Unit 4 Australian Politics
Sample approach to developing an assessment task
Area of study 2: Australian Foreign Policy Essay
Australian Foreign Policy Essay
Outcome 2
Analyse the nature, objectives and instruments of contemporary Australian foreign policy, and evaluate TWO key selected challenges facing Australian foreign policy. |
Essay
Maintaining national security is the dominant objective in Australian contemporary foreign policy. To what extent do you agree with this statement?
Time
This task should be completed in class over approximately 60 minutes under test conditions.
Requirements
Students respond to an unseen essay question. No notes allowed. |
Designing the essay question
When developing an essay question for this Area of Study, the question must allow student to draw on the scope of key knowledge and key skills. The essay question must require students to:
- analyse the nature, objectives and instruments of contemporary Australian foreign policy
- draw on their evaluation of two selected challenges facing foreign policy
- develop a point of view and argument about the formulation and implementation of foreign policy
- use contemporary examples as evidence in their essay.
A sample essay question could be:
- Maintaining national security is the dominant objective in Australian contemporary foreign policy. To what extent do you agree with this statement?
Marking the task:
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.
Authentication
Authentication issues are minimized as students complete the assessment task under test conditions with no notes. Further information regarding the VCAA authentication rules can be found in the
VCE and VCAL Administration Handbook.