Unit 4 – Sample approaches to developing an assessment task

Step 1: Define the parameters of the outcome and its related assessment options

The VCE Philosophy Study Design (pdf - 161.34kb) page 28 provides details of the key knowledge and key skills related to Unit 4 Outcome 2 and the corresponding area of study, ‘Living the good life in the twenty-first century’.

Teachers should be familiar with the relevant key knowledge and key skills related to the specific outcome being assessed in order to plan an assessment task. It should be noted that each key knowledge and key skill does not need to be individually identifiable in the task, nor should the task focus on too narrow a range of key knowledge and key skills.

Step 2: Refer to the assessment advice

The performance descriptors provide a clear indication of the qualities and characteristics in a student response at each level of achievement. Teachers may select from a range of specified assessment tasks.

Note that more than one assessment task can be used to assess satisfactory completion of each outcome in the units.

Step 3: Determine teaching and learning activities

Teachers need to relate the key knowledge and key skills to the specific content to be taught and include activities designed to elicit students’ understanding and use of key knowledge and key skills for this outcome.

Step 4: Design the assessment task

It is recommended that assessment tasks be completed in class under supervision and within a limited time frame. The overall assessment program for the unit should include a variety of assessment task formats, include provision for authentication of student work and take into account the overall workload for students.

Schools may determine the conditions for each task. Students should be advised of the timeline and conditions under which the task is to be completed.

The assessment task must directly assess the students’ understanding of the key knowledge and key skills as well as their ability to apply these to the task, and hence demonstrate achievement of the outcome to be assessed.

Clear instructions should be given regarding the requirements of the task, including criteria, time allocation and format. The task should be unambiguous, and the requirements of the responses should be explicitly stated.

The exact dates and times for assessment to take place is a school-based decision that may be determined after consultation with students, VCE coordinators and other key staff.

The marking scheme used to assess a student’s level of performance should reflect the relevant aspects of the performance descriptors and be explained to students before commencing the task.

Sources such as commercially produced School-assessed Coursework materials, textbooks and the media can all be used as stimulus when designing a SAC assessment and developing questions. These materials should be adapted and modified, and used to assist in the development of questions which specifically address and assess students’ understanding and grasp of the key knowledge and key skills.

Unit 4  Area of Study 2
Living the good life in the twenty-first century

On completion of this unit the student should be able to discuss contemporary debates related to technological development and the good life, and examine the interplay between technological development and conceptions of the good life.

Suggested teaching and learning activities:

Activity 1: An oral presentation

Overview:

Prepare an oral presentation that demonstrates the following:

• An understanding of a range of philosophical concepts and their connection to technological development and the good life;
• An ability to explain and analyse conceptions of the good life and technological development using contemporary examples; and
• An ability to evaluate and critically compare viewpoints and arguments posed in contemporary debates regarding technological development and the good life.

Task:

(Contemporary debate)

• Select a contemporary debate which asserts a relationship between the good life and technological development. A debate must have at least two clear ‘sides’.
• Consider the following philosophical concepts when deciding on a contemporary debate: reality, control, dependency, freedom and creativity. Define and discuss these as they apply to the contemporary debate.

(Argument analysis)

• Locate viewpoints and arguments which make an argument for a particular conception of the good life and its role in technological development. Alternatively, find an example technology that asserts a position on the good life.
• Outline and analyse the key arguments asserted, making explicit the relationship expressed on the good life and technological development.
• Find an opposing viewpoint or argument on the same contemporary debate. Outline and analyse the key arguments asserted, making explicit the relationship expressed on the good life and technological development.

(Critical comparison and evaluation)

•  Identify the similarities and differences between the two viewpoints and arguments.
• Critically compare the two viewpoints.

(Application)

•  Provide some discussion as to how a set text philosopher would respond to the contemporary debate selected and the two viewpoints explored.
  

  A task such as this encourages students to draw links between the set texts and relevant contemporary debates and consider the philosophical concepts related to the good life and technological development.

  A research task such as this encourages students to develop their skills in identifying viewpoints and arguments on the nature of the good life and technological development. It also helps students develop their ability to outline and analyse arguments while discussing the relationship between conceptions of the good life and technological development. A research task which culminates in a presentation such as this also requires students to interpret and synthesise source material.

  This task offers variety to students beyond a written task and the presentation element adds an aspect of collaboration for the class to enjoy, too, especially as a question and answer component is added at the end of each presentation.

Activity 2: A class discussion and debate

Consider the following prompt:

'Our increasing technological capacities come with an increased obligation to address global suffering.'

• Ask the class to think of examples as to how technology can reduce suffering. For example, vaccines can help prevent disease and aeroplanes can carry food aid to remote locations. List these on a board or on a communal piece of butcher’s paper.
• Research specific case studies where technology has helped reduce suffering.
• Research examples where technology has led to greater suffering using a variety of philosophical and other sources.
• Students can research philosophical positions regarding charity which assert an obligation for aid or insist there is no obligation. Articles such as Singer’s Famine, Affluence and Morality or Garrett Hardin’s Lifeboat Ethics: The Case Against Helping the Poor can help students conceive of the philosophical case for charity before engaging with the relationship between any obligation and technology.
• Separate the class into two groups. One group can take the case “Technology can help address global suffering” and the other, the opposite case. Ask each group to structure a clear argument for their case and present this to the class. Each group can have a few minutes of rebuttal.
• At the end, hold a full class discussion, exploring the strengths and limitations of each position, drawing explicit attention to the role an understanding of the good life can have in technological development and visa-versa.

This activity provides students with examples they can use to support a philosophical position. It helps them to consider the relationship between the good life for an individual and for broader society and the role of technology in this relationship. It encourages students to reflect on how technological development can influence our understanding of the good life and visa-versa. Students need to explain, analyse and apply philosophical concepts, identify viewpoints and arguments and evaluate the interplay between technology and the good life. The task is collaborative.

Activity 3: 

At least one essay response is mandatory assessment in Unit 4. Essays can be used to assess students’ ability to mount a successful, consistent and well written argument/s in response to the stimulus or prompt. Essay topics can require students to draw upon a range of key knowledge, including application to contemporary debates, and provide evidence of their ability to analyse, evaluate, compare and discuss ideas as required by the outcome and reflected in the key skills for the area of study.

The questions below could be drawn on or adapted to develop one or more of the assessment tasks. If providing options for students make sure that they are comparable in scope and demand. Please note that these questions are illustrative only and do not necessarily reflect the set texts prescribed annually by the VCAA.

• ‘Technology can help us lead happier lives.’ Discuss with reference to at least one set text in Unit 4. Make reference to one contemporary debate in your response.
• What is the relationship between truth and the good life and to what extent can the internet help or hinder our ability to lead a good life? Discuss with reference to at least one set text in Unit 4.