New Advanced Higher Subject Implementation Events Modern Studies:

Unit Assessment at Advanced Higher

Unit Assessment – Recap Flexible and open Assessment Standards and Evidence

Requirements in Units

Greater range of techniques and methodologies for assessment – encouraged

Assessments can be designed to provide evidence across more than one outcome

More opportunities to gather naturally occurring evidence – assessment as part of learning and teaching

Unit Assessment Support Purpose

• Assess your candidates

• Adapt for your own assessment programmes

• Help you develop your own assessments

your own assessments

Unit Assessment Support at Advanced Higher – Key Features

• Valid from August 2015

• Complements and supports learning and teaching

• Assess competence against Unit Outcomes and Assessment Standards

• Designed to encourage professional judgement

• Provide broad-based tasks – allow assessors to choose appropriate context and forms of evidence

• Show range of approaches to generating assessment evidence

• Requirements to pass Unit assessment are aligned with requirements of Course assessment (marking instructions)

Unit Assessment Support at Advanced Higher – Approaches

Package 1 •Contemporary Issues – Social Inequality. Unit by Unit approach•Researching Contemporary Issues - Portfolio approachPackage 2 •Contemporary Issues – Political Issues. Unit by Unit approachPackage 3 •Contemporary Issues – Law and Order. Unit by Unit approach•Contemporary Issues - Portfolio approach

Assessment Support Packages

Unit Assessment Support Pack 1 consists of two documents

Each document includes: advice on task/promptsExamples of candidate responsesAdvice/examples of using evidence to meet multiple Assessment Standards

Unit Assessment Support

1. Contemporary Issues

•Task is in the context of Social Inequality•Exemplifies minimum competence to pass Unit assessment•Judging Evidence Table includes examples of appropriate candidate responses•Advice on re-assessment, conditions, judging evidence etc, consistent with National 3 – Higher•Exemplifies alternative contexts

Unit Assessment Support

2. Researching Contemporary Issues

Supports development of the skills necessary for

the Project

Evidence link to Project or

Evidence from discrete activities

Advice on meeting each Assessment Standard

Unit Assessment Support

2. Researching Contemporary Issue (continued)Consistency across Social SubjectsCross-disciplinary learning Avoiding over-assessment – one piece of evidence may meet multiple Assessment StandardsDisseration will not provide sufficient evidence for Unit assessment

Workshop 1Unit Assessment

Using the materials provided, in small groups of 2-3, discuss: Identify subject-specific topics for discussion

Workshop Aims To understand the assessment and evidence requirements of

Unit Assessment To consider a range of ways of generating evidence for the

Unit Assessment Support provided

Using the materials provided, in small groups of 2-3, discuss:

Definitions of skills and descriptions of minimum competence Avoiding over-assessment (e.g. using one piece of evidence to

meet multiple Assessment Standards) Renewed focus on the Researching Unit – what will this mean

for your practice? 

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