Assessment Type 1: Practical Inquiry (40%)

For a 10-credit subject, students undertake at least one practical inquiry. For a 20-credit subject, students undertake at least two practical inquiries.

Each practical inquiry should be designed with a specific purpose that enables students to demonstrate practical application and development of their knowledge, concepts, and skills through enquiry.

Students consider and analyse concepts, ideas, and skills connected to their program focus from different perspectives. They communicate their ideas and opinions, and may collaborate with others. The practical application of their learning and the development of their skills can take whatever form is appropriate. Students who choose to work collaboratively identify their individual role and responsibility in the task and provide individual evidence of their contribution.

Students evaluate their learning, and progress in learning, with reference to the program focus and one or more capabilities. To inform their evaluation, the practical inquiry should provide opportunities for students to receive feedback from others and to participate in self-assessment.

At least one practical inquiry should include a discussion in which students present evidence of their learning either in progress, or as they finalise a task or set of tasks. The discussion(s) may be between the teacher and individual students or groups of students, or within groups of students. The purpose of the discussion is to elicit evidence that contributes to the student’s practical inquiry. The discussion alone is not a practical inquiry.

Students provide individual evidence of their learning. They articulate the depth, extent, and focus of the learning that has taken place in relation to the program focus and their chosen capability or capabilities. The same capability or capabilities do not need to be addressed by all students.

Evidence of the practical inquiry, including the discussion, may be presented in a range of forms including but not limited to journals, blogs, reports, photo stories, visual or audio recordings, oral presentations, skills demonstrations, and reviews. The evidence must be generated by the student. Multimodal evidence is encouraged.

For this assessment type, students provide evidence of their learning primarily in relation to the following assessment design criteria:

• application and understanding
• inquiry, analysis, and evaluation
• collaboration and communication.

Examples of conversation points for the discussion in the Practical Inquiry