Assessment Type 3: Issues Investigation

For a 10‑credit subject, students complete one issues investigation.

For a 20‑credit subject, students complete one issues investigation.

Students complete an investigation of a contemporary issue linked to one of the big ideas. They develop focusing questions, undertake research using primary and secondary sources to investigate spiritual and/ or religious perspectives on the issue, and present their informed opinions.

Examples of tasks could include, but are not limited to:

• an illustrated report on how and why the sacred stories/traditions/documents (e.g. the Bible, Dreaming, Koran, Torah, Veda) of one or more spiritual or religious traditions have been interpreted differently over time (Story, visions, and futures)
• a recorded discussion or debate on a topic such as: how is diversity celebrated and encouraged in my Christian community? (Community, justice, and diversity)
• a transcript of an original podcast episode for young Muslims regarding the challenges and opportunities that the Five Pillars of Islam offer young people today in living a ‘good life’ (Spiritualities, religions, and ultimate questions)
• a multimodal presentation exploring how a dialogue between Indigenous elders, religious leaders, and scientists can enrich an awareness of ‘creation’ and provide impetus for caring for our earth (Life, the universe, and integral ecology)
• a speech advocating for higher unemployment benefits, including future predictions regarding youth homelessness, with justification drawn from Catholic social teaching and/or another spiritual or religious social‑justice framework (Community, justice, and diversity).

For both a 10‑credit and 20‑credit subject, an issues investigation should be a maximum of 1000 words if written, a maximum of 6 minutes if oral, or the equivalent in multimodal form.

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

• exploration and analysis
• action and reflective practice.