

The topic at hand provides plenty of opportunity for students to exercise critical and creative thinking
through a variety of teaching, learning and assessment activities. The unit of work however, only addresses
this area in the form of an extended response in the assessment task. The UbD framework is completely
disregarded in this, as the unit outline provides little opportunity for students to exercise critical thinking
prior to the assessment task, hindering their achievement as evident by the assessment results. In order to
combat this, students require in-class activities which utilise critical and creative thinking. Numerous
studies, as stated by Gregory, Hardiman, Yarmolinskaya, Rinne & Limb (2013) have considered the effect of
collaboration on creative problem solving. Brophy (cited in Gregory et al., 2013) concludes that collaboration
is effective in solving complex problems while promoting and sharing creative thinking amongst peers.
Collaborative activities for problem-based learning, which also provide opportunity for use of Bloom’s
Taxonomy, are therefore recommended, preparing students for tasks such as that presented in the final
topic assessment. An example of this is a collaborative task which requires students to critically consider the
impact of different infrastructure and services (eg. public transport, childcare services, etc) on the lives of
different people in society (eg. the aged, employed parents, people with a disability, etc). Students will be
required to creatively present their findings in the form of a presentation, or role play. This employs creative
and critical thinking while also encouraging positive communication. While the unit outline does include a
creative task requiring students to create a diorama of their ideal liveable city, it is classified as an ‘extension
activity’ and not provided much consideration in the scope and sequence, limiting the potential for the
activity to actually be provided or completed.

3. Promote connectedness between class tasks and real life

The ‘connectedness’ element of the NSW Quality Teaching framework states that “lesson activities rely on
the application of school knowledge in real-life contexts or problems” (Professional Support and Curriculum
Directorate, 2003). The ‘Place and Liveability’ unit provides wide scope for the promotion of connectedness
by arming students with knowledge and information to allow for mature decision making and to be active
citizens in the maintenance and improvement of their surrounding community and environment. For this to
be made possible, it is necessary to encourage social-emotional learning (SEL) in the classroom. Durlak,
Weissberg, Dymnicki, Taylor and Schellinger (2011) identify the goal of SEL programs as fostering the
development of several competencies across cognitive, affective and behavioural domains – these are “self-
awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making” (p. 406)
as outlined by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) (2014). The topic at
hand, provides opportunity for community engagement and/or partnerships with community organisations.
CASEL (2014) acknowledges the benefit of teacher and student interaction with parents and community
members on SEL. It is therefore recommended that an activity be designed where students are able or
required to interact with the wider community in a way which allows them to gain information about
different people and places in the world with relevance to the topic requirements. This can be achieved in
the form of an incursion where various members of the community from varying backgrounds (cultural,
socio-economic status, geographic location, etc) are invited to the school and present a workshop type
demonstration where students visit and gain information from the different members. This will provide
primary experience and information to students while promoting communication skills and recognising
personal and social-awareness. CASEL (2014) also states that everyday instruction by teachers promoting
effective SEL, fosters positive working relationships, increases student engagement and models constructive
behaviours.

4. Apply UbD framework throughout unit outline

The key ideas behind McTighe and Wiggins’ (2012) Understanding by Design framework are ‘focus on
teaching and assessing for understanding and learning transfer’ and ‘design curriculum “backward” from
those ends’. The framework identifies three stages:

Stage 1 – identify desired results,

Stage 2 – determine assessment evidence, and
Stage 3 – plan learning experiences and instruction (McTighe & Wiggins, 2012)
The three of these stages ensure that relevant activities and learning experiences are planned and designed
in order to allow students to achieve desired results and outcomes as set by the curriculum and in final
assessment. Research by Florian and Zimmerman (2015) concluded that backward planning using UbD, in
conjunction with the use of Moodle and blended learning, seemed to achieve the goals that were set for
students prior to the designing of learning tasks and activities. In order for this to be the case for students at
Cabramatta High School, it is recommended that final outcomes be considered prior to the design of a unit
outline and explicitly include practise of the skills being assessed in the final assessment task. The initial
scope and sequence acknowledges that a skills-focused examination will take place. This should therefore be
reflected throughout the unit outline.

The designed unit of work for the 7th grade Geography topic of Place and Liveability, placed heavy focus on
literacy but lacked focus on numeracy, personal and social capabilities and UbD. The discussed
recommendations work towards the improvement of the unit of work to include the skills and concepts,
assisting with the achievement of outcomes and skills for students of all abilities. The main documents of
concern included the unit outline and scope and sequence – the reconstructed version of these can be found
below. A concept map has also been designed to allow a visualisation of the topic content and flow.
Reconstructed unit
Scope and sequence

Term Topic Weeks Content Assessment Task Date Weight

1-2 Landscapes and Landforms
Landscapes Assessment revision and help Assessment 1: Skills & Topic
and Landforms 3-4 W6 20%
Value of Landscapes and Landforms Examination
1 5-6 Changing Landscapes
(GE4-1, GE4-2,
GE4-4, GE4-5, Landscape Management and
7-8
GE4-7, GE4-8) Protection
9-11 Class Mark W9 15%
Assessment revision and help
Geomorphic Hazard Assessment 2: Geomorphic Hazards &
W1 30%
1-2 Disasters Research/Presentation
Place and Influences and Perceptions
Liveability
3-4 Access to Services and Facilities
2
(GE4-1, GE4-3, Assessment revision and help Assessment 3: Skills & Topic
5-6 W6 30%
GE4-4, GE4-6, Environmental Quality Examination
GE4-7, GE4-8) 7 Community

8-9 Enhancing Liveability Book Mark Ongoing 5%

Concept map
Redesigned unit outline
Redesigned unit outline (cont.)
Redesigned unit outline (cont.)

KEY
ORIGINAL OUTLINE

REMOVAL OF ORIGINAL POINTS

 LITERACY

 NUMERACY

 PERSONAL AND SOCIAL

CAPABILITIES
What effect does access to services have on people’s wellbeing?
After completing the think pair, share
( ) Brainstorm activity: What makes a place liveable? – Think, Pair and Share activity using their activity, students research another area  CRITICAL AND CREATIVE
local area as a guide. Key factors include: and make a comparison stating which one
they prefer and why.
THINKING
 Health  Transport/infrastructure
 Education  Environmental influences (e.g. () Bureau of Statistics website  UBD
 Housing climate)
 Recreational facilities/parks  Weather and air quality ( ) Climate graph worksheets
 Employment opportunities

Teacher to guide students to complete a mind map (worksheet) based on the think, pair and share
activity above.

( ) Skills activity: Students complete climate graph and related questions

() Vocabulary matching activity

 Wellbeing  Recreation  Community

 Accessibility  urban  Perception
 Facilities  Rural  Quality of life
 Services  Remote  Human Rights
Redesigned unit outline (cont.)

KEY
ORIGINAL OUTLINE

REMOVAL OF ORIGINAL POINTS

 LITERACY

 NUMERACY

 PERSONAL AND SOCIAL

() Visual representation and images to show the differences between the three types of places
(urban, remote and rural)
CAPABILITIES
DVD Country Town Rescue

Complete matching activities – image with correct type of place. Local Council websites  CRITICAL AND CREATIVE
Student to observe and interpret different types of population density maps to classify what is
considered an urban, rural or remote area. Population density maps: THINKING
http://www.aph.gov.au/binaries/library/p


() Comprehension Task: Different levels of access to services depending on where people live: ubs/rp/1999-2000/2000rp09-06.gif
Urban, Rural and Remote Areas. Read pages of GeoWorld 7 pages: 266-267 and complete the UBD
activities GeoWorld 7 pages 266-267, Macmillan

( ) Skills activity: Students complete population graph and related questions Oxford BigIdea: AC pages 156-157

() Case Study: The world’s best infrastructure: Singapore ( ) Population graph worksheets
Visual literacy highlighting the different levels of access to health between the three different types of
settlement. Royal Flying Doctors
Urban – Westmead Children’s Hospital https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEHx
Rural – Growing regional towns e.g. Bendigo mZHeQWY
Remote communities – Royal Flying Doctor’s Service
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BJL
() Incursion: Members of community (from different backgrounds – eg. cultural, SES, disability etc) OqD4Amg
invited to share their experiences of ‘liveability’ – workshop type event where students move around
and engage with the members
Redesigned unit outline (cont.)

KEY
ORIGINAL OUTLINE

REMOVAL OF ORIGINAL POINTS

 LITERACY

 NUMERACY

 PERSONAL AND SOCIAL

() Examine health statistics showing life expectancy between Indigenous Australians and other Film analysis: Red Dog CAPABILITIES
Australians.
ICT Task:
Compare the needs of people in urban and remote locations. Google Maps App  CRITICAL AND CREATIVE
Google Maps Page
ICT Task: Use Google maps to highlight the different services that are available in the place. E.g. how THINKING
long it takes to travel by train from this place to the closest CBD? Human Development Index: Countries
Students are to use this information to complete their own ranking on the liveability of that particular
place. Access to services and facilities are compared to other places.
http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries
 UBD

Students are to compare Australia with Rwanda or other developing nations and complete worksheet
looking at the education, housing, health, employment and human security Comparison
Mumbai City
() Research Task (Assessment) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTSti
Differentiation activity to further extend students – conduct further research to rank the liveability of Mw5tLk
a city, remote and urban area based on a given criteria. Students to also explain the advantages and
disadvantages of living in these different places. Students to present back to the class. Rio City
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fcD
Case Study: Use text to examine the impact limited access to facilities and services has upon the F3PESXI (50:24 min)
wellbeing and liveability in developing countries e.g. Rwanda, Mali etc
Redesigned unit outline (cont.)

KEY
ORIGINAL OUTLINE

REMOVAL OF ORIGINAL POINTS

 LITERACY

 NUMERACY

 PERSONAL AND SOCIAL

() Extension activity: Diorama: Students are to design their idea of a liveable city. Oxford Big Ideas page 160-161
CAPABILITIES
( ) Group activity: Students work in groups to prepare and present a pitch for a government fund - Australian Bureau of Statistics: Access to
students are provided with a scenario and must address the benefits of allocated factors (left) on Health Services  CRITICAL AND CREATIVE
wellbeing of different groups in society http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.
nsf/lookup/4704.0Chapter955Oct+2010 THINKING


Examples of Dioramas:
http://i.ytimg.com/vi/9nlRlfvf8Hc/maxres UBD
default.jpg

( ) Group activity: instruction sheets

and scenarios
References

ACARA. n.d. “Numeracy: Introduction”. In “v8.3 F-10 Curriculum”. Retrieved from

http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/generalcapabilities/numeracy/introduction/intro duction

Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). (2014). What is social and emotional
learning? Retrieved September 8, 2014, from http://www.casel.org/social-and-emotional-learning

Durlak, J.A., Weissberg, R.P., Dymnicki, A.B., Taylor, R.D., & Schellinger, K.B. (2011). The impact of enhancing
students’ social and emotional learning: A meta-analysis of school-based universal interventions. Child
Development, 82, 405–432. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01564.x

Florian, T. P., & MA, J. P. Z. (2015). Understanding by design, moodle, and blended learning: A secondary
school case study. Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 11(1), 120-n/a. Retrieved from
https://search-proquest-

Gregory, E., Hardiman, M., Yarmolinskaya, J., Rinne, L., & Limb, C. (2013). Building creative thinking in the
classroom: From research to practice. International Journal Of Educational Research, 62, 43-50. doi:
10.1016/j.ijer.2013.06.003

Hillyard, C, (2012). Comparative Study of the Numeracy Education and Writing Across the Curriculum
Movements: Ideas for Future Growth. Numeracy, 5(2). doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.5038/1936-4660.5.2.2

PSCD (2003), Quality Teaching in NSW Public Schools. Retrieved from http://www.darcymoore.net/wp-
content/uploads/2012/02/qt_EPSColor.pdf
Appendix

a) Assessment Task
b) Marking criteria