102090 – Secondary Curriculum 2A

Assessment 2: Portfolio Artefacts and Critical Reflection

18017742 - Jeremy Odang-Rohan

Western Sydney University

 Formal Assessment Task Notification
Ancient History – Year 12
Investigating and interpreting the sources for Pompeii and
Herculaneum

Context
In class, students have investigated and interpreted a range of sources from different aspects
of life in Pompeii and Herculaneum prior to the AD79 eruption. Additionally, students have
investigated excavations of these historical sites, discoveries made and reconstructions of the
past to gain a deeper understanding of this ancient society. This task presents students the
opportunity to apply their knowledge and skills towards analysing an aspect of this ancient
society and demonstrate their understanding using relevant evidence and information.
Task number: 1 Weighting: 20% Due date: Term 4, Week 8
Friday 07/11/18, Period 5

Outcomes assessed:
A student:
 proposes arguments about the varying causes and effects of events and
developments AH12-2
 analyses and interprets different types of sources for evidence to support an
historical account or argument AH12-6
 discusses and evaluates differing interpretations and representations of the past
AH12-7
 plans and conducts historical investigations and presents reasoned conclusions,
using relevant evidence from a range of sources AH12-8
 communicates historical understanding, using historical knowledge, concepts and
terms, in appropriate and well-structured forms AH12-9

Nature of the task

Select ONE of the following aspects of Pompeii and Herculaneum below and answer the
following question:
 the economy: role of the forum, trade, commerce, industries, occupations
(ACHAH374)
 the social structure: men, women, freedmen, slaves (ACHAH375)
 local political life: decuriones, magistrates, comitium (ACHAH373)
 everyday life: housing, leisure activities, food and dining, clothing, health, baths,
water supply, sanitation (ACHAH377)
 religion: household gods, temples, foreign cults and religions, tombs (ACHAH376)
 the influence of Greek and Egyptian cultures: art and architecture (ACHAH378)

Evaluate the importance of ONE chosen aspect of the Cities of Vesuvius (Pompeii and
Herculaneum), approaches to excavations and reconstruction of the past using
evidence from a range of sources.
To complete this assignment, you need to present and submit your task using ONE of the
following methods:
 A written essay (900-1200 words)
o Essays will only be read until the 1200-word mark. Any section that
exceeds this limit will not be read and/or marked.
o Essays that do not reach the minimum will be marked down.
 Pechakucha 20x20 presentation
o Create a VoiceThread account
o Not exceed 21 slides and 20 seconds for each slide except references
o Use short clips, images and text but only if related to your analysis
o Important: Your video must be available to the public in order to view
 Multimodal video presentation
o Use a variety of different audio-visual and text-based methods and ICT
resources
o Incorporate digital photographs, video clips, slides, sound files and
interactivity
o Maximum 6 minutes duration
o Submitted under AVI, MPEG4 or WMV format

All work must be presented professionally with APA 6th Edition referencing style correctly
for both in-text citations and reference list.
Referencing assistance below:
 I:Cite - https://library.westernsydney.edu.au/main/guides/referencing-
citation/i%3aCite
 APA 6th Edition Reference Guide -
https://library.westernsydney.edu.au/main/sites/default/files/pdf/cite_APA.pdf

Marking criteria:
Students will be assessed on:
 Clear and in-depth evaluation on the importance of different aspects of life that
contributed towards the operation of an ancient society using a range of sources and
evidence.
 Provides detailed evaluation on approaches of excavations, issues related to
excavations and discoveries made in relation to their chosen aspect.
 Clear and detailed evaluation on reconstruction of the past through Pompeii and
Herculaneum, how reconstruction has occurred throughout history and issues that
arise with it.
 Investigating and interpreting a range of historical sources to gather relevant and
detailed evidence for analysis
 Presents work professionally, with clear academic writing and APA 6th Edition
referencing within the word limit
Marking guidelines
A student: Mark
range:
An EXCELLENT task 17-20
 Critically evaluates information from a variety of sources
 Demonstrates extensive knowledge by evaluating the importance of
an aspect from a historical society, approaches to excavations and
reconstruction of the past.
 Presents a sustained, logical and well-structured response and
discussion.
 Demonstrates a high level of understanding and extensive use of
historical skills when conducting an analysis.
A HIGH task will 13-16
 Evaluate information from a variety of sources
 Demonstrates knowledge by evaluating the importance of an aspect
from a historical society, approaches to excavations and
reconstruction of the past.
 Presents a logical and well-structured response and discussion.
 Demonstrates a high level of understanding and use of historical
skills when conducting an analysis.
A SUBSTANTIAL task 9-12
 Uses relevant information from a variety of sources.
 Provides knowledge by explaining important aspects from a
historical society, approaches to excavations and reconstruction of
the past.
 Presents a logical response and discussion.
 Provides an adequate level of understanding and use of historical
skills when conducting an analysis.
A SATISFACTORY task 5-8
 Uses relevant information from limited sources.
 Provides knowledge by describing important aspects from a historical
society, approaches to excavations and reconstruction of the past.
 Presents a basic response and discussion.
 Provides a limited level of understanding and use of historical skills
when conducting an analysis.
An ELEMENTARY task 1-4
 Uses information from limited sources.
 Provides knowledge by identifying important aspects from a
historical society, approaches to excavations and reconstruction of
the past.
 Presents an elementary response and discussion.
 Provides a very limited level of understanding and use of historical
skills when conducting an analysis.
 Section B:

According to the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA), assessment is a broad name

for the collection and evaluation of evidence that demonstrates a student’s learning (NESA,

2017b). Assessment comes in different forms, diagnostic which acknowledges that students

arrive with different backgrounds, knowledge and understanding and therefore their

knowledge skills and attitudes should be checked when commencing a unit; formative

assessment that gathers data regularly on students as they’re learning to further plan methods

to enhance their learning; and summative that is generally held towards the end of a unit that

measures what they’ve learnt throughout and student achievement. The primary purpose of

assessments is to promote learning as the evidence provided indicates required adjustments to

ensure standards are met and students are achieving the outcomes set in the syllabus (ACT

Cross Sectorial Assessment Working Party [ACTCSAWP], 2016).

The importance of assessment is a frequently asked question as the method of assessment,

particularly summative assessment, can place stress and anxiety on those assessed. It must be

understood that not all assessment applies this pressure, that assessment is vital towards

understanding how students learn and the best pedagogical approach required to assist them

in their learning. There are two main types of assessments, informal and formal, each with

different goals for the positive development of student learning. Informal (or formative)

assessment includes activities undertaken and anecdotal evidence gathered through a less

prescribed manner, generally involving results from lesson activities or simple classroom

observations by the teachers (NESA, 2018a). Teachers can utilise the evidence gathered to

reflect on their students learning and progression of unit content and potentially make

required adjustments that accommodate the students’ different learning needs, resulting in a

more engaging and positive learning environment for students. History, for example, can

benefit from formative assessment through tasks that demonstrate student’s source analysis
and/or historical inquiry skills when studying specific content. Teachers can identify which

student are excelling in these skills and provide enrichment and identify students who are

struggling and provide remediation that will help improve their learning (Hamilton, 2018).

Formal (or summative) also provides benefits when gathering and interpreting data of student

learning. Formal assessment requires students to undertake tasks as part of the school-based

assessment program, reflecting specific course requirements, components and weightings set

by NESA and in the relevant syllabus (NESA, 2018a). Summative tasks are set for each

student to complete, reflecting their overall understanding and knowledge of the topic content

as an individual, providing the teacher specific information on each student’s capabilities and

is valuable in determining if any content requires revision or how to further assist students

who require additional attention. For history, the consistent development of historical

concepts and skills are required for students to efficiently learn future and possibly more

difficult content; students underdeveloped in these areas places limitations on their learning

capabilities, especially in Stage 6 areas. According to NESA Assessment and Reporting in

Ancient History Stage 6, formal assessment provides records of achievement that contribute

to students end of school credentials, the Record of School Achievement (RoSA) or Higher

School Certificate (HSC), reinforcing the importance of assessment for students aiming to

acquire a HSC Certificate or valid credentials outside school (NESA, 2017b). The importance

of assessment also reflects upon teachers who are required by adhere to the Australian

Professional Standards for Teachers (APST). APST Graduate standards 5.1-5 require teachers

to assess student learning, provide feedback to students on their learning, make consistent and

comparable judgments, interpret student data and report on student achievement (Australian

Institute for Teaching and School Leadership [AITSL], 2017). Achievement of these

standards further act as credentials for teachers to progress into higher proficiency levels

throughout their career.

When approaching feedback, NESA insists teachers should consider the effect that

assessment feedback has on the motivation and self-esteem of students, with a focus on active

involvement of students in their own learning (NESA, 2017b). Feedback appears to fall under

the category of ‘assessment as learning’ by NESA, and occurs when students are their own

assessors, monitoring their own learning, asking questions and using various strategies to

decide what they know and can do, encouraging them to take responsibility for their own

learning and create goals to encourage growth and development (NESA, 2017b). The

importance of feedback lies with its goals and approach. Quality feedback on assessments

allows the students to review areas they’ve succeeding in throughout learning the unit content

but also identify areas of improvement they can work on to achieve better.

ACTCSAWP (2016) identifies seven principles of quality feedback: clarify what good

performance is, informing the students on what’s considered as performing well; facilitate

self-assessment, creating an opportunity for students to identify their own strengths and

weaknesses; deliver high quality feedback information, explicitly informing students areas of

quality work and areas of improvement; encourage teacher and peer dialogue, being available

for students to approach and discuss feedback; encouraging positive motivation and self-

esteem, reassuring the students abilities to achieve higher marks and greater potential;

provide opportunities to close the gap, teaching the students strategies on how to achieve

their target goals; and use feedback to improve teaching, utilising the students results to make

adjustments that improve teaching and student achievement.

Agnes’ (2008) research into making written feedback useful concurs with these principles of

quality feedback, stating assessment feedback should focus on ‘growth rather than grading’

that encourages and advances student learning, as cited in (Sadler, 1983). Students

participating in the research expressed an overwhelming desire for clear, constructive,

informative comments that could be interpreted easily with the goal of consistent and more
personalized feedback that was open for discussion and provided guidance for improvement

(Agnes, 2008). O’Donovan (2017) strengthens the notion of personalised and informative

feedback by seeing assessment and feedback as intertwined and, at their best, dialogic.

Historical study brings expectations for students to meet, expectations to achieve syllabus

outcomes, to understand and gain knowledge on certain historical periods/individuals taught

through historical inquiry, the consistent development of historical concepts and skills that

contribute towards deeper understanding and knowledge and the ability to communicate

historical information efficiently. History further falls into an overall scope and sequence of

continuity and changes, of cause and effect that contributes to the making of the modern

world students are exposed to daily. Clear and quality feedback approaches are fundamental

in history, so students become aware of weaknesses in these core aspects and receive

encouraging and detailed assistance to help them progress in historical studies. This

importance is heightened for Stage 6 Ancient and Modern History students as inadequate

understanding and skills can seriously affect the progression of their HSC.

Kibble (2016) discusses the criteria for excellent assessment, referencing van der Vleuten’s

notion of assessment utility, defining assessment as “a product of reliability, validity,

feasibility, cost effectiveness, acceptance, and educational impact” (p.110). Summative

assessment is an assessment of learning, used to plan future learning and pathways, provides

evidence of achievement to a wider community of parents, educators, students, and measures

achievement against outcomes and standards (NESA, 2017b). Its design and instructions are

expected to be clear and concise and consider differentiation for students with diverse

learning needs. The Victorian State Government (2018) recommends designing assessments

that reveal progress, built on the foundation of teachers deep understanding of students in

relation to formal curriculum, domains of learning and stages of learning and development.

When planning unit content and lessons for history, or any subject, designing assessment
allows the teacher to reflect on what they’re trying to accomplish, what they’re planning to

assess their students on, and consider how they’re able to prepare students to reach the stage

of successfully complete the summative task (Wiggins, 2002). NESA has mandatory

components and weightings for Year 12 history students, for example, assessing historical

inquiry and research – 20% (NESA, 2017a). Designing an assessment targeting this goal

assists the teacher in backtracking how students will accomplish this skill and any useful

resources that can help fulfilling the task requirements.

When designing assessments, especially for Stage 6, teachers must consider additional factors

that could affect their planning. NESA has recently changed the requirements for Year 12

students to acquire a HSC, placing an additional workload and stress on HSC students. These

include requirements to complete a ‘HSC All My Own Work’ program, with five modules

taking between 5-10 hours; a HSC minimum standard of literacy and numeracy online test

promoting skills to succeed in everyday life; and a limitation of one school-based formal

written examination assessment (NESA, 2017a; NESA, 2018b; NESA, 2018c). These reflect

the ever-more demanding standards for students in NSW schools and fail to consider how it’ll

impact student stress and anxiety (Smith, 2005). Discussions on the additional load for

students has appeared in the media, with articles from the Sydney Morning Herald (2018)

arguing students should not be free of stress as life itself isn’t stress free, Australian

Associated Press (2017) reporting the NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian stating “we don’t

apologise for making the standards higher”, and the Canberra Times (2016) reporting former

Minister of Education for NSW, Adrian Piccoli, stating “we don’t want the HSC to be just a

ribbon for turning up, it’s actually got to have meaning.” It appears any form of assessment in

Stage 6, all teachers, including history, must consider and adhere the recent changes and

expectations set above from NESA when designing and implementing effective assessment,

and should consider their students wellbeing.

Assessment, for any subject, has an important role in gathering evidence of student

achievement and learning throughout a unit of work. Student results provide relevant

information for teachers to utilise when determining if/what material needs revisiting or if

adjustments to lesson content and activities are required to accommodate varies student

needs. Quality approaches to feedback encourage students to identify their strengths and

weaknesses, and methods of improvement in reaching targeted goals. Effective assessment

design achieves the necessary requirements that define summative assessment, whilst

considering student wellbeing and any changes to HSC syllabus, assessments and standards.
 Referencing

ACT Cross Sectorial Assessment Working Party. (2016). Teachers’ Guide to Assessment.

Retrieved from

https://www.education.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/297182/Teachers-

Guide-To-Assessment.pdf

Agnes, M., Cochrane, R., & Cochrane, D. (2008). Listening to students – How to make

written assessment feedback useful. Active learning in higher education, 9(3), 217-

230. doi: 10.1177/1469787408095847

Australian Associated Press. (2017, August 2). NSW:HSC standards ‘improved NAPLAN

results’. Australian National News Wire. Retrieved from

http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.uws.edu.au/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=2d3

72802-0765-4a72-ad2f-c3520233edcf%40sdc-v-

sessmgr06&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=74C212630398

7&db=n5h

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership. (2017). Australian Professional

Standards for Teachers. Retrieved from https://www.aitsl.edu.au/teach/standards

Bagshaw, E. (2016, July 20). Overhaul of HSC to focus on standards Education Literacy,

numeracy push. Canberra Times, p.10. Retrieved from

http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.uws.edu.au/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=b77

550a3-b582-45bc-8128-

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George Lucas Educational Foundation. (2008). Why is Assessment Important?. Retrieved

from https://www.edutopia.org/assessment-guide-importance

Hamilton, S. (2018). Importance of Assessments in School. Retrieved from

https://education.seattlepi.com/importance-assessments-school-2516.html

Kibble, J.D. (2016). Best practices in summative assessment. Advanced Physiological

Education, 41(1), 110-119. doi: 10.1152/advan.00116.2016.

NSW Education Standards Authority. (2017). Assessment and Reporting in Ancient History

Stage 6 (Publication No. DSSP-28181). Retrieved from

https://syllabus.nesa.nsw.edu.au/assets/global/files/assessment-and-reporting-in-

ancient-history-stage-6.pdf

NSW Education Standards Authority. (2018). HSC All My Own Work program. Retrieved

from http://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/11-12/hsc/hsc-all-my-

own-work

NSW Education Standards Authority. (2018). HSC minimum standard. Retrieved from

http://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/11-12/hsc/hsc-minimum-

standard

NSW Education Standards Authority. (2018). New Stage 6 Syllabuses and Assessment from

2018. Retrieved from http://syllabus.nesa.nsw.edu.au/assets/global/files/parent-

guide-to-new-syllabuses-and-assessment-from-2018.pdf

NSW Education Standards Authority. (2017). Principles of Assessment for Stage 6

(Publication No. DSSP-27538). Retrieved from

http://syllabus.nesa.nsw.edu.au/assets/global/files/years-11-12-assessment-

advice.pdf
O’Donovan, B. (2017). How student beliefs about knowledge and knowing influence their

satisfaction with assessment and feedback. Higher Education, 74(4), 617-633. doi:

10.1007/s10734-016-0068-y

Smith, M. (2005, August). Data for schools in NSW: What is provided an can it help?. Paper

presented at the Using data to support learning Conference, Victoria, Australia.

Retrieved from

https://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1011&context=research_c

onference_2005

Sydney Morning Herald. (2018, February 22). HSC must keep high standards. The Sydney

Morning Herald, p.16. Retrieved from

http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.uws.edu.au/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=41b

7f74a-02dd-4452-b43b-

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aXRl#AN=DOC6YYPR5K3WS315VZ0F7M6&db=n5h

Victoria State Government. (2018). Understand assessment design. Retrieved from

https://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/management/improvement/Pag

es/Understanding-Assessment-Design.aspx