Sample approaches to developing an assessment task

Unit 3 Outcome 2: Design industry practice

On completion of this unit the student should be able to discuss the practices of a contemporary designer from each of the design fields and explain factors that influence these practices.

Assessment task type:

Structured questions

Decide on the conditions under which the task will be conducted

This task is worth 25 marks and when combined with Outcome 1 will make up 20 per cent of the study score for Visual Communication Design. This will be developed as one task.

Students research and develop a case study of a single designer from a each design field: Industrial, Evironmental and Communication design. . Teachers are reminded that in this Area of Study, students need to have studied designers and design practices from all three design fields.

Teachers develop a series of questions that address all the key knowledge and skills for the outcome. The questions must be structured so that students can demonstrate their knowledge of designers and the way they work.

Developing the task

When developing an assessment task that is suitable for this Area of Study, teachers must consider the following:

• Students will need to be familiar with the range of key knowledge covered in Area of Study 2.
• Students should be able to examine through research, analysis and discussion the practice of designers from each of the three design fields covering these terms.
• Teachers may select the designers and design practices based on a common theme or practice or teachers can allow the students to choose the designers they will study. In either case, teachers must ensure that all students have access to quality research/resources.
• A range of designers and design practices can be used to cover all the key knowledge and skills of the outcome. Therefore questions can be directed to cover different aspects of the key knowledge and skills.
• Students can transfer their research and information into a comparison grid, which lists the terms included in the key knowledge and skills.​

Marking the task

The marking scheme used to assess a student’s level of performance should reflect the relevant aspects of the performance descriptors. It should also be explained to the students before they commence the task.

With structured questions, it may be appropriate to allocate marks for each answer. However, the allocated marks should reflect the degree of depth, clarity and use of terminology used by the student. These, in turn, should be based on the key skills for the outcome.

Authentication

Authentication issues can be minimised if the students complete an assessment task of structured questions conducted under test conditions. Students could bring along copies of their selected case study to complete the task.

Assessment rubrics/performance descriptors provide a guide to the levels of performance typically demonstrated within each range on the assessment task/s. The performance descriptors for each outcome identify the qualities or characteristics expected in a student’s response.