All assessments for Units 1 and 2 are school-based. The determination of an S or N for each of Units 1 and 2 is a separate consideration from the assessment of levels of achievement.
Procedures for assessment of levels of achievement in Units 1 and 2 are a matter for schools to decide. Schools have flexibility in deciding how many and which assessment tasks they use for each outcome, provided that these decisions are in accordance with VCE Sociology Study Design and VCE Assessment Principles.
Teachers should note the cognitive demand of the command terms in the outcome statements to determine the type of teaching and learning activities and evidence of student understanding that will be needed for students to demonstrate satisfactory completion of each outcome.
Unit 3 Sample approach to developing an assessment task
Outcome 1
Analyse the impacts of historical suppression and evaluate the increasing public awareness of Australian Indigenous cultures.
Assessment task:
The study design stipulates at least one of the following tasks in Unit 3:
- a case study involving primary research
- an extended response
- a film analysis
- a media analysis
- a multimedia presentation
- a representation analysis
- a research report
- a selection of structured questions requiring short-answer responses
Task type: An extended response
Students draw on a selection of key knowledge and skills from Area of Study 1 to provide a detailed extended response to a stimulus.
Assessment task:
Design an extended response stimulus that requires students to analyse the impacts of historical suppression or evaluate the increasing public awareness of Australian Indigenous cultures.
Stimulus could include:
- An examination of significant First Nations peoples’ (individuals and / or groups) response(s) to one issue related to the changing awareness of Australian Indigenous cultures.
- An analysis of how historical suppression through government policy impacted the preservation of Australian Indigenous cultures.
- An evaluation of how one issue studied this year has shaped public views of Australian Indigenous cultures.
The extended response should be drawn from selected key knowledge and key skills in the study design. In these responses students should be identifying key sociological terms and demonstrating knowledge of what these key terms mean. They should be using analytical skills to deconstruct the question in order to bring out essential elements. Responses should use a variety of relevant source materials to support observation and analysis. Responses should include a synthesis of all of the above to draw conclusions related to the stimulus.
The extended response task is designed to assist students in analysing the impacts of historical suppression or examining the increasing public awareness of Australian Indigenous cultures.
Unit 4 Sample approach to developing an assessment task
Outcome 1
Analyse the experience of community generally and analyse and evaluate a specific community.
Assessment task:
The study design stipulates at least one of the following tasks in Unit 4:
- a case study involving primary research
- an extended response
- a film analysis
- a media analysis
- a multimedia presentation
- a representation analysis
- a research report
- a selection of structured questions requiring short-answer responses
Task type: Representation analysis
Consider the key knowledge and key skills for Area of Study 1 and select one to two representations that detail a community group for students to analyse in their task.
When selecting representations, the community can be located within Australia and / or overseas. Representations can include both written text and visual material. The representation should include details of how the community identifies as a community and how members participate within the community.
One example of a representation is given below.
Calling local art lovers
Penny O’Riley, Sally Sheffield and Priya Nandhra are members of ALPHa (Art Lovers of Port Hadley) which is a local group of women who make and share art in the wider Port Hadley area, located in regional Western Australia.
‘It started with us attending the Gully Recreation Center and sharing our creative ideas,’ Sally said.
Gully Community Arts Association gathered interest from people who lived outside of the city and created a Facebook group so members could easily organise events and connect with each other. Now they meet once a week at the Uniting Church in Port Hadley.
‘We felt there weren’t many opportunities for those of us that lived further out of the city, to make and share our passion for art,’ said Penny.
Priya had been attending the Gully Recreation Center for a few years but had to travel from her home in Port Hadley which is 68 km away. ‘Art became so much more accessible for me as ALPHa meant I only needed to drive six minutes to get there,’ she said.
Each week the women gather to converse, and practise a range of artistic skills to create individual and collective projects. Penny describes the group as ‘a safe environment’ where women in the rural surrounding areas of Gully can connect with one another.
‘We are lucky because Gully Community Arts Association still organises the group, including creating events in our Facebook group,’ explained Sally. ‘They ask people to register in advance so they can provide enough materials and a $5 donation is welcome to cover some costs, but it is not compulsory.’
Penny says, ‘All are welcome, and absolutely no artistic experience is required.’ To find out more, you can join the ALPHa Rural Women Making and Sharing Art group on Facebook or come along on Tuesdays from 9.30 to 11.30 am at 15 Challoner Cct, Port Hadley, WA.
Source: unidentified author
Assessment task:
Design a range of prompts for students to respond to when analysing the representation.
Prompts could include:
- Explain how the community in the representation demonstrates elements of the concept of community.
- Information and communications technology can impact the experience of community for members. Using this representation, analyse the influence of information and communications technology on the experience of community.
- Economic factors and geographical characteristics can affect the experience of a community. Referring to this representation, analyse and evaluate the effects of economic factors and geographical characteristics on the experience of community.
Using a second representation, a similar set of prompts for analysis can be developed from the key skills and knowledge in the study design.
Prompts could include:
- Referring to the representation, identify and explain the factors that may contribute to feelings of belonging for community members.
- Analyse and evaluate the influence of social and political factors on the experience of community. Refer to the representation.
- Referring to the representation, explain why members of the community may have varied feelings of belonging.
The stimulus material should be drawn from a selection of key knowledge and key skills in the study design, and be designed to emphasise that students must explain and apply sociological concepts, identify and explain the factors that influence feelings of belonging, analyse the influence of information and communications technology on the experience of community, analyse and evaluate the influence of economic, social and political factors, and of geographical characteristics on the experience of community. Students should be encouraged to provide evidence from the representation to support analysis.
The representation analysis is designed to assist students in exploring the experience of community generally.