EDF4004 - Curriculum, assessment and education policy - 2017

This unit builds upon students' existing knowledge of curriculum, through an exploration of recent developments in curriculum, assessment, evaluation and education policy in local and national contexts. Students critically engage with various theoretical views relating to curriculum and assessment and their relationship to policy. A key focus of this unit is investigating what makes particular curricula and assessment approaches have greater or lesser educative value and the impacts of policy in these areas. Consequently, the political and ethical dimensions inherent in all curricula are explored, as are the linkages between curricula, assessment, reporting, evaluation and the quality of student learning. This unit promotes the importance of developing the professional capacity of educators to make critical judgments in terms of curriculum planning, action and evaluation, and the development of assessment that promotes high quality student learning.

Upon successful completion of this unit students should be able to:

1. understand the ways curriculum can be viewed from each of the system, school and classroom levels
2. understand how local and national curricula link with policy documents and how these position teachers and teachers' work
3. inquire into various curricula, assessment and reporting practices to determine their educative value
4. appreciate the complexities and challenges of designing assessment that is valid, reliable and compatible with policies relating to teaching and learning
5. identify and critically reflect on the values, ethics and political dimensions of all curricula and assessment practices
6. articulate their developing beliefs about curriculum, policy and assessment and compare these with theories found in professional literature
7. apply a range of methods to generate evidence of student learning, including innovative application of information and communication technologies (ICTs)
8. appreciate the dilemmas and complexities in reporting to different audiences in ways that can support and enhance student learning.

Discursive essay: critical analysis and reflection on curriculum and assessment (2000 words, 50%)

Problem-based assessment analysis (2000 words equivalent, 50%)

Minimum total expected workload equals 144 hours per semester comprising:

1. Contact hours for on-campus students:
   • 24 contact hours over the semester
2. Additional requirements
   • independent study to make up the minimum required hours over the semester

See also Unit timetable information

Dr Melissa Barnes

Secondary education

EDF3001

EDF5422