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The report is a re-evaluation of a Stage 5 unit of Social Science Faculty – Commerce: Law in action. The
initial unit supplied was created for a comprehensive co-educational school in Western Sydney. The
recommended modifications of the unit are created with consideration of the school context and relevant
evidence -based research. The unit of work has been reconstructed based on Understanding by Design
(UbD) framework with integration of teaching approaches and resources that would allow students to
receive optimal learning opportunities and improve significantly on their academic performance.
Table of Content
Executive Summary................................................................................ 3
Objectives and Context .........................................................................................3
Goals .....................................................................................................................3
Recommendations.................................................................................................3
Background ............................................................................................ 3
Comparative table................................................................................... 4
Recommendations and conclusion ......................................................... 5
Reconstrcuted unit .................................................................................. 9
Scope and sequence ..............................................................................................9
Concept map .......................................................................................................11
New assessment ..................................................................................................11
Unit of work ........................................................................................................13
Reference.............................................................................................. 18
APPENDIX .......................................................................................... 20
Executive Summary
This unit was taught in the Year 10 (Stage 5) Commerce class. The class has 19 female students and 5 male
students. This is a mixed-ability class; there are gifted and talented students as well as students with very
low writing ability and numeracy level. Apart from this, one boy is diagnosed with Attention Deficit
Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). There are no students with Non-English Speaking Background. Half of the
class comes from a low-socioeconomic background.
Goals
1. Address students’ literacy and numeracy skill through learning
2. Incorporate authentic learning to promote students’ creative and critical thinking ability
3. Promote students’ collaboration and communication skills through learning
Recommendations
As the classroom is considered diverse in terms of learning ability, the following recommendations are
proposed to ensure the implementation of inclusive education. The recommendations focus on literacy and
numeracy skills, creative and critical thinking ability and personal and social capabilities
- Provide effective and explicit instructional support to make sure that students receive adequate
scaffolding and modelling
- Improve instructional approaches to promote students’ critical thinking ability and creativity
- Modify classroom activities to allow students to collaborate and communicate
Background
Jamison high school is a comprehensive, co-educational school located in South Penrith in Western Sydney.
About 1000 students are enrolled ranging from Year 7 to 12. Commerce is offered as an elective subject
from Y7-10. Legal Studies, Business Studies and Economics are offered in Year 11 and 12,
The percentage of female and male students from the school is relatively even, with 47% and 53%
respectively. Students who speaks a language other than English (LBOTE) accounts for 16% of the total
population and students who are identified as Indigenous or Torres Strait Islander represents 8% of the total
population. In terms of socioeconomic status, School Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage
(ICSEA) is 963, which is slight below the Average ICSEA value of 1,000. 42% of parents are in the bottom
quarter of all the earners while only 5% of parents are in the top quarter.
Comparative table
Area of Strengths of the area of Concerns of the area of Suggested Changes to Research support for the changes
consideration consideration consideration counteract concerns suggested.
The need for basic literacy skill The focus of literacy skill is at its Provide students with more Students’ ability to write can be
is considered in the unit of basic level. Students with low level of writing opportunities. Some improved through teachers’ effective
Literacy work. writing skill are not catered for. writing instructions teachers can writing instruction and demonstration of
Similarly, student with ADHD has use are summarizing main ideas examples and provision of detailed as
more difficulty in completing writing from reading, collaborative and well as relevant feedback (Read and
task; however, the students’ need is individual writing, etc. Landon-Hays, 2013).
not addressed. Provide students with more
Students have more exposure to modelling and scaffolding, e.g.
receptive skills (reading)than examples of writings, explicitly
productive (writing) explain writing process step by
step.
Encourage peer review for
effective feedback.
The original unit of work Numeracy is left out in the unit of Make connection between in- Students’ interests and motivations in
showed a minimal inclusion of work. Throughout the unit teaching, class learning and real-life learning mathematics, their attitude
Numeracy numeracy students did not have any exposure to situations to allow students to use toward mathematics and their ability to
maths-related material. It is a major mathematical skills. For example, transfer their mathematics skills outside
concern for the unit of work. use authentic statistical data the classroom will be increased if there
online to graph crime statistics is an explicit connection between maths
and use tools of mathematics to in school and real-life context. Using
express their understanding real-life problems can increase students’
through analysis and evaluation conceptual learning, ability to generalize
of the statistics. and develop their skills such as
reasoning and problem solving (Karakoc
and Alacaci, 2015).
No adequate strength of this The unit of work is primarily teacher- Incorporate classroom activities Authentic learning has been
aspect has been shown as centred. Students, especially gifted that would allow students to incorporated in the unit of work to
and talented students are not create and engage in higher-order provide opportunities for students to
Critical and students are given opportunities given adequate opportunities to fully thinking. For example, analyse experience real-life problems. While
Creative to engage low order of thing develop critical and creative thinking and evaluate data/scenario, solving the realistic problems, students
Thinking ability. synthesise main ideas from case are developing their critical thinking
Students with ADHD can be study and create own story, ability that allows them to develop
disengaged and become disruptive due problem-solving. creativity for new ideas and solutions
to lower order of thinking. (Zevin, 2013).
Students are given some Teacher’s dominance of the classroom Create stimulating, complex and Collaboration plays a major role in
Personal and opportunities to communicate gives students minimum chance to real-life problem-solving aiding students with fostering
Social with their peers through communicate and collaborate, which activities that promote interpersonal and social skills. Students
Capabilities activities such as group/class is not beneficial for students to collaboration and opportunities learn to respect differences and other’s
discussions and role play develop interpersonal skills for discussion. perspectives. when students work
Including student with ADHD in collaboratively in a commerce class, the
small group activity and think- study inform their personal identity and
pair-share help the student to sense of belonging so that they will find
develop relationship with their way to give back to the community and
peers the society (ACARA, 2014).
The unit of work provided in The next three facets of UbD Incorporate classroom activities Wiggins & McTighe (2012) argues that
the Appendix was designed framework are missing – perspective, that would allow for perspective, the implementation of the six facets
Understanding based on the lessons that were empathy and self-knowledge; it empathy and self-knowledge offered by UbD framework allows
by Design taught. hinders teachers’ comprehensive Incorporate formative and students to achieve the optimal of
The strength of the unit of work understanding of how students learn. summative assessments based on learning.
is that desired results (syllabus Lack of formative and summative authentic performance-based
outcomes) are clearly identified assessments to assess if students have tasks to allow teachers to collect
for each lesson, so content acquired the knowledge and if they evidence of students’ learning.
priorities are clarified. are able to apply their newly gained Some examples of formative
According to the six facets of skills in real life situations. assessment are tests, quizzes,
UbD framework, the first three discussion.
namely explanation,
interpretation and application
are evident in the unit of work
The original unit of work was not provided, and a concept map was also missing. A scope and sequence was
supplied and it clearly demonstrated how this unit would fit in the teaching of the Commerce 7-10 Syllabus
for the year; however, summative assessment was not designed for the unit. Without clear learning
outcomes, teaching instructions and effective assessments, students’ learning progression cannot be easily
tracked and their engagement in the classroom can be difficult to stimulate. Thus, the purpose of this report
is to demonstrate how the reconstructed unit of work, concept map and assessment can enhance students’
The first recommendation to make is to create a concept map and provide it to teachers and students. A
concept map plays a significant role in assisting teachers to promote students’ comprehension of the learning
material as well as improve students’ understanding of new concepts (Vodovozov and Raud, 2014). The
provision of a concept map helps teachers and students group information and make connections between
each information. More importantly, it helps students identify the knowledge and skills they have acquired
and make connection between the new concepts they are learning with their prior knowledge. As a result,
The second recommendation to provide is to reconstruct the unit of work based on the three-stage backward
planning process offered by the Understanding by Design (UbD) framework. According to Wiggins and
McTighe (2005), teachers cannot plan how to teach until they figure out what they want their students to
learn. Thus, by having clear understanding of what need to be taught ensures teachers to develop a unit of
work that would teach students the skills and knowledge they need to achieve the ultimate learning goals.
Moreover, UbD framework highlights the importance for teachers to collect evidence of students’ learning.
Only by assessing students’ understanding of knowledge through effective assessments can teachers know if
their students have achieved the desired results. Therefore, a summative assessment is created at the end of
the unit to assess students’ understanding and ability to transfer the knowledge and skills to a new situation.
Also, the marking criteria also created to help students better understand the expectations for them. The
summative task is drawn on real-life application that would engage students and help them develop
connectedness between classroom content and real-life context. Furthermore, it is noted that backward
design reminds teachers to consider the assessment evidence implied by the outcomes rather than thinking
about it as a primarily tool that generates grades (Wiggins and McTighe, 2005). As such, evidence of
students’ learning should also be collected along the way of teaching and learning experience, using a range
of approaches and formats. Incorporation of informal checks for understanding, tests and quizzes and
performance tasks are examples of effective assessments. In addition, UbD also ensures that the design of
assessments is directly related to the learning goals and provide information on students’ level of
understanding that guide teachers to reflect on their previous teaching practice (Minbiole, 2016).
When designing teaching instructions in the classroom, the UbD framework suggests that the teaching
instruction must be highly-relevant and effective in order to teach students to acquire the knowledge and
skill that will be needed to achieve the learning goals that are set out in the assessments (Childre, Sandas and
Pope, 2015). UbD framework offers the following six facets: explanation, interpretation, application,
perspective, empathy and self-knowledge. They are the indicators of students’ ability to transfer their
learning. In the original unit of work, only the first three elements were applied. Inclusion of the missing
components – perspective, empathy and self-knowledge can provide a holistic manifestation of students’
ability to transfer learnings. Collaborative activities such as group discussion/research, think-pair-share and
peer assessment are created to promote perspective and empathy. In regard to self-knowledge, the last
component that is omitted, self-reflection and self-evaluation can aid students to develop self-knowledge.
The inclusion of perspective and empathy also promote the development of students’ skills in terms of
critical and creative thinking, personal and social capacity. When students can demonstrate perspective, they
become critical thinkers. Instead of accepting a single answer from the teacher or peers, they can offer
different perspectives on the same ideas; Empathy requires students to respect and value differences. Having
empathy in individual students can foster an equal, positive and respectful learning environment. Being
empathetic is also in line with the concept of “inclusive education”, only when students develop their
empathetic understanding can they truly accept and appreciate each other, regardless of their background.
Another recommendation for the unit of work is that the classroom teaching needs to be learner-centred. The
concept of learner-centred approach lies in the field of constructivism (Bada, 2015). Bada (2015) suggested
that from the perspective of constructivists, learners learn actively rather than passively. Hence, students
should be given opportunities to engage in self-directed learning. Examples of activities such as giving
students autonomy to choose the case study or scenario they want to work on is an effective way to help
student build a sense of ownership of their own learning. Moreover, constructivism also argued that students
construct new concept based on their prior knowledge and experience. Examples of brainstorming a new
concept before it is taught help teachers to know about students’ prior knowledge. To know students and
how they learn is also consistent with the Australian standards of professional teaching – standard 1: know
Critical and creative thinking is another aspect to consider in the reconstruction of the unit of work.
According to Bransford and Stein (as cited in Collins, 2014), problem-solving is the key mechanism to
foster higher-order thinking. Hence, activities such as asking students in groups to solve a problem in a legal
case study is integrated in the unit of work. Teachers’ scaffolding is an important component in building
students’ critical thinking (Rob, Tony and Alison, 2011). They suggested that scaffolding from teachers and
conversation with peers allow students to extend their Zone of Proximal development for critical thinking.
The last recommendation that was provided is that of the improvement on students’ literacy and numeracy.
Numeracy, as one of the general capabilities focused by ACARA, has been ignored completely in the
original unit of work. Providing students with the opportunities to access realistic sets of data online can
help them to make connections within and across the area of mathematics; it also develops their skills in
mathematical modelling through exploration, interpretation and explanation of the data (Karakoc and
Alacaci, 2015).
The writing component of literacy is a big concern in the original unit of work. Students, who continue their
studying in Legal Studies/Business Studies and Economic, are facing extensive written responses in HSC
exam papers. To succeed in the high-stake exam, teachers should help students improve their writing skills.
In the revised unit of outcome, students are given a lot of opportunities to write in a variety of forms.
Moreover, explicit instruction, scaffolding and modelling are then provided to the students with peer review
To conclude, this reconstructed unit of work addresses the drawbacks of the original unit of work. Even
though variables such as students’ dynamic and resources can potentially hinder the implementation of the
unit of work, the modifications that would lead to optimal academic performance as well as social and
New assessment
This assessment is a summative assessment that will be given to students by the end of the unit.
COMMERCE ASSESSMENT 2
Weighting: 15%
Each group find ONE article or item that shows a current issue in relation to law in action.
You must:
Each group writes a report, focusing on examining current issues and how law affects individuals and the society
Assessment rubrics
UNIT OUTLINE
SUBJECT: COMMERCE STAGE: 5 YEAR 10 NUMBER OF WEEKS: 4 weeks
UNIT TITLE: LAW IN ACTION
KEY CONCEPTS/BIG IDEAS The importance of this learning
Nature of legal capacity
Criminal law This unit enables students to examine individual rights
Civil law and responsibilities in a variety rang of contexts in
which they may come in contact with the law.
Individual rights and responsibilities
Strategies to resolve disputes
Unit context within scope and sequence Targeted syllabus and life skill outcomes
This unit is the first optional topic for Stage 5 Year 10 5.3 examines the role of law in society
that helps students to identify their rights and 5.4 analyses key factors affecting commercial and legal
responsibilities in regard to the law. decisions
5.5 evaluates options for solving commercial and legal
problems and issues
5.6 monitors and modifies the implementation of plans
designed to solve commercial and legal problems and
issues
5.7 researches and assess commercial and legal
information using a variety or sources
5.8 explains commercial and legal information using a
variety of forms
Works independently and collaboratively to meet
individual and collective goals within specified
timelines.
Literacy focus Numeracy focus ICT focus Personal and social Critical and creative
capability thinking
Teach concepts in Incorporate Be effective and
forms of verbal, numerical concepts responsible for use Collaborative Analyse and assess
written, graphic, in the lesson to of technology learning is required different given
using a variety range enhance to achieve both scenarios
of subject specific understanding of individual and
terminology numeracy collective goals
Students learn to
Research areas of the law that affect young persons
Week 1 5.7 researches and assesses commercial and legal use kahoot to assess Internet
P3 information using a variety of sources students’ prior knowledge Computers/laptop
on road law and pet law s/Ipads
5.8 explains commercial and legal information using share real-life experience Website link
a variety of forms regarding the law A4 paper
in pairs, internet search the Colour pens
5.9 works independently and collaboratively to meet consequences applied to
individual and collective goals within specified breach of the law
timelines each pair interprets findings
Students learn to
Research areas of the law that affect young persons
Week 1 5.8 explains commercial and legal information using produce a half- page Pens
P4 a variety of forms writing on the topic “The Paper
legal age for admission to a Timer
5.9 works independently and collaboratively to meet licensed club should be
individual and collective goals within specified lowered to 16 years
timelines scaffolding students’
writing by examples and
Students learn about: instructions
- The nature of legal capacity peer review and provide
feedback
Students learn to
Research areas of the law that affect young persons
Week 2 5.4 analyses key factors affecting commercial and define criminal law Internet
P1 legal decisions create a concept map to Computers/Ipads/
show types of crimes phones
5.7 researches and assesses commercial and legal compare legal age for an
information using a variety of sources adult to commit a crime in
different contexts
5.8 explains commercial and legal information using share real life experience
a variety of forms
Week 2 5.7 researches and assesses commercial and legal outline the key elements in Internet
P2 information using a variety of sources a crime
watch McConnell case Computers/Ipads/
5.8 explains commercial and legal information using online phones
a variety of forms summarize key ideas of the
case
5.9 works independently and collaboratively to meet set up class for a court
individual and collective goals within specified setting
timelines role play the process of the
court
Students learn about:
- contact to the criminal law
students learn to:
- use a range of cases to examine the levels of
responsibility that apply to young people as
accused, witness and victim
Week 2 5.4 analyses key factors affecting commercial and in pairs, use internet to Internet
P3 legal decisions collect data on crime Computers/Ipads/
statistic in Australia for the phones cenario
5.8 explains commercial and legal information using past 10 years examples
a variety of forms use word processor to
record to data
5.9 works independently and collaboratively to meet writing a paragraph to
individual and collective goals within specified analyse the data and the
timelines possible reasons for the
trend
Students learn about: scaffolding students’
- elements needed to be proven for a person to writing by examples and
be convicted of a crime instructions
students learn to:
- identify elements needed to be proven for a
person to be convicted of a crime
Week 2 5.4 analyses key factors affecting commercial and create concept map to show Internet
P4 legal decisions types of punishment Computers/Ipads/
compare types of phones
5.9 works independently and collaboratively to meet punishment in Ancient and
individual and collective goals within specified Modern Australia
timelines explain each type of
punishment
Student learn about: use worksheet to assess
- punishment for crimes students’ demonstration of
student learn to: each type of punishment
- discuss appropriate punishments for a range
of crimes
Week 3 5.4 analyses key factors affecting commercial and in pairs, use resources in Internet
P1 legal decisions the library to search Computers/Ipads/
information on Ronald phones
5.9 works independently and collaboratively to meet Ryan case Paper
individual and collective goals within specified synthesise the key ideas of Pens
timelines the case from variety of
sources
Student learn about: discuss how justice the case
- punishment for crimes was
verbally present answers in
student learn to: the class
- discuss appropriate punishments for a range
of crimes
Week 3 5.8 explains commercial and legal information using internet search Internet
P2 a variety of forms imprisonment rate in each Computers/Ipads/
state phones
Paper
Pens
5.9 works independently and collaboratively to meet use work processor to
individual and collective goals within specified create a bar graph to
timelines illustrate the date
examine the imprisonment
Student learn about: rate in each state
- punishment for crimes write a paragraph to
compare the results
student learn to: between each state and
- discuss appropriate punishments for a range explain the reason
of crimes
Week 3 5.3 examines the role of law in society watch video about police Internet
P3 arresting process Computers/Ipads/
5.9 works independently and collaboratively to meet in groups, identify the steps phones
individual and collective goals within specified involved when police scenarios
timelines arresting people
create a concept map to
Student learn about: show people’s rights and
- punishment for crimes obligations when being
arrested
student learn to: in groups, solve problem in
- discuss appropriate punishments for a range given scenario
of crimes
Week 3 5.7 researches and assesses commercial and legal in groups, internet search a Internet
P4 information using a variety of sources current issue relating to the Computers/Ipads/
law in action phones
5.8 explains commercial and legal information using each group presents their
a variety of forms finding, using PPT,
Powtoon or role play
5.9 works independently and collaboratively to meet
individual and collective goals within specified
timelines
Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AISTL). (2014). Australian Professional
for-teachers/standards/list
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2014). Personal and social capacity.
capabilities/personal-and-social- capability/
Bada, S, O. (2015). Constructivism Learning Theory: A Paradigm for Teaching and Learning. IOSR Journal
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/1c75/083a05630a663371136310a30060a2afe4b1.pdf
Childre, A., Sands, J, R., & Pope, S, T. (2015). Backward design. Teaching exceptional children, 41(5), 6-
https://www.cec.sped.org/~/media/Files/Policy/IDEA/IDEA40/TEACHING%20Exceptional%20Chi
ldren2009Childre614.pdf
Collins, R. (2014). Skills for the 21st century: teaching higher-order thinking. Curriculum Leadership
http://www.curriculum.edu.au/leader/teaching_higher_order_thinking,37431.html?issueID=12910
Julie, M. (2016). Improving course coherence and assessment rigor: “understanding by design” in a
nonmajors biology course. The American Biology Teacher 78(6):463-470. Retrieved from:
http://abt.ucpress.edu/content/78/6/463
Karakoc, G., & Alacaci, C. (2015). Real world connections in high school mathematics curriculum teaching.
Turkish Journal of Computer and Mathematics Education, 6(1), 31-46. Retrieved from:
http://dergipark.gov.tr/download/article-file/201370
Read, S., & Landon-Hays, M, M. (2013). The knowing/doing gap: challenges of effective writing instruction
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Vodovozov, V., & Raud, Z. (2014). Concept maps for teaching, learning and assessment in electronics.
Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design (pp. 13-34). United State of America,
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Zevin, J. (2013). Creative teaching for all (pp. 43-56). United Kingdom, Rowman & Littlefield Education.
APPENDIX
UNIT OF WORK
P2 5.7 researches and assesses commercial - compare minimum age requirements of a variety of
and legal information using a variety of activities in Australia
sources
- compare the current minimum age requirement and
5.8 explains commercial and legal the minimum age requirements 10 years ago
information using a variety of forms
5.9 works independently and
collaboratively to meet individual and
collective goals within specified timelines
P3 5.7 researches and assesses commercial - discuss road law and pet law
and legal information using a variety of
sources - discuss consequences applied to the breach of the
law
5.8 explains commercial and legal
information using a variety of forms
5.8 explains commercial and legal - compare legal age for an adult to commit a crime
information using a variety of forms in different contexts
5.9 works independently and - explain the changes on the number of crimes
collaboratively to meet individual and
collective goals within specified timelines
5.9 works independently and - discuss the reasons for different rate in each state
collaboratively to meet individual and
collective goals within specified timelines
P11 5.3 examines the role of law in society - identify the steps involved when police arresting
people
5.9 works independently and
collaboratively to meet individual and - show people’s rights and obligations when being
collective goals within specified timelines arrested
P13 5.3 examines the role of law in society - define the concept of civil law
5.9 works independently and - compare civil law and criminal law
collaboratively to meet individual and
collective goals within specified timelines
P14 5.3 examines the role of law in society - explain what contact is
5.9 works independently and - outline the features of a mobile phone contract
collaboratively to meet individual and
collective goals within specified timelines
P15 5.3 examines the role of law in society - define the concept of negligence
P16 5.3 examines the role of law in society - read article on negligence rate
5.9 works independently and - discuss the role of employees and employers
collaboratively to meet individual and
collective goals within specified timelines
3. ASSESSMENT
Assessment was not provided.
4. CONCEPT MAP
Concept map was not provided.