​Unit 3: Software development

Sample approaches to developing an assessment task​

Area of Study 1

On completion of this unit the student should be able to interpret teacher-provided solution requirements and designs, and apply a range of functions and techniques using a programming language to develop and test working software modules.

Step 1: Requirements of the outcome

The VCE Applied Computing Study Design pages 36–37 provides details of the key knowledge and key skills related to Unit 3 Outcome 1 and the corresponding area of study, Software development: programming.

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 can choose how to deliver this outcome, either by teaching towards and assessing each module at one time or conducting the assessment in one block of time after teaching.

Teachers should plan to provide requirements and designs for between three and six modules. These modules should vary in length and difficulty, providing students with sufficient opportunities to demonstrate their knowledge and to meet the requirements of the outcome. Teachers are reminded that software modules are intended to be small programs that may or may not form part of a larger software solution.

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

1. Determine the number of modules that students will be required to complete.
2. Use the key knowledge and key skills to determine the required content and design tools to be used within each module. Consider performance descriptors and programming requirements.
3. Determine a problem, need or opportunity, through a scenario or case study that each module will address. Teachers could use an overarching case study across all of the modules (with distinct sets of requirements and designs for each module), or alternatively, brief individual scenarios could be developed for each module.
4. For each module:

a. Draft some functional and non-functional requirements that could be provided to students, based on the content determined in steps 2 and 3 above.

b. Develop designs that will be incorporated with the scenario provided to students. Across all of the modules, students should have an opportunity to interpret each of the listed design tools.

c. Ensure that the scenario, requirements and designs are consistent with each other, and refine as required.

5. After the development of the scenario, teachers should check that the entire task is accessible and provides students with sufficient opportunities to demonstrate their ability to meet the requirements of the outcome.
6. 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 requirements and designs
   • selection of relevant data types and structures
   • selection and justification of processing features
   • validation techniques
   • internal documentation
   • evidence of testing carried out for each module.
   Teacher judgement should be used to determine the weighting of each criterion within each module, and the overall weighting of each module as part of the wider SAC task. While weightings are not explicit within the VCAA performance descriptors, teachers must also understand that the criteria are not intended to be equally weighted.
7. Develop each of the modules using only what will be provided to students. This will help to check that there are no glaring omissions from the scenario, requirements or designs. Developing the modules will also assist in understanding how the marking scheme may be applied. 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 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 40 of the study design. The assessment task is to be out of 100 marks.