Year 9
Humanities and Social Sciences Support Materials
Assessment Principle 4
Assessments should be designed to meet their specific purposes
Civics and Citizenship snapshot: Role of political parties
Humanities and Social Sciences/Knowledge and understanding/Civics and Citizenship/Our democratic rights and Skills/Questioning and researching/Analysing
| Content Description |
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The role of political parties, and independent representatives in Australia’s system of government, including the formation of governments Identify current personal knowledge, gaps, misconceptions, currency of information, personal perspective and possible perspective of others Apply subject-specific skills and concepts in familiar, new and hypothetical situations |
Nature of the assessment
Graphic organiser for identification of prior knowledge
Purposes of the assessment
The teacher designed the assessment as a way of quickly collecting information about her students’ prior knowledge and understanding of the role of political parties and independent representatives in Australia’s system of government, including the formation of governments.
Stage in the Teaching sequence
Beginning of teaching cycle – formative assessment
Assessment task
Students were provided with a KWL chart to complete.
The teacher used the content to frame a series of broad questions that would provoke students’ thinking. She wrote these questions on the board and students were asked to complete columns 1 and 2 of the KWL chart.
Column 1:What do you Know about the topic?
Column 2:What do you Want to know?
Column 3: What did you Learn?
The teacher made sure to explain the purpose of the assessment and that it was to be used to gain an insight into what the students already knew about the topic.
Assessment process
The teacher observed the students as they completed the task. She then followed up with a quick brainstorm activity which allowed her to correct any misconceptions. The teacher collected the completed KWL charts. The students completed the third column at the end of the teaching and learning program.
Using the information
The teacher used the information on the KWL charts and from the brainstorming activity to inform her planning of the teaching program. The information from the assessment allowed her to plan a program that challenged her students to go beyond what they already knew and understood.