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EDED20495 - Special Needs

General Information

Unit Synopsis

In this unit, you will gain awareness of your professional obligations, roles and responsibilities in relation to the Disability Standards for Education and the way these standards inform policy and procedures for meeting the needs of students with disabilities in inclusive school settings. You will build knowledge of the definitions and criteria used to categorise disabilities in educational environments and explore the concept of “person first” approaches to meeting the needs of learners with disability in the middle years of schooling. You will take an holistic view of supporting the access and participation of learners with special needs and evaluate specific differentiation, accommodation and management strategies to make recommendations that support inclusion, wellbeing, safety and learning of all students in inclusive mainstream settings. You will research and document examples of good practice for consulting with students, parents, specialist services and wider community support agencies and demonstrate knowledge of how to access and facilitate partnerships that improve the educational outcomes for individuals with disabilities.

Details

Level Postgraduate
Unit Level 9
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 1
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Pre-requisite: EDED20493 Diversity and Inclusion

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).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2019

Term 3 - 2021 Profile
Online
Term 3 - 2022 Profile
Online
Term 3 - 2023 Profile
Online
Term 3 - 2024 Profile
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).

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.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Written Assessment 50%
2. Written Assessment 50%

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

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

Term 3 - 2022 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 92.86% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 26.42% response rate.

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.

Source: Student feedback through Moodle
Feedback
The set text Diversity, Inclusion and Engagement 3rd Ed. (Hyde Et al.) needs to be added to the unit profile and e-reading list.
Recommendation
Add the set text to the Unit Profile and E-Reading List.
Action Taken
Completed
Source: Student and UC feedback
Feedback
Topic 3 Case Studies needs to be moved to Week 10. It is out of place and confusing to students in Week 2.
Recommendation
Re-arrange unit content to place Case Studies in Week 10.
Action Taken
Completed
Source: Student Feedback through Moodle
Feedback
Adding the topic of mental health in Primary School Students would be desirable in this subject due to an increase in anxiety-based disorders
Recommendation
Possible inclusion of common mental health issues added to Moodle content.
Action Taken
Ongoing. This is not an area covered under the ACT as a disability and whilst this is an important subject it doesn't fit in this context.
Source: Student Feedback through Moodle
Feedback
It would be great if all the readings from the course were under the Reading List tab. This could also include any resources you recommend as useful for when we are teaching. Overall, this was a very enjoyable course. You
Recommendation
Make use of the E-Reading list within Moodle to organise reading and resource materials.
Action Taken
Completed
Source: Student Feedback through Moodle
Feedback
The assignment questions could be made plainer and more straight forward and less ambiguous
Recommendation
Review the wording of the assessment tasks within the Moodle site to remove any ambiguity and ensure clarity.
Action Taken
The assessment task was reworded.
Source: Student Evaluations
Feedback
Improve the clarity of Criteria/Sheets Rubrics.
Recommendation
UC to review wording of criteria sheet to improve its clarity and ensure it is closely aligned to the wording of the assessment tasks themselves.
Action Taken
Nil.
Unit learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Appraise the roles and responsibilities of educational stakeholders under legislation and policy for students with disabilities
  2. Propose processes that overcome barriers to successful inclusion of students with disabilities
  3. Evaluate strategies that support the psychological wellbeing, behaviour, accessibility and learning of students with special needs within whole class groups
  4. Explain the rationale for accommodations and modifications that support the learning and social needs of students with disabilities
  5. Interpret research literature and primary data sources to make recommendations that support the needs of students with disabilities.

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

1.1 Physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of students

1.5 Differentiate teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of abilities

1.6 Strategies to support full participation of students with disability

2.6 Information and Communication Technology (ICT)

3.7 Engage parents/carers in the educative process

4.1 Support student participation

4.3 Manage challenging behaviour

4.4 Maintain student safety

6.2 Engage in professional learning and improve practice

6.4 Apply professional learning and improve student learning

7.2 Comply with legislative, administrative and organisational requirements

7.3 Engage with the parents/carers

7.4 Engage with professional teaching networks and broader communities

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Written Assessment
2 - Written Assessment
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
Advanced Level
Professional Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Knowledge
2 - Communication
3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills
4 - Research
5 - Self-management
6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
Advanced Level
Professional Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 - Written Assessment
2 - Written Assessment