Overview

For this task, we are designing a learning activity for a small group of students.

• Choose any subject area we prefer

• Activity should be engaging, interactive, and based on student-centred, constructivist approaches to education.

• The activity can last 20-60 minutes

• Do not design a whole lesson, just one activity

• May be broken into parts like:

  • Introductory section

  • middle part

  • conclusive section that might have a check for learning assessment

1. Activity Plan

   • Design and activity plan using the provided template

   • 500-600 words

   • Provide a description of:

     • The context of the activity, where and how it should be done, and what subject area it is.

     • Include any other relevant information teachers may need to know about.

     • YOu may reference the Australian Curriculum 8.4 or 9.0, or the Queensland Syllabus documents.

     • What is the intended learning outcomes of this activity? What do you think your students will be able to do/understand by the end of the activity?

     • Provide a description of what the students will be doing. What are you asking your students to do at each phase of the activity? Are they working alone, in groups, or pairs? Will there be opportunities for self-checking on progress?

     • Provide an outline of support that the teacher will provide while students complete the activity plan using. How will you help the students complete the activity? How will you introduce the activity and guide the students? How will you check on their progress?

2. Design Justification

   • 1000 - 1200 words

   • Cover the following:

     • a description of the learning and development theories that underpins your design

     • Justify why the development and learning theories were chosen, provide specific details of theory concepts, ideas, and strategies and link them specifically with the steps and phases in your design.

     • How have you drawn on the theories to inform the decisions you made while designing he activity? Include specific details of theory concepts, ideas, and strategies.

     • What is the range of teaching strategies that will be needed to be employed during the activity?

     • Justify the resources selected for use in the activity.

     • You MUST include a REFLECTION. What has this task helped you to understand about how learning and development theories inform practices?

   • A minimum of FOUR references must be used to support your justification.

Tips

• Start with a particular concept for scaffolding learning, for example Guided Participation, Reciprocal Teaching, Gradual Release of Responsibility. These examples are all based on the idea that learning is a step-by-step process.

• Pick a subject - you can pick a subject you liked or did in High School, and/or pick a subject you think you will be teaching in your career as a secondary school teacher.

• You may want to have a look at the Australian Curriculum Australian Curriculum 8.4 or 9.0, or Queensland Syllabus documents for ideas on topics. This may help you decide on a topic for your activity that is age and year-level approriate. Consider that 20-60 minutes for your activity are very short, keep the topic for the activity very small and specific. You will not be graded on your knowledge of the Australian Curriculum or any other curriculum documents, but you can use them to help you get ideas.

• Develop an activity around the concept for scaffolding learning that you have picked.

• While you develop your activity, consider the different theories and concepts we have discussed in the course. Include some of the concepts in what you want to do in your activity, e.g. peer learning, stages of development (which stage of development is the activity relevant for?), including students with atypical development in physical, cognitive or social-emotional domains, and so on.

• Considering these activities and concepts while you are planning for the steps or your activity will help you write the justification.