Biology Upper Secondary Teacher Guide - Department of Education

Biologyis on the student’s investigation of the issue in its context by researching,identifying the issues or problems, collecting, analysing and commenting onsecondary data and information. Students should be encouraged to considerand explore a variety of perspectives as they develop and state their positionon the issue. Students may present the final investigation for assessment ina variety of forms, including one or a combination of the following: a writtenscientific report, an oral presentation, a website, linked documents,multimedia, a video or audio recording.Criteria for judging performanceThe student’s performance in the investigation will be judged by the extent towhich the student:• identifies and describes the issue or problem• states a hypothesis• describes and explains the causes and effects• records and appropriately processes data• critically analyses processed information and outlines possible stepsleading to a solution or recommendation• acknowledges errors and suggests alternatives.PortfoliosA ‘portfolio’ provides evidence for judgements of student achievement in arange of contexts. A portfolio contains a specific collection of student work orevidence. This collection of work should provide a fair, valid and informativepicture of the student’s accomplishments.Computer-based tasksUsing computers to administer student assessment can provide flexibility inthe time, location or even the questions being answered of students. Themost common type of computer-based assessment is based on multiplechoicequestions, which can assist teachers to manage large volumes ofmarking and feedback.Process skills assessmentsThis method of assessment component involves assessing students’understanding of concepts based on the practical skills that can be used, theevaluation of work done, and/or the reporting of information. These skillsinclude, for example:• interpretation skills• evaluation skills• reflection skills• communication skills (for example, writing, speaking, and listening).Types of assessment tasksUsing different assessment tasks is the way to make sure that students areable to demonstrate the range of their abilities in different contexts. Eachcategory has advantages in assessing different learning outcomes. For18