Unit: 3: Data analytics

Sample approaches to developing an assessment task​

Area of Study 1

On completion of this unit the student should be able to respond to teacher-provided solution requirements and designs to extract data from large repositories, manipulate and cleanse data and apply a range of functions to develop software solutions to present findings.

Step 1: Requirements of the outcome

The VCE Applied Computing Study Design pages 25–27 provides details of the key knowledge and key skills related to Unit 3 Outcome 1 and the corresponding area of study, Data analytics.

Teachers should be familiar with the area of study and outcome statement, relevant key knowledge and key skills in order to plan for the assessment task. It should be noted that the assessment task does not have to identify every key knowledge and key skill dot point; nor should the task focus on too narrow a range of key knowledge and key skills.

Step 2: Determining teaching and learning activities

Teaching and learning activities should be selected to enable students to demonstrate their understanding of the key knowledge and key skills. These activities should include a range of theoretical and practical activities to develop and extend student knowledge. Sample teaching and learning activities are included in the Advice for teachers.

Step 3: Designing the assessment 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 student’s understanding of the key knowledge and key skills as well as their ability to apply these to the assessment task. Due dates and duration of assessment is a school-based decision.

Students should be given instructions regarding the requirements of the task, including time allocation, format of student responses and the marking scheme/assessment criteria. The marking scheme/assessment criteria used to assess the student’s level of performance should reflect the VCAA performance descriptors for Unit 3 Outcome 1.

Teachers should plan to provide requirements and designs to extract data from large repositories, link to database and spreadsheet software tools and develop data visualisation solutions to present findings. These activities should vary in length and difficulty, providing students with sufficient opportunities to demonstrate their knowledge and to meet the requirements of the outcome.

The approach that teachers employ to develop their assessment task may follow the steps below.

1. Determine the number of activities that students will be required to complete.
2. Select the key knowledge and key skills to determine the content to be used in the assessment task. Consider software tools and functions and performance descriptors.
3. Determine a problem, need or opportunity, through a scenario or case study that each activity will address.
4. Draft some solution requirements, constraints and scope that could be provided to students, based on the content decided in step 2 above.
5. Develop designs that will be incorporated into the scenario provided to students. Use a range of designs.
6. After developing the scenario, check that the entire task is accessible and provides students with sufficient opportunities to demonstrate their ability to meet the requirements of the outcome.
7. Teachers may develop their own marking schemes for this outcome, provided they are consistent with the VCAA performance descriptors for Unit 3 Outcome 1. To be consistent with the performance descriptors, teacher-generated schemes must take into account the following points:
• interpretation of solution requirements and designs to develop databases, spreadsheets and data visualisations
• identification and extraction of data from data repositories
• the use of database and spreadsheet software to store, manipulate and validate data
• application of formats and conventions to create effective data visualisations, and
• testing techniques.
Teacher judgement should be used to determine the weighting of each criterion within the SAC task. While weightings are not explicit within the VCAA performance descriptors, teachers must understand that the criteria are not intended to be equally weighted.
8. Teachers should first complete the assessment task themselves by developing the database and using spreadsheets to develop data visualisations. This will assist them to understand how students may respond to the solution requirements and designs. It will further ensure that marking schemes are appropriate for the task being developed. Refinements to the task may occur as a result of this process.

If tasks produced commercially are used as stimulus material when developing assessment tasks, they should be significantly modified in terms of context and content to ensure the authentication of student work.

Step 4: Conditions of the assessment task

The teacher must decide the most appropriate time and the conditions for conducting this assessment task and inform the students ahead of the date. This decision is a result of several considerations including:

• the estimated time it will take to teach the key knowledge and key skills for the outcome
• the likely length of time required for students to complete the task
• the classroom environment the assessment task will be completed in
• whether the assessment task will be completed under open-book or closed-book conditions
• any additional resources required by students
• when tasks are being conducted in other subjects and the workload implications for students.

Step 5: Marking the assessment task

The performance descriptors in the Advice for teachers give a clear indication of the characteristics and content that should be apparent in a student response at each level of achievement from very low to very high. The specified assessment task is listed on page 29 of the study design. The assessment task is to be out of 100 marks.