3.1 Establish challenging learning goals
Set learning goals that provide achievable challenges for students of varying abilities and characteristics.
3.2 Plan, structure and sequence learning programs
Plan lesson sequences using knowledge of student learning, content and effective teaching strategies.
3.3 Use teaching strategies
Include a range of teaching strategies.
Throughout my practical teaching experiences, I have been required to plan, structure, and sequence learning programs, employing various teaching strategies to ensure effective teaching and learning outcomes (3.2, 3.3). During my GTPA placement, I was required to develop a unit plan for the Year 9 HPE class that was the focus of my assignment.
The unit plan was to teach the Drugs and Alcohol unit of work as outlined by the Australian Curriculum for Year 9 (ACARA, 2018). The unit of work needed to include a sequence or lessons over a 5 week period to deliver the required content.
I developed the unit of work Artefact “Unit Plan”, which was based on Revised Blooms Taxonomy to develop the sequence of learning within the unit. Bloom’s Taxonomy was chosen due to its potential to foster deeper learning and the development of transferable skills and knowledge, particularly essential when designing a unit encompassing both theoretical and practical components (Adams, 2015). The unit was planned using backwards mapping (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005), starting with the requirements for assessment, and then planning the sequence of lessons to ensure that content to be assess has been taught to students. The pedagogical framework facilitated evidence-based learning as students’ progress through cognitive practices from lower to higher order (Adams, 2015), (3.2, 3.3).
As a result of my unit planning of content and lesson structure, the Year 9 Students were confident with their assessment, and subsequently received achievement standards above those expected. Not only did the students gain valuable understanding of the content for assessment, they will be able to use what they learnt in real world applications. I gained valuable experience whilst developing this unit of work as it linked the teaching to the assessment, seeing the students learning from start to finish for a unit of work.
