Teaching Secondary Science UG (12042.1)
Available teaching periods | Delivery mode | Location |
---|---|---|
View teaching periods | On-campus Placement |
Bruce, Canberra |
EFTSL | Credit points | Faculty |
0.25 | 6 | Faculty Of Education |
Discipline | Study level | HECS Bands |
Academic Program Area - Education | Level 3 - Undergraduate Advanced Unit | Band 1 2021 (Commenced After 1 Jan 2021) Band 1 2021 (Commenced Before 1 Jan 2021) |
Important Note: Students should only enrol in this unit if it matches their choice of disciplinary major. If in doubt, contact the Program Director or the Academic Programs Team at the Faculty of Education before enrolling in this unit.
Students should be aware that completing a disciplinary 'method' unit for which they will not meet NESA's Subject Content Knowledge Requirements for Secondary Teaching at the point of course completion may lead to problems when seeking to register as a teacher.
Learning outcomes
On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:1. Demonstrate an understanding of student development, how this affects student learning and implications for inclusive curriculum and teaching;
2. Demonstrate a broad knowledge and understanding of the structure of the Australian Curriculum for the discipline at Secondary and Senior Secondary levels and its significance to teaching and learning;
3. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the concepts, substance and structure of the content and teaching strategies needed in the discipline and within the Secondary and Senior Secondary classrooms;
4. Adopt a critically reflective approach to teaching and the related ability to plan for and implement teaching, learning and assessment strategies that inform and have a positive impact on learners within the discipline;
5. Identify and implement strategies to support inclusive student participation and engagement in classroom activities;
6. Implement assessment strategies, including informal and formal, diagnostic, formative and summative approaches to assess and report student learning;
7. Organise and manage classroom activities and behaviour, provide clear directions, and maintain a supportive and safe learning environment; and
8. Engage with professional colleagues, and professional learning, to maintain a productive working environment and to improve professional practice.
Graduate attributes
1. UC graduates are professional - communicate effectively1. UC graduates are professional - employ up-to-date and relevant knowledge and skills
1. UC graduates are professional - use creativity, critical thinking, analysis and research skills to solve theoretical and real-world problems
2. UC graduates are global citizens - think globally about issues in their profession
2. UC graduates are global citizens - adopt an informed and balanced approach across professional and international boundaries
2. UC graduates are global citizens - behave ethically and sustainably in their professional and personal lives
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - reflect on their own practice, updating and adapting their knowledge and skills for continual professional and academic development
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - be self-aware
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - adapt to complexity, ambiguity and change by being flexible and keen to engage with new ideas
Prerequisites
Must have passed 36 credit points including 10425 Curriculum - Assessment, Planning and Reporting AND one of the following:- 10450 Ways of Knowing, Being and Doing in Education
- 12034 Being a Teacher
- 9919 The Educational Workplace
Corequisites
None.Incompatible units
None.Equivalent units
None.Assumed knowledge
None.Year | Location | Teaching period | Teaching start date | Delivery mode | Unit convener |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2024 | Bruce, Canberra | Semester 1 | 05 February 2024 | On-campus | Mr Benjamin Mudie |
2024 | Bruce, Canberra | Semester 2 | 29 July 2024 | On-campus | Mr Benjamin Mudie |
2025 | Bruce, Canberra | Semester 1 | 03 February 2025 | Placement | Mr Benjamin Mudie |
2025 | Bruce, Canberra | Semester 2 | 28 July 2025 | Placement | Mr Benjamin Mudie |
Required texts
Recommended Reading:
- Woolcott, G. and Whannell, R. (2018), Teaching Secondary Science: Theory and Practice. Cambridge University Press.
Additional resources will be made available on the unit Canvas site.
Submission of assessment items
Extensions & Late submissions
Whenever possible all assessment items will be submitted online via the unit Canvas site. Standard statement to apply. Where this is not possible, exceptions may be sought from the Faculty Associate Dean Education (ADE).
Approval of extenuating circumstances will be dependent upon the production of supporting documentation and at the discretion of the unit convener.
All assessment items required to be submitted online must be submitted via the appropriate Canvas drop box. It is the student's responsibility to upload the correct and corresponding draft or assessment item to the right submission section. Assignments must be submitted in a format accessible to the assessor(s), as stated on the relevant canvas site. . If the unit convener and/or tutor are unable to access a submission, or if no submission has been made by the due date and time, a standard late penalty of 10% of the total marks possible for the task may be applied per day, for three days, after which the submission will receive a score of ‘0' in keeping with UC's Assessment Policy.
When developing your lesson plans, it is encouraged that you are using your skills in lesson planning and design to create engaging and rich lesson resources. Using materials from commercial sites such as TPT, Twinkl, Sparkle Box etc. is not desirable in this unit. If you adapt resources from commercial sites and sources, please note this in your lesson planning and resource development.
Special assessment requirements
Normally an aggregate mark of 50% is required to pass the unit.
Teaching Performance Assessment (TPA)
All preservice teachers are required to pass all four elements of the AfGT to demonstrate that the Australian Professional Standards for Graduate Teachers are met. Meeting the Graduate Teacher Standards enables the preservice teacher to graduate from the respective accredited programs of learning. The preservice teacher cannot graduate unless they have satisfactorily completed the AfGT and all other course assessment tasks.
It may be necessary for academics to make ‘on balance' judgements about whether each Element has been passed – that is, judgements about whether the preservice teacher has achieved below, at or above the Standard. To make on-balance judgements, assessors draw on assessment data to make defensible judgements about the preservice teacher's learning (Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority, 2019; Australian Curriculum Assessment & Reporting Authority, 2019; AITSL, 2017)
If, on balance, preservice teachers do not meet the Graduate Standard for any or all Elements of the TPA, following moderation, they will be given one chance to resubmit requested elements to demonstrate their achievement of the Standards required. After this, if the Graduate Standards have not been satisfactorily met on balance, preservice teachers will receive a ‘fail' grade for the TPA and be referred to the Program Director and/or the ADE for guidance as to next steps.
Please note that the University takes student conduct very seriously. All documentation provided to University staff must be valid and the provision of fraudulent documentation carries with it potentially serious consequences, including suspension and/or exclusion from the University. Note that all allegations of student misconduct will be referred to the Associate Dean for Education (ADE) as a prescribed authority for investigation.
Students must apply academic integrity in their learning and research activities at UC. This includes submitting authentic and original work for assessments and properly acknowledging any sources used.
Academic integrity involves the ethical, honest and responsible use, creation and sharing of information. It is critical to the quality of higher education. Our academic integrity values are honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility and courage.
UC students have to complete the Academic Integrity Module annually to learn about academic integrity and to understand the consequences of academic integrity breaches (or academic misconduct).
UC uses various strategies and systems, including detection software, to identify potential breaches of academic integrity. Suspected breaches may be investigated, and action can be taken when misconduct is found to have occurred.
Information is provided in the Academic Integrity Policy, Academic Integrity Procedure, and University of Canberra (Student Conduct) Rules 2023. For further advice, visit Study Skills.
Learner engagement
You will be working in small groups to plan and deliver lessons during the school-based workshops. This means that you will need to prioritise shared planning time together outside of the workshops (face to face or online) so that you have shared and equitable contribution to this work.
This means that you will attend and participate in a three-hour workshop each week and additional hours will be composed of shared planning with your peers, undertaking reading and planning individually and researching for your assignment tasks.
Reading and private study: 180 hours
Workshop participation and school clinic attendance: 60 hours
Assessment tasks: 60 hours
Participation requirements
Professional Experience
Successful completion of the professional experience component is critical to success in the whole unit. Refer to assessment (5a) on the Canvas site for further details. Students must make themselves familiar with the processes and policies of professional experience.
On Campus and School Based Clinics
Participation in ‘school based' tutorial classes is a compulsory condition of this unit, and attendance will be recorded. You must participate in 100% of the ‘school based' tutorial classes to pass this unit. In the event that you cannot attend your assigned session due to illness or extreme circumstances, you must provide appropriate documentation to the Unit Convener as soon as possible. In the case of sessions missed due to illness or extreme circumstances, both the academic content and the professional experience component are required to be made up. More than two documented absences may lead to failure of the unit due to non-completion.
*Note: This unit commences with weeks 1 on campus and weeks 2 to 7 will be school-based to meet accreditation requirements of 3 days professional experience
Unit Engagement
There is a strong correlation between participation and success in higher education. Your participation and engagement with all unit activities will enhance your understanding of this unit's content and therefore the quality of your assessment responses. Lack of participation may result in your inability to satisfactorily pass assessment items.
Required IT skills
Students may utilise a range of tools during their teaching and should familiarise themselves with classroom-based technologies.
Artificial intelligence services must not to be used for assessment or assessment preparation by students unless explicitly allowed in the assessment instructions for an assessment task published with the assessment task and/or in the unit outline. That is, an artificial intelligence services may only be used if:
- its use is authorised by the unit convener as part of a specified
assessment task, and - it is used in the way allowed in the assessment instructions and/or unit outline, and
- its use is appropriately referenced, meaning that students must reference the use of AI in their assessment in the same way as they reference other source material.
In-unit costs
You may wish to purchase a UC Education polo shirt, available from the UC Shop at your own expense. This is encouraged to be worn to all workshops - campus and schools based.
Work placement, internships or practicums
This unit involves work integrated learning: Placement or Internship and Professional Practicum. Students must adhere to University policy during WIL activities, including the Student Conduct Rules 2018, the WIL Policy and WIL Procedure, and the Assessment Policy and Assessment Procedure.
For teaching degrees, students need to ensure they have their WWCC, WWVP, COVID vaccination status and evidence of PSTR uploaded to InPlace.
This unit involves professional practicum and therefore, additional student responsibilities are required in addition to those described in section 6. Workplace learning requires strict adherence to professional practice principles and ethics. School student and staff confidentiality must always be maintained (refer policies on ATES - Professional Experience Handbook, ACT ED Teachers' Code of Professional Practice (or equivalent) and Student Conduct Rules), including for assessment items such as reports or essays. This applies to staff and patrons of any outside agency where an internship or other WIL activity is taking place. The professional nature of this unit also requires 100% participation at all learning activities (workshops, practicals etc. as scheduled – see Section 3) for the successful completion of this unit (also see Section 6c). If attendance requirements cannot be satisfied (e.g., timetable clash), it is recommended that you contact the Academic Programs Team to discuss re-scheduling this unit.
You are also required to complete details in InPlace, refer to inplace.canberra.edu.au. If you have any queries related to InPlace please contact placement@canberra.edu.au.
Additional information
Provision of information to the group
Notifications through the Canvas Announcements Forum or the Canvas Discussion Forums are deemed to be made to the whole class. It is the responsibility of the student to ensure that they check for announcements on the Unit's Canvas website (forum messages are also emailed to student email addresses only). Students should ensure they check their student email regularly. The Canvas discussion forums will be checked by staff regularly.
Use of student email account
The University Email policy states that "students wishing to contact the University via email regarding administrative or academic matters need to send the email from the University account for identity verification purposes". Therefore all unit enquiries should be emailed using a student university email account. Students should contact servicedesk@canberra.edu.au if they have any issues accessing their university email account.
Research Led Education: There are active researchers teaching this unit who are able to engage students in deep and active learning and transmit to students their passion for the research they are carrying out.