Assessment Task: Integrated Business
Construct a case study including a critical analysis of the way Business Studies is integrated in a school setting
Weighting:
Purpose of the assessment task
You will have an opportunity to create a case study that critically analyses the way that a chosen VCE Business Studies related subject is integrated in a school setting. The case study will focus on teaching and learning experiences, assessment approaches and the use of teaching resources in relation to either VCE Accounting, VCE Business Management, VCE Economics or VCE Legal Studies. You will investigate curriculum documents and education literature and research, reflect critically on your own personal experiences and observations, and evaluate how your chosen VCE subject is taught in a school context to inform your case study. The purpose of the case study is to enable you to provide a considered evaluation of how curriculum (i.e., including teaching strategies, resources, and assessment) for the selected VCE subject supports the development of knowledge and skills of VCE learners in a school setting. The presentation of the case study provides an opportunity for you to participate in professional conversations about your case study, to offer feedback and to develop your communication and interpersonal skills in a professional educational context.
Description of the assessment task
Part A: The Case Study
You will base your case study on a school setting. This school setting will be either that of your placement school this semester, a school that you are able to visit for the purposes of this assessment or a hypothetical school setting that can be provided to you if you are not able to access a school setting this semester.
The following should be included in your case study:
Section 1 – Introduction
- Briefly outline the school setting that is the context for your case study.
For example, you might outline:
- The year levels taught in the school (i.e., Prep to Year 12, Year 7 to 12),
- The Business Studies related subjects offered at the school in these years,
- Which Business Studies related subjects are compulsory for students to study and which are the subjects that students are able to select as elective subjects.
- Briefly state the chosen VCE subject that you are evaluating in your case study (e.g., VCE Accounting, VCE Business Management, VCE Economics or VCE Legal Studies).
Note: If you do not have access to an actual school setting for your case study, please advise your tutor and a hypothetical school setting will be provided to you, together with associated VCE curriculum materials to use as the basis for your case study.
Section 2 – Evaluation
- Investigate the:
- key knowledge and skills that students should learn in relation to the curriculum documentation that you have for your chosen VCE subject by looking at the relevant VCE Study Design for your subject.
- VCAA assessment principles that should underpin all VCE assessments in your VCE subject’s Advice for Teachers document/web link.
- Suggested learning activities and teaching resources in your VCE subject’s Advice for Teachers document/web link.
- Critically analyse whether the curriculum documentation from your actual (or hypothetical) school setting:
- provides VCE students with an opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and skills as outlined in the VCE Study Design for your chosen subject. Explain why/why not.
- follows the assessment guidelines outlined by VCAA for VCE assessments. Explain why/why not.
- uses appropriate learning activities and teaching resources that will enable VCE students to demonstrate their knowledge and skills in your chosen VCE subject. Explain why/why not.
Use course materials and other literature to support your response.
Section 3 – Recommendation
- Describe and justify two to three recommendations for how the school’s curriculum documentation (i.e., lesson plans, unit plans, assessment, learning activities, teaching resources) could be improved to better enable VCE students to demonstrate their knowledge and skills in your chosen VCE subject. You might choose to focus all of your recommendations on just one aspect of the school’s curriculum documentation (e.g., their summative assessment) or make recommendations in relation to more than one aspect of the school’s curriculum documentation (e.g., one recommendation to improve a learning activity, one recommendation to improve a teaching resource and one recommendation to improve the unit plan).
Use course materials and other literature to support your response.
Section 4 – Conclusion
After your presentation (See Part B: The Presentation), you will complete a short, written reflection as the conclusion of your case study. This will be based on the feedback that you have received from your colleagues/peers on your presentation and critical reflection of your own experiences and observations.
In your written reflection, briefly discuss the impact that this case study has had on:
- your understanding of VCE related Business Studies curriculum (i.e., VCE Accounting, VCE Business Management, VCE Economics or VCE Legal Studies).
- your understanding about how a VCE related Business Studies subject might be planned and taught in a school setting.
- improving your response in the case study.
Section 5 – Appendix (not included in word count)
Bibliography using appropriate referencing.
Part B: The Presentation
Your ten-minute presentation to your peers in the course should briefly address each section of your case study. To support your oral presentation, you will prepare a PowerPoint presentation using only three slides to summarise the key aspects of your case study.
Your oral presentation to your peer group should:
- accurately reflect the written report.
- be clearly and succinctly expressed.
Following your oral presentation, time will be provided for questions and discussion. Your peers will ask questions to clarify any points made in your oral presentation and provide suggestions and feedback in relation to Section 2 and 3 of your case study. These suggestions and feedback might be based on their own school observations of how they have seen your chosen VCE subject planned and taught (i.e., as a student or on their placement); course materials and/or their own research.