Advice for teachers -
Agricultural and Horticultural Studies

Unit 3 – Sample approach to developing an assessment task

Outcome 1

Describe the role of innovation and technology in agricultural and horticultural practices, analyse past and current initiatives, including unforeseen consequences, and apply innovative processes to agricultural and/or horticultural practices.

Assessment task: a video or podcast

Research question: Research a new and emerging technology to address a current challenge facing food and fibre industries. Discussing the role of this technology in an everyday agricultural or horticultural practice and evaluate its potential value. Share this information via a video or podcast.

Planning the assessment task

1. The VCE Agricultural and Horticultural Studies Study Design provides details of the key knowledge and key skills related to Unit 3 Area of Study 1: Innovations and solutions.
2. Assessment task options are listed in the study design. In this example, students will create a video or a podcast. Where a choice of tasks is offered, they must be comparable in scope and demand.
3. Identify the qualities and characteristics that you are looking for in a student response and design the criteria and a marking scheme. The performance descriptors (included in this Advice for teachers) for each outcome identify the qualities or characteristics that need to be identified in a student response.
4. Identify the nature and sequence of teaching and learning activities. In this example, students are required to research a new and emerging technology to address a current challenge facing a food and/or fibre industry. Students discuss the role of this technology in an everyday agricultural or horticultural practice and evaluate its potential value. They create a four-to-five minute video or podcast to share their findings.
5. Teach relevant key knowledge and key skills so students are able to:
   • discuss the changing role of technology and innovation in agricultural and horticultural industries
   • describe new and emerging innovations and evaluate their potential value to food and fibre industries
   • explain current research into challenges faced by Australia’s food and fibre industries and evaluate proposed solutions.

Designing the assessment task

1. Consider all parameters of the task. It requires students to:
   • Identify/select one of the following challenges facing the food and fibre industry: climate change, waste of potential food products or increased demand due to population growth
   • consider the role of innovation and technology in addressing this challenge; for example, protecting the environment, feeding a growing population or increasing efficiency
   • select one new and emerging technology and research its cost, sustainability considerations and possible risks
   • present information about their research into the new and emerging technology in a            
     four–five-minute video or podcast that should include:
   • an explanation of the chosen problem and some past/present initiatives to solve it
   • an explanation of the new and emerging technology and how it is going to be used
   • an explanation of how/why the technology was invented.
2. Decide the most appropriate time to set the task. In this example, students are given two 50-minute sessions to research their topic and create their video or podcast.
3. Brief students to prepare them for assessment. Give them the criteria for the assessment task before they complete the task.
4. Other points to note:
   • If the task goes over two separate sessions, students should record notes from their research for the video, which the teacher should collect and use to monitor the progress of student learning through observation and discussions with the student.
   • The teacher should also use the authentication form, downloaded from the VASS computer.
   • The teacher provides feedback to the students about their performance according to the criteria for assessment.