Blog 9: The value of mapping skills and outcomes in terms of assessment.

What are outcomes and skills?

Each core module in the Stage 6 syllabus includes content through which the outcomes can be achieved. The outcomes are the intended results of teaching. They include the Prescribed Focus Areas and Domain: knowledge and understanding, skills, values.

Skills in stage 6 syllabus involve further development of the skills students have developed in Stages 4 and 5 and focus on continually increasing students’ expertise in:

•             planning investigations

•             conducting investigations

•             communicating information and understanding

•             developing scientific thinking and problem-solving techniques

•             working individually and in teams.

The HSC skills content module 9.1 further develops the content in the Preliminary course skills module 8.1.

What are assessments?

The purpose of an assessment is to gather and interpret information about the progress of students’ learning. The marks from these assessments are then compared to predetermined standards of performance, which are the bands in the stage 6 syllabus. Therefore, marks have meaning. To make these marks more meaningful, it is essential to supplement assessment marks with feedback.

In order to gather information and form an image that captures what students know and can do, it is necessary to have a range of assessment tasks. Students have different strengths; therefore, having a range of assessments will allow different strengths to be assessed. Assessments can be a research-based task, a practical activity, multiple choice, short answers, blogs etc.

How are outcomes and assessments linked?

Assessment tasks need to be linked to outcomes and skills to ensure that students have understood what is being tested for. An important prerequisite to assessment tasks are to

1)      know what is really meant by the outcome and what the achievement of the outcome looks like.

2)      map the skills to the dot point dot points to know how many times students will be able to practice a skill after it is modelled and deconstructed.

How is this done?

An effective assessment task begins with mapping the skills and outcomes before even planning to teach any module, i.e. at the start of the academic year. The first step is to match the column 2 dot points with the column 3 skills for each module followed by filling in the skills mapping grid. A format of the skills mapping grid has been provided in the Board of studies website. To help with the number, types, dates and percentage of assessment tasks, a scope and sequence must be drawn up prior to the academic year.  

Once mapped, each module must be taught keeping in mind the assessment task at the end of the topic or term for that matter.

What is the value of mapping skills and outcomes in terms of assessment?

Assessments should focus on learning outcomes that are of greatest value to students so that teaching and learning address these outcomes. There exists an interactive relationship between teaching, learning and assessments; therefore, mapping skills and outcomes of the syllabus is important to retain this relationship and facilitate the continuum of learning. To do this, assessment must be embedded within the teaching and learning process.  Hence, a teacher needs to teach bearing in mind the outcomes and the assessment tasks linked to these outcomes, develop valid assessment tasks, apply judgements thoughtfully and consistently, and give and gather meaningful feedback to both students and teachers from the assessment.

Module 9.7 Option — Genetics: The Code Broken?

The module 9.7 has the following outcomes:

H1, H4, H5, H9, H11, H12, H13, H14, and could also involve H16

The module 9.7 has the following skills:

11.3a, 12.1a, 12.4e, 14.2a, 12.4f, 12.4b, 12.1b, 12.4e, 12.4e, 14.1g, 12.4f, 14.1h, 13.1b, 14.1g, 14.3d, 11.1a, 11.3c, 12.3c, 12.4c, 14.1c, 11.1a, 12.3d, 12.4e, 14.1b, 14.3b

This module has several abstract concepts and requires a higher-level of cognitive processing. As seen from the mapping, it also has a repetition of the skills, ‘process information from secondary sources and analyse information from secondary sources’. Hence, I would use the scope and sequence and the skills mapping grid to plan my academic year in such a way the skills that involve analysis of information from secondary sources have been modelled, deconstructed and practiced before I teach this module to plan an effective assessment task.  It would also allow me to know exactly what skills I have taught and to what extent (modelled, deconstructed and practiced), and for which skill the student needs to improve upon.

References:

Board of Studies. (2009). Science Stage 6 Revised support document. NSW: Board of studies. Retrieved from http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_hsc/biology.html

Board of Studies. (2009). Biology Stage 6 Syllabus. NSW: Board of studies. Retrieved  from  http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_hsc/pdf_doc/biology-st6-syl-from2010.pdf

Dawson, V., Venville, G. (2004). The art of teaching science. Crows Nest, Australia: Allen and Unwin.