Before designing an assessment program teachers need to be familiar with requirements of the Board of Studies regarding HSIE syllabuses and school policies and procedures.

The following steps may assist teachers in developing an internal assessment program for the HSC.

Step 1: Map the HSC course outcomes
As part of the process of developing an assessment program for HSIE, it is useful to map the outcomes of the HSC course against the different sections of the syllabus.
It is important to consider:

• the number of times an outcome is addressed; some outcomes may be addressed only once
• how the choice of options influences the number of times an outcome is addressed.

In instances where an outcome is addressed once only, teachers will need to ensure their teaching
program addresses this outcome and provides ample opportunity for students to work toward achieving the outcome. Additionally, the teacher will need to gather and record evidence for each student to be able to provide feedback to students about achievement of the outcome.

Where an outcome is included in more than one topic, teachers have more opportunities to gather evidence and record student achievement of the outcome. Teachers also need to provide meaningful feedback to students about their progress towards achievement of the outcomes.

Step 2: Brainstorm and research the appropriate range of tasks that could be used in your subject area. This will assist you in selecting the tasks for your assessment program. Some examples of non-examination type tasks include:

• laboratory, research or case study reports
• computer simulations, multimedia presentations, interviews, surveys, seminars, debates,
  hypotheticals
• oral, audio-visual or dramatic presentations and analysis
• community-based fieldwork
• analysis of participants’ observations
• interpretation of scenarios, statistics
• cooperative learning tasks
• investigation and analysis
• practical performances to demonstrate theoretical understanding
• designing plans or programs to demonstrate theoretical understanding
• critical literacy tasks.

Step 3: Using the Assessment Components, Weightings and Tasks in the syllabus, list the components and mandatory weightings in the assessment schedule. List the outcomes which relate to each assessment component.

Step 4: Decide on the most appropriate type of task or tasks to be used to cover the outcomes for each component. Ask the following questions when completing this step:

What type of task will best assess student achievement of these outcomes?

• Is a range of tasks used to allow students to demonstrate achievement of outcomes in a variety of ways?
• Does the task fit the overall teaching and learning program?

Step 5: Design the assessment tasks. When designing a task ensure that:

• a manageable number of outcomes is being assessed
• the task chosen will enable the outcomes to be assessed effectively
• the task will measure what you want it to assess
• students have the best opportunity to demonstrate what they know and can do.

More information on task design can be found in The New Higher School Certificate: Assessment Support

John Gore
CEO, HSIE