Week 9: Assess the value of mapping skills in terms of summative assessment

Module focus: 9.8 The Human Story

As a teacher it's really important have the ability to map the skills taught throughout the year. By mapping the skills used in each activity teachers can ensure that everything is covered and know when they are covered so they can be assessed properly. This can be difficult to do, so the BOS has provided teachers with a mapping grid document that help teachers through the mapping process. This document is a good start but is limited in it's level of detail. I think it is a good overview and is best used in conjunction with skills mapping on each module programme.

With regard to the focus module, The human story module has lots of great opportunities to incorporate the skills necessary  However it is not so broad as to give teachers the freedom to incorporate every skill. As such teachers need to be prepared and map where they can teach, practice or consolidate each skill (NB: I met a teacher on prac that is very skills focused and actually does this stuff explicitly - it was very good) because this module will be their last chance to do so (because schools usually do electives last).


One aspecst of mapping I found especially important is the ability of teachers to map the skills assessed within assessments. This is really important, as it shapes how assessment questions are worded, developed, and what they specifically ask, as well as the construction of the assessment task as a whole. This is a much more involved, complex, and difficult idea of assessments compared to the naive view of just rummaging up a collection of questions to ask students (as I have seen on prac). Examples of mapping grids that accompany assessments are found with all HSC exams within the marking guidelines (Bio eg here, p23). it is good for beginning teachers to use these as a model, but also use critical thinking when applying skills and outcomes to questions because there is room for individual differences arising from different interpretations and perspectives.