Engaging and Assessing Learners (SI) 2 (EDUC91204)

This subject supports Interns to develop a deep understanding of assessment strategies, approaches and feedback and the relationships between these and engagement in learning. These understandings support Interns to differentiate teaching to meet the learning needs of all students across the full range of abilities.

Using the Clinical Teaching Model as a guiding framework, Interns will learn about assessment strategies and approaches. These will consider the diverse needs and backgrounds of students so that accurate and actionable evidence of ability can be collected. Interns will develop the ability to construct progressions of learning that are contextually relevant and aligned to the relevant Australian educational frameworks and curricula. They will learn how to use progressions as models of learning that can be used to interpret evidence and support diverse students to actively engage in learning and to reach their potential. Interns will learn how to provide feedback that is culturally relevant, accessible, positively framed and engages students. They will review the effectiveness of their own teaching and critically reflect on their ability to evaluate students’ progress. Interns will learn how to collect, interpret and use student assessment data to evaluate student learning and modify teaching practice. Interns will examine assessment moderation practices and its application to support consistent and comparable judgements of student learning. Strategies for reporting to students/parents/carers and the purpose of keeping accurate and reliable records of student achievement will also be examined.

This subject includes a Clinical Teaching Practicum (employment-based teaching internship) in a Secondary school over Terms 3 and 4 (four days per week). Interns will begin to consolidate the nexus between theory and the practice of teaching through the use of the Clinical Teaching Model, drawing on a range of theoretical perspectives and contemporary research to support their teaching practice. Interns are supported by experienced Clinical Specialists and Mentor Teachers. A series of seminars will be held which explore Interns’ developing professional knowledge, practice and engagement. In this subject Interns will also complete a Clinical Praxis Exam.