CQUniversity Unit Profile
EDSE20015 Assessment in Secondary Schools Informed by Educational Neuroscience
Assessment in Secondary Schools Informed by Educational Neuroscience
All details in this unit profile for EDSE20015 have been officially approved by CQUniversity and represent a learning partnership between the University and you (our student).
The information will not be changed unless absolutely necessary and any change will be clearly indicated by an approved correction included in the profile.
General Information

Overview

This unit enhances your capacity to make informed judgments and decisions about the quality of assessments, provide feedback and report student achievements. Additionally, this unit supports your development of professional skills to interpret student assessment data and use that to modify teaching practice to improve student learning. The unit also draws upon relevant literature, including educational neuroscience, theory, policy and good practice to enhance quality assessment and reporting knowledge and skills.

Details

Career Level: Postgraduate
Unit Level: Level 9
Credit Points: 6
Student Contribution Band: 7
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load: 0.125

Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

There are no requisites for this unit.

Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Offerings For Term 3 - 2023

Online

Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes – in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Class and Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Postgraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.

Class Timetable

Bundaberg, Cairns, Emerald, Gladstone, Mackay, Rockhampton, Townsville
Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney

Assessment Overview

1. Project (applied)
Weighting: 40%
2. Project (applied)
Weighting: 40%
3. Online Quiz(zes)
Weighting: 20%

Assessment Grading

This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University’s Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.

Previous Student Feedback

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Feedback from Student feedback

Feedback

Reduce the number of readings

Recommendation

Continue to further refine resources

Unit Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
  1. Comprehend how to develop, select and use assessment strategies to assess student learning informed by neuroscience.
  2. Synthesise high-quality assessment principles, student feedback, reporting and moderation processes to support consistent and comparable judgements of student learning informed by neuroscience.
  3. Elaborate on how to use student assessment data to identify student interventions and modify teaching practice.

Successful completion of this unit provides opportunities for students to demonstrate the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers focus areas of:

1.2 Understand how students learn

3.1 Establish challenging learning goals

3.5 Use effective classroom communication

4.1 Support student participation

5.1 Assess student learning

5.2 Provide feedback to students on their learning

5.3 Make consistent and comparable judgements

5.4 Interpret student data

5.5 Report on student achievement

Alignment of Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Graduate Attributes
N/A Level
Introductory Level
Intermediate Level
Graduate Level
Professional Level
Advanced Level

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes

Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3
1 - Project (applied) - 50%
2 - Project (applied) - 35%
3 - Online Quiz(zes) - 15%

Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes

Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3
1 - Knowledge
2 - Communication
3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills
4 - Research
5 - Self-management
6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility
7 - Leadership
8 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures
Textbooks and Resources

Textbooks

There are no required textbooks.

IT Resources

You will need access to the following IT resources:
  • CQUniversity Student Email
  • Internet
  • Unit Website (Moodle)
Referencing Style

All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: American Psychological Association 7th Edition (APA 7th edition)

For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.

Teaching Contacts
Mel Moor Unit Coordinator
m.a.moor@cqu.edu.au
Ken Purnell Unit Coordinator
k.purnell@cqu.edu.au
Schedule
Week 1 Begin Date: 06 Nov 2023

Module/Topic

Module 1 - Brain science and assessing student learning

Chapter

Our Unit textbook by McTighe & Willis (2019), Upgrade Your Teaching: Understanding by Design meets Neuroscience.

Pages are available here.

Introduction & Chapter 1

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 2 Begin Date: 13 Nov 2023

Module/Topic

Module 1 - Brain science and assessing student learning

Chapter

McTighe & Willis (2019), Upgrade Your Teaching: Understanding by Design meets Neuroscience.

Pages are available here.

Chapter 2

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 3 Begin Date: 20 Nov 2023

Module/Topic

Module 1 - Brain science and assessing student learning

Chapter

McTighe & Willis (2019), Upgrade Your Teaching: Understanding by Design meets Neuroscience.

Pages are available here.

Chapter 3

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 4 Begin Date: 27 Nov 2023

Module/Topic

Module 1 - Brain science and assessing student learning

Chapter

McTighe & Willis (2019), Upgrade Your Teaching: Understanding by Design meets Neuroscience.

Pages are available here.

Chapter 2

Events and Submissions/Topic

Vacation Week Begin Date: 04 Dec 2023

Module/Topic

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 5 Begin Date: 11 Dec 2023

Module/Topic

Module 1 - Brain science and assessing student learning

Chapter

McTighe & Willis (2019), Upgrade Your Teaching: Understanding by Design meets Neuroscience.

Pages are available here.

Chapter 5

Events and Submissions/Topic

AT1 - Student learning and strategies to assess it consistently and comparably Due: Week 5 Monday (11 Dec 2023) 11:45 pm AEST
Week 6 Begin Date: 18 Dec 2023

Module/Topic

Module 2 - The social brain, student data, feedback & reporting

Chapter

McTighe & Willis (2019), Upgrade Your Teaching: Understanding by Design meets Neuroscience.

Pages are available here.

Chapter 6

Events and Submissions/Topic

Vacation Week Begin Date: 25 Dec 2023

Module/Topic

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 7 Begin Date: 01 Jan 2024

Module/Topic

Module 2 - The social brain, student data, feedback & reporting

Chapter

McTighe & Willis (2019), Upgrade Your Teaching: Understanding by Design meets Neuroscience.

Pages are available here.

All chapters

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 8 Begin Date: 08 Jan 2024

Module/Topic

Module 2 - The social brain, student data, feedback & reporting

Chapter

McTighe & Willis (2019), Upgrade Your Teaching: Understanding by Design meets Neuroscience.

Pages are available here.

All chapters

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 9 Begin Date: 15 Jan 2024

Module/Topic

Module 2 - The social brain, student data, feedback & reporting

Chapter

McTighe & Willis (2019), Upgrade Your Teaching: Understanding by Design meets Neuroscience.

Pages are available here.

All chapters

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 10 Begin Date: 22 Jan 2024

Module/Topic

Completion of responses to AT2 and AT3.

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

AT2 - Applying Brain Science: Student Data, Feedback and Reporting Due: Week 10 Monday (22 Jan 2024) 11:45 pm AEST
AT3 - The Social Brain Certificate Due: Week 10 Wednesday (24 Jan 2024) 11:45 pm AEST
Week 11 Begin Date: 29 Jan 2024

Module/Topic

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 12 Begin Date: 05 Feb 2024

Module/Topic

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Exam Week Begin Date: 12 Feb 2024

Module/Topic

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Assessment Tasks

1 Project (applied)

Assessment Title
AT1 - Student learning and strategies to assess it consistently and comparably

Task Description

Chiefly using resources from our unit and our textbook by McTighe and Willis (2019), create a paper of about 2,200 words using the APA writing style (see APA, 2020a & 2020b) for fellow preservice teachers that demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of Student learning and strategies to assess it consistently and comparably.
 
Use these headings in your paper:
 
Introduction                                                                                                                   
Research into how students learn and the implications for teaching 
Strategies to assess student learning - formal and informal, diagnostic, formative and summative 
Making consistent and reliable judgments of student learning 
Conclusion
References


Assessment Due Date

Week 5 Monday (11 Dec 2023) 11:45 pm AEST

Submit as a Word document.


Return Date to Students

Week 5 Monday (11 Dec 2023)

Following moderation.


Weighting
40%

Assessment Criteria

Marking Guide
Your response to the assessment task is marked using the following marking guide. You should use the assessment task requirements and the marking guide to monitor the quality of your work during its production and self-assess the quality of your work before you submit it. 

The quality of your whole response is ascertained as recommended by leading research experts (see, for example, Sadler, 2010; Wyatt-Smith & Colbert, 2014), as the quality of the work emerges (see, Gruner, 2022; Sadler, 2009  2010; 2012; 2016).

High Distinction  34 to 40
Your response provides clear evidence of an impactful work addressing all aspects of the assessment task and for your audience. It
·   is designed to engage them throughout.
·   is presented in an orderly, concise manner that conveys the essential points of your work interestingly for them.
·   uses the APA writing style flawlessly/almost flawlessly to communicate ideas to them powerfully.
·   maintains continuity and flow throughout.
·   uses CQU marker feedback from AT1 in AT2.
 
Distinction  30 to 33
Your response provides clear evidence of high-quality work addressing all or most aspects of the assessment task and for your audience. It
·   is designed to engage them.
·   is presented in an orderly, concise manner that conveys the essential points of your work for them.
·   Uses the APA writing style with few errors to communicate ideas to them powerfully. 
·   Maintains continuity and flow throughout

·   uses CQU marker feedback from AT1 in AT2. 


Credit  26 to 29
Your response provides evidence of quality work in addressing the assessment task and for your audience. It
·   is designed to engage them. It
·   conveys the essential points of your work interestingly for them.
·   uses the APA writing style reasonably to communicate ideas to them. 
·   maintains continuity and flow for much of the work, and
·   uses CQU marker feedback from AT1 in AT2.
 
Pass  20 to 25   
Your response provides evidence of an acceptable standard in addressing the assessment task with reasonably effective communication.
 
Fail  0 to 19
Requires further work to Pass. At the discretion of the Unit Coordinator, a Resubmit may be offered.
 


Referencing Style

Submission
Online

Submission Instructions

Learning Outcomes Assessed
  • Comprehend how to develop, select and use assessment strategies to assess student learning informed by neuroscience.
  • Synthesise high-quality assessment principles, student feedback, reporting and moderation processes to support consistent and comparable judgements of student learning informed by neuroscience.
  • Elaborate on how to use student assessment data to identify student interventions and modify teaching practice.

2 Project (applied)

Assessment Title
AT2 - Applying Brain Science: Student Data, Feedback and Reporting

Task Description

Chiefly using resources from our unit and our textbook by McTighe and Willis (2019), create a paper of about 2,200 words using the APA writing style (see APA, 2020a & 2020b) for fellow preservice teachers that demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of Applying Brain Science: Student Data, Feedback and Reporting.
 
Use these headings in your paper:
 
Introduction
The Social Brain and Video*
Feedback to Students on their Learning
Interpret and use Student Data to Inform Teaching
Report on Student Achievement
Conclusion
References


* In your paper, you must provide the URL for the 8-minute video you create and upload to YouTube or a similar platform on an aspect of interest from The Social Brain and relate that to 
Either,
(a) Student feedback on their learning
Or,
(b) Using assessment data to inform teaching.
In our unit’s ‘Student Videos’ forum, provide a short title of about eight words and post the URL so all students can view and utilise it to inform their practice. To create your video, view the Video tips (2022).


Assessment Due Date

Week 10 Monday (22 Jan 2024) 11:45 pm AEST

Submit as a Word document.


Return Date to Students

Following moderation.


Weighting
40%

Assessment Criteria

Marking Guide
Your response to the assessment task is marked using the following marking guide. You should use the assessment task requirements and the marking guide to monitor the quality of your work during its production and self-assess the quality of your work before you submit it. 

The quality of your whole response is ascertained as recommended by leading research experts (see, for example, Sadler, 2010; Wyatt-Smith & Colbert, 2014), as the quality of the work emerges (see, Gruner, 2022; Sadler, 2009  2010; 2012; 2016).

High Distinction  34 to 40
Your response provides clear evidence of an impactful work addressing all aspects of the assessment task and for your audience. It
·   is designed to engage them throughout.
·   is presented in an orderly, concise manner that conveys the essential points of your work interestingly for them.
·   uses the APA writing style flawlessly/almost flawlessly to communicate ideas to them powerfully.
·   maintains continuity and flow throughout.
·   uses CQU marker feedback from AT1 in AT2.
 
Distinction  30 to 33
Your response provides clear evidence of high-quality work addressing all or most aspects of the assessment task and for your audience. It
·   is designed to engage them.
·   is presented in an orderly, concise manner that conveys the essential points of your work for them.
·   Uses the APA writing style with few errors to communicate ideas to them powerfully. 
·   Maintains continuity and flow throughout

·   uses CQU marker feedback from AT1 in AT2. 


Credit  26 to 29
Your response provides evidence of quality work in addressing the assessment task and for your audience. It
·   is designed to engage them. It
·   conveys the essential points of your work interestingly for them.
·   uses the APA writing style reasonably to communicate ideas to them. 
·   maintains continuity and flow for much of the work, and
·   uses CQU marker feedback from AT1 in AT2.
 
Pass  20 to 25   
Your response provides evidence of an acceptable standard in addressing the assessment task with reasonably effective communication.
 
Fail  0 to 19
Requires further work to Pass. At the discretion of the Unit Coordinator, a Resubmit may be offered.
 

Video for AT2
Outstanding videos are concise, engaging, clear, smooth, show the presenter's face and passion, acknowledge sources and are 6-8 minutes long. High-quality videos are similar but less engaging. Quality videos are interesting, appropriate, sourced, and logical. Acceptable videos have reasonable content and visuals.


Referencing Style

Submission
Online

Submission Instructions
Submit in Moodle as one document in Word.

Learning Outcomes Assessed
  • Comprehend how to develop, select and use assessment strategies to assess student learning informed by neuroscience.
  • Synthesise high-quality assessment principles, student feedback, reporting and moderation processes to support consistent and comparable judgements of student learning informed by neuroscience.
  • Elaborate on how to use student assessment data to identify student interventions and modify teaching practice.

3 Online Quiz(zes)

Assessment Title
AT3 - The Social Brain Certificate

Task Description

The Social Brain Digital Badge from Online Quiz
 
The Social Brain short course and quiz are available at
https://bedifferent.cqu.edu.au/course/view.php?id=2469
The quiz has 20 items from a bank of items, and you are allowed multiple attempts to do the quiz. Once you achieve 16 items correct or more out of 20, you are eligible for the CQU Professional Development Certificate of 20 hours produced electronically in The Social Brain short course. Submit your Digital Badge PDF for AT3 in Moodle on or before January 24 in the Assessment section ‘Submit AT3 January 24’.
 
Note: You should have received an email from Credly inviting you to claim your Digital Badge and Certificate. However, these are sometimes caught by CQU’s TASAC systems and delayed. Please visit https://www.credly.com/users/sign_in and create an account using your email.  Once you log in, your badge invitation should appear on the dashboard.  Download the CQU CPD instructions to access your certificate for The Social Brain here.
 


Number of Quizzes


Frequency of Quizzes


Assessment Due Date

Week 10 Wednesday (24 Jan 2024) 11:45 pm AEST


Return Date to Students

Week 12 Wednesday (7 Feb 2024)

Immediate score on quiz out of 20 with online computer marking.


Weighting
20%

Assessment Criteria

20 marks when the Certificate is submitted and 0 if not submitted.


Referencing Style

Submission
Online

Submission Instructions
Submit your Digital Badge received from CQU CPD as a PDF.

Learning Outcomes Assessed
  • Comprehend how to develop, select and use assessment strategies to assess student learning informed by neuroscience.
  • Synthesise high-quality assessment principles, student feedback, reporting and moderation processes to support consistent and comparable judgements of student learning informed by neuroscience.

Academic Integrity Statement

As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.

Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.

When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.

Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.

As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.

What is a breach of academic integrity?

A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.

Why is academic integrity important?

A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.

Where can I get assistance?

For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.

What can you do to act with integrity?