Integrated studies – Unit planOrder Description
Unit plan. Follow guidelines.

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EDU40007Integrated Studies
Teaching Period 3, 2015
EDU40007 Integrated Studies
Assessment 3: Integrated Unit Plan Word limit: 2500 words (+/-10%) Weighting: 50% Due date: 9am AEDT Monday 8 February 2016 (Week 12)
Assessment overview
This assessment requires you to plan an integrated unit of work and accompanying rationale. Your plan and rationale must demonstrate a clear connection between your planning choices and other information, such as class composition, previous learning experiences, etc.
Assessment details
This task allows you the freedom to choose an integrated approach that appeals to you and your beliefs about teaching and learning. Using your preferred approach to integration you are to plan an integrated unit of work that allows students to explore, in some depth, a question/problem of interest to them. Your plan must fit within specific disciplines and must align with the Australian curriculum including the general capabilities or your state’s curriculum framework.
For this submission, you will need to:
• Decide on a grade/year level to plan for
• Decide on a topic/issue/question to explore, using relevant curriculum documents as part of your decision-making process
• Brainstorm ideas about how you might tackle this topic and the strategies you might use to allow for exploration, engagement and learning
• Seek out some stimulus material – e.g. picture books, archival information/footage, images, photographs, sound recordings and include a list of these materials in your final submission (you can include hyperlinks to web-based materials)
Your integrated plan must include all of the following:
• The grade and a brief description of the cohort (no more than 100 words)
• The discipline areas/subjects to be integrated
• The curriculum framework/s used (e.g. Australian Curriculum, NSW Board of Studies, AusVels)
• The length of time the unit spans (number of weeks)
• The essential question, problem, or statement of understanding (depending on the approach to integration you take)
• The phases of the inquiry (if appropriate)
• Key resources (e.g. stimulus materials, picture books, guest speakers, computer programs)
• Opportunities for assessment, which should be highlighted throughout the unit
• The learning outcome/s (or learning/understanding goals) students will work towards, which will be drawn from the selected curriculum area/s
• A 150-200 word statement indicating what experience students already have in the curriculum areas you are integrating, relevant to the unit of work. This will act as a means of understanding where this unit/sequence sits (for example, at the beginning of their learning
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EDU40007Integrated Studies
about the specific focus you have selected, as a means of deepening their knowledge and understanding, or as a culminating unit of work)
• A unit overview outlining the ‘big picture’ of the unit, including key skills, understandings and skills that students will achieve by completing this unit.
• A list of stimulus materials/resources you plan to use. These resources must include specific details – for instance, the title of a book rather than simply stating that you will use a book.
• A 1000-word rationale justifying the decisions you have made in relation to the curriculum areas selected to explore a particular topic/question/issue, the use of stimulus material, links to learning outcomes, and assessment strategies/opportunities. The rationale must draw on current and relevant scholarly and professional literature and must include a description of the model of integration (Fogarty’s models) that fits most closely with your chosen approach.
* Please note: It is difficult to attribute exact word counts to unit plans. As such, please be guided by the weighting of the task (50%), and word counts for the various components.
Submission details
Please submit your assignment through Turnitin. More detailed information is available in the Assessment 1 folder in Blackboard.
Assessment criteria
1. Application of knowledge and understanding
2. Coherence of the unit overview and integrated unit plan
3. Justification of the decisions made as reflected in the rationale
4. Professional presentation
Your work will be assessed using the following marking guide:
Pass (P 50-59%) – In order to pass this assessment task, all components of the task must be submitted, the requirements of all criteria are met at a satisfactory level, and the submission is your original work unless indicated otherwise. Specifically this means that the plan demonstrates:
• Clear understanding of the ways in which students learn through an integrated approach.
• Appropriate activities for the nominated age group that provide opportunity for inquiry, engagement, exploration and assessment, that link to the topic and to the learning goals, and that support student learning and development.
• Considered thought in relation to the use of stimulus materials/resources
• Coherence across all aspects of the plan including the rationale, and the unit overview.
• A clear justification of the topic choice, relevance to the nominated curriculum framework/s, choice of learning experiences, and resources used. The plan and rationale demonstrates clarity of thinking in relation to teaching and learning using an integrated approach and adequately addresses students’ learning needs.
• Use of relevant and current scholarly and non-scholarly literature to justify decisions made.
• Correct citation where work is not the authors’ original work.
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EDU40007Integrated Studies
• Academic writing that is generally free from spelling and grammatical errors.
Credit (C 60-69%) – To be awarded a Credit students must fulfil all the requirements of the Pass level but with more sophistication. The main difference between a pass and a credit is in:
• The relevance of the selected integrated approach to the topic/question/issue being explored
• The level of understanding of integration evident in all areas of the plan
• The clarity of the plan’s overall structure, including the list of resources/stimulus materials
• The originality and creativity of the thinking through the planning process which inspires creative teaching and meaningful student learning and assessment
• The relevance, rigour and correctness of the evidence cited
• The correctness and clarity of the writing to communicate decisions made and knowledge of the curriculum areas selected for integration
• The professionalism of the submission
Distinction (D 70-79%) – to be awarded a Distinction for this task students must meet all the requirements of the Credit level, but with a level of discernment that demonstrates:
• In-depth knowledge and understanding of an approach to integration evidenced in the selection of specific strategies that foster exploration and learning
• In-depth knowledge and understanding of the curriculum focus selected, including opportunities for authentic assessment
• In-depth knowledge and understanding of the identified cohort and how the plan will extend and challenge their learning and development
• A sophisticated capacity for critical and creative thinking
• Wide reading of relevant, current, scholarly, research-based literature (including but not limited to textbooks) and highly developed capacity to integrate source material
• Engaging and lively writing that demonstrates high-level capacity to communicate decisions made, use of resources, justifications of particular aspects of the plan, and understanding of the cohort
High Distinction (HD 80-100%) – To be awarded an HD for this assignment students must meet all the requirements of the Distinction standard, outlined above, but to a highly sophisticated and insightful standard.
• The rationale is highly effective in justifying the topic choice, relevance to the nominated curriculum and choice of learning experiences and assessment, and this is consistent with the practical implementation, including the resources/stimulus materials used.
• The rationale is well-supported by appropriate literature and presents an insightful, mature and sophisticated discussion.
• Clarity of thinking in relation to teaching and learning is clearly evident and students’ learning needs have been thoughtfully considered.
• The plan and accompanying documentation (such as the rationale) is one that could be picked up by a relief teacher without the need for further discussion; it is complete, logically structured, and ‘do-able’. What students will do in each section of the plan is clear, engaging, creative, appropriate, and leads to learning. There is more of an emphasis on students’ learning than there is on them simply ‘having fun’.
• The integrated plan is professionally presented and obvious care and attention has been taken in its planning, editing, and proofreading.
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EDU40007Integrated Studies
If the assignment fails to reach a satisfactory standard on each criterion then it must be awarded a fail. If others’ ideas or words are included and not acknowledged (i.e. if the plan is not the student’s original work) the submission will be awarded a fail.