Assessment and reporting in Aboriginal Studies
Assessment for Aboriginal Studies provides information to support learning and reporting of performance. Find out about assessment requirements and the structure of the HSC exam.
School-based assessment requirements
Schools are required to develop an assessment program for each Year 11 and Year 12 course. NESA provides information about the responsibilities of schools in developing assessment programs in course-specific assessment and reporting requirements and in the Assessment Certification Examination (ACE) rules and requirements.
Schools are required to submit to NESA a grade for each student based on their achievement at the end of the course.
Teachers use professional, on-balance judgement to allocate grades based on the Common Grade Scale for Preliminary courses.
Teachers consider all available assessment information, including formal and informal assessment, to determine the grade that best matches each student’s achievement at the end of the course.
See ACE (Assessment, Certification and Examination rules and requirements) for further information.
Assessment programs must reflect course components and weightings
The course components and component weightings for Year 11 are mandatory.
| Course component | Weighting |
|---|---|
| Knowledge and understanding of course content | 40% |
| Investigation, analysis, synthesis and evaluation of information from a variety of sources and perspectives | 15% |
| Research and inquiry methods, including aspects of the Local Community Case Study | 20% |
| Communication of information, ideas and issues in appropriate forms | 25% |
Schools may determine specific elements of their assessment program
Schools have authority to determine the number, type of task and the weighting allocated to an assessment task. Schools may also follow the sample assessment programs provided by NESA.
Sample assessment program
NESA’s sample Year 11 formal school-based assessment program for Aboriginal Studies includes:
- 3 assessment tasks, including:
- a formal written exam.
The recommended weighting for any individual task is 20% to 40%.
NESA requires schools to submit a school-based assessment mark for each Year 12 candidate in a course. Formal school-based assessment tasks should reflect the syllabus outcomes and content. The mark submitted by the school provides a summation of each student’s achievement measured at several points throughout the course.
A school’s program of school-based assessment includes both mandatory and non-mandatory elements.
See ACE (Assessment, Certification and Examination rules and requirements) for further information.
Assessment programs must reflect course components and weightings
The course components and component weightings for Year 12 are mandatory.
| Course component | Weighting |
|---|---|
| Knowledge and understanding of course content | 40% |
| Investigation, analysis, synthesis and evaluation of information from a variety of sources and perspectives | 25% |
| Research and inquiry methods, including aspects of the Major Project | 20% |
| Communication of information, ideas and issues in appropriate forms | 15% |
Schools may determine specific elements of their assessment program
Schools have authority to determine the number, type of task and the weighting allocated to an assessment task. Schools may also follow the sample assessment programs provided by NESA.
Sample assessment program
NESA’s sample Year 12 formal school-based assessment program for Aboriginal Studies includes:
- 4 assessment tasks, including:
- a minimum weighting for an individual task of 10%
- a maximum weighting for an individual task of 40%
- formal written exam with a maximum weighting of 30%
- a Major Project with a weighting of 40% – inclusive of the allocation of 15% for the log.
Formal written exam
This task may assess a broad range of course content and outcomes. Schools may choose to replicate the timing and structure of the HSC exam.
Major Project
The Major Project provides students with the opportunity to apply their knowledge and skills in planning, acquiring, processing and communicating information, and participating in community consultation. A project proposal should be submitted before the teacher gives the student approval to begin their project. This will ensure that students have chosen an appropriate and manageable topic that can be explored within the bounds of consultation with Aboriginal People.
The Major Project:
- is discrete in both focus and content from a student’s Year 11 Local Community Case Study
- will begin after the HSC course starts and finish by the end of term two
- consists of a log and a final presentation
- relevant syllabus outcomes
- relates to an aspect of the Aboriginal Studies HSC course.
The Major Project may be presented in written, oral or multimodal form.
Further information relating to the Major Project is provided within the Research and Inquiry Methods: Major Project section of the Aboriginal Studies Stage 6 Syllabus.
HSC exam specifications
The external HSC exam measures student achievement in a range of syllabus outcomes.
The external exam and its marking relate to the syllabus by:
- providing clear links to syllabus outcomes
- enabling students to demonstrate the levels of achievement outlined in the performance band descriptions
- applying marking guidelines based on criteria that relate to the quality of the response
- aligning performance in the exam each year to the standards established for the course.
Exam questions may require candidates to integrate knowledge, understanding and skills developed through studying the course.
The exam will consist of a written paper worth 100 marks.
Time allowed: 3 hours plus 5 minutes reading time.
The paper will consist of three sections. All questions may refer to stimulus material.
This section will consist of three parts.
Part A: Global Perspective (25 marks)
- There will be objective response and short-answer questions, including from 5 to 10 objective response questions.
Part B: Comparative Study (15 marks)
- There will be six questions in parts, one for each topic offered in the Comparative Study.
- Each question will consist of two or three parts.
- Candidates will be required to answer the questions on one of the topics they have studied.
- The expected length of the response is around four exam writing booklet pages (approximately 600 words) in total.
Part C: Global Perspective and Comparative Study (15 marks)
There will be one extended response question to the value of 15 marks.
- The question requires an integration of the knowledge and understanding of both the Global Perspective and the Comparative Study.
- Candidates will be required to answer the question with reference to the Global Perspective and the two topics investigated in the Comparative Study.
- The expected length of the response is around four exam writing booklet pages (approximately 600 words).
- There will be one question in parts to the value of 15 marks.
- The question will consist of two or three parts, with the last part worth at least 8 marks.
- The expected length of response is around four exam writing booklet pages (approximately 600 words) in total.
- For each of the options Aboriginality and the Land and Heritage and Identity there will be:
- a stimulus-based extended response question with an expected length of response of around three pages of an exam writing booklet (approximately 400 words), worth 10 marks
- an extended response question with an expected length of response of around six exam writing booklet pages (approximately 800 words), worth 20 marks.
- Candidates will be required to answer the questions from the option they have studied.