Unit Synopsis
Learning and teaching in the latter middle years of learning (Years 7 to 9) in selected learning areas, is the focus of this unit. The influences, interpretation and implementation of lower secondary school curriculum frameworks are examined critically for the purposes of designing effective pedagogies. A range of topics is examined including curriculum development, teaching and learning resources, teaching strategies, pedagogical approaches, assessment and school work programs relevant to the pre-service teacher’s two teaching areas. Critical use is made of relevant sources of information including curriculum and policy documents to promote professional teaching through the selection of appropriate teachable content to enable the design of quality learning experiences using a range of pedagogies and the development of assessment strategies that promote learning in lower secondary school contexts.
Details
| Level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 2 |
| Credit Points | 12 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 1 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.25 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
Students must have successfully accumulated 48 credit points to be eligible to enrol in this unit. This includes the successful completion of 1 x Level 1 and 1 x Advanced level unit per Discipline Teaching Area. Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework). |
| Class Timetable | View Unit Timetable |
| Residential School | No Residential School |
Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026
Term 2 - 2026 Profile
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 12-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 25 hours of study per week, making a total of 300 hours for the unit.
Assessment Tasks
| Assessment Task | Weighting |
|---|---|
| 1. Portfolio | 50% |
| 2. Portfolio | 50% |
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).
Past Exams
All University policies are available on the Policy web site, however you may wish to directly view the following policies below.
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of policies are available on the Policy web site .
Term 2 - 2025 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 93.75% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 23.88% response rate.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Source: Student Evaluation
Require more 'real world' examples of unit / lesson plans.
More best practice examples of unit plans and lesson plans to be annotated and present in content and lectures.
In Progress
Source: Student Evaluation
Consistency of learning across different Learning Areas.
Continual review of learning materials and tutorials across specific Learning Areas and more robust pre moderation with Tutors.
In Progress
Source: Student Unit Evaluations and UC Observations
Unit Content and Learning Materials
Provide further clarity on the organisation of Moodle learning materials to improve students’ online learning experiences.
Moodle Learning materials were updated to reflect ACv9.
Source: Student Unit Evaluations and UC Observations
Discipline Experts’ Feedback
Continue to work with Discipline Experts to provide students with supportive feedback to ensure consistency.
Increased communication between UC and Tutors to enhance consistency across Learning Areas.
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Use and understand curriculum frameworks relevant to your two teaching areas at a lower secondary school level
- Engage with teaching and learning resources relevant to your two teaching areas at a lower secondary school level
- Interpret and manipulate teaching strategies relevant to your two teaching areas at a lower secondary school level
- Design pedagogies appropriate for the implementation of your relevant curriculum frameworks
- Outline assessment strategies both formative and summative relevant to your two teaching areas at a lower secondary school level
Successful completion of this unit provides opportunities for students to engage with the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (Graduate Career Stage) focus areas of:
1.5 Differentiate teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of abilities
2.1 Content and teaching strategies of the teaching area
2.2 Content selection and organisation
2.3 Curriculum, assessment and reporting
2.5 Literacy and numeracy strategies
3.2 Plan, structure and sequence learning programs
3.3 Use teaching strategies
3.4 Select and use resources
5.1 Assess student learning
7.2 Comply with legislative, administrative and organisational requirements
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Portfolio | • | • | • | • | • |
| 2 - Portfolio | • | • | • | • | • |
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Communication | • | • | • | • | • |
| 2 - Problem Solving | • | • | • | • | |
| 3 - Critical Thinking | • | ||||
| 4 - Information Literacy | • | • | |||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | • | • | • | ||
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |