Unit Outline

Literacy centres on effectively communicating in ways that are appropriate to the discipline, audience and purpose. In a world which is increasingly multimodal and digital, literacy also involves communicating with others using ICTs, multimedia, video and other forms appropriate to particular discipline areas. In this unit, you will learn about theories of language and literacy in terms of their implications for teaching and learning, and the literacy demands of various curriculum areas. You will also demonstrate your knowledge of literacy as a cross-curriculum priority in the Australian Curriculum and how this relates to your teaching context.

Intended Learning Outcomes

As per the Assessment and Results Policy 1.3, your results will reflect your achievement against specified learning outcomes.

On completion of this unit, you will be able to:


1.	Apply knowledge of current theories about literacy to your field of study
2.	Select and design resources for specific educational contexts
3.	Design literacy strategies to support students’ engagement

Alterations as a result of student feedback

Module content has been updated to:

- Increased word count for AT1 journal entry word count from 300 to 400 words to ensure ample word count for reflection.
- Increase instruction in language and genre theory to give students a stronger foundation from which to apply knowledge of literacy in their field and select and design literacy resources.
- Expand infographic task in AT2 to include more than one option of graphic representation.

How will I be Assessed?

For more detailed assessment information please see MyLO.

Assessment schedule


ASSESSMENT TASK #	ASSESSMENT TASK NAME	DATE DUE	WEIGHT	LINKS TO INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Assessment Task 1:	Literacy Competency Test	Week 3	0 %
Assessment Task 2:	MyLO Quiz	Week 4	10 %	LO1
Assessment Task 3:	Peer presentation on literacy	Week 7	45 %	LO1, LO2
Assessment Task 4:	Planning for Literacy Outcomes	Week 13	45 %	LO1, LO2, LO3

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Literacy Competency Test

Task Description:

To prepare students for LANTITE (https://www.utas.edu.au/education/student-resources/literacy-and-numeracy-and-lantite), the School of Education made Faculty-based Literacy and Numeracy Competency Tests are compulsory for all students studying a Bachelor of Education (including Early Childhood, Primary, Health and Physical Education, and Applied Learning) and Master of Teaching (including Primary and Secondary) course. The test will provide immediate feedback on questions answered correctly or incorrectly. The feedback will provide a basis for reflection on specific areas of personal strength or weakness with basic literacy concepts.

Task Length:

Due Date:

Week 3

Weight:

0 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)

Assessment Task 2: MyLO Quiz

Task Description:

The questions will consist of multiple choice and agree/disagree or true/false format and will assess understanding of the content presented in Weeks 1, 2 and 3 based on the readings and lectures.

Completion of this Assessment Task relates to Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) 1.1, 1.2, 2.1

Task Length:

10 questions which may include sub-parts

Due Date:

Week 4 (22/Mar/2024)

Weight:

10 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Demonstrates understanding of literacy concepts.	LO1

Assessment Task 3: Peer presentation on literacy

Task Description:

For this task you must consider the concepts and theories presented in module1 of this unit that have expanded your pre-existing notions of literacy. You are tasked to develop a multimodal presentation for an audience of student peers/work colleagues that shows how literacy is an essential part of learning in your field.

The presentation in the form of a PowerPoint or Prezi and bring together the significant ideas about literacy from Module 1 into a clear, informative presentation.

In your presentation you must:
a. Define the concept of literacy broadly and as it relates to your subject area and identify examples of the literacy demands of your field.
b. Describe key theories that influence literacy instruction in Australian classrooms and link these to their relevance for peers / colleagues in your teaching context.
c. Explain how the key literacy concepts explored in weeks 1 to 5 can inform teaching strategies and develop successful communicators in your subject area.

You will need to include a transcript of your voiceover with your submission, including a reference list.

See the Assessment section of MyLO for more information about this task.

Completion of this Assessment Task relates to Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) 1.3, 2.1, 2.5

Task Length:

10 minute presentation with transcript (equivalent to 1500 words)

Due Date:

Week 7 (19/Apr/2024)

Weight:

45 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Designs a multimodal presentation which communicates key theories of literacy.	LO1
2	Explain literacy concepts and theories indicating how they relate to student literacy needs and demands in your field.	LO1
3	Provides examples of how literacy theory can inform teaching strategies in your field.	LO1
4	Communicates ideas for a professional audience using appropriate academic conventions in a multimodal format.	LO2

Assessment Task 4: Planning for Literacy Outcomes

Task Description:

This task requires you to demonstrate your ability to plan a lesson to support student literacy development in your field.

To complete this task, you will need to:
• Locate, modify or write your own model of a persuasive, procedural or information text that is typical of the kind of text that your students would need to read or write and suitable for use in your field. The text can be print or multimodal or other media but should be a quality text from which you can model reading or writing strategies important in your field.
• Analyse and annotate the text to show its text staging (structure) and key language features.
• Justify your choice of text for the lesson. Draw on scholarly literature and curriculum documents to show how the text is relevant to teaching and learning in your field.
• Develop a lesson (or equivalent) to scaffold student literacy. The lesson must apply or adapt strategies from this course and utilise an explicit pedagogy that supports student literacy and engagement in your
subject. Your lesson should model and guide in the use of the literacy feature or strategy before independent practice. Your lesson will sit in the context of a larger unit of work related to your field.

Completion of this Assessment Task relates to Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) 2.1, 2.3, 2.5, 3.2

Task Length:

1750 words

Due Date:

Week 13 (31/May/2024)

Weight:

45 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Evaluate literacy content in a curriculum domain.	LO1
2	Analyse texts for literacy features	LO2
3	Plan a lesson considering the literacy demands of a text.	LO3

How your final result is determined

To pass this unit, you need to demonstrate your attainment of each of the Intended Learning Outcomes, achieve a final unit grade of 50% or greater, and pass any hurdle tasks.

Submission of assignments

Where practicable, assignments should be submitted to an assignment submission folder in MYLO. You must submit assignments by the due date or receive a penalty (unless an extension of time has been approved by the Unit Coordinator). Students submitting any assignment in hard copy, or because of a practicum finalisation, must attach a student cover sheet and signed declaration for the submission to be accepted for marking.

Requests for extensions

If you are unable to submit an assessment task by the due date, you should apply for an extension.

A request for an extension should first be discussed with your Unit Coordinator or teaching support team where possible. A request for an extension must be submitted by the assessment due date, except where you can provide evidence it was not possible to do so. Typically, an application for an extension will be supported by documentary evidence: however, where it is not possible for you to provide evidence please contact your Unit Coordinator.

The Unit Coordinator must notify you of the outcome of an extension request within 3 working days of receiving the request.

Late penalties

Assignments submitted after the deadline will receive a late penalty of 5% of the original available mark for each calendar day (or part day) that the assignment is late. Late submissions will not be accepted more than 10 calendar days after the due date, or after assignments have been returned to other students on a scheduled date, whichever occurs first. Further information on Late Penalties can be found on the Assessments and Results Procedure.

Review of results and appeals

You are entitled to ask for a review of the marking and grading of your assessment task if there is an irregularity in the marking standards or an error in the process for determining the outcome of an assessment. Details on how to request a review of a mark for an assignment are outlined in the Review and Appeal of Academic Decisions Procedure.

Required Resources

Required reading materials

There is no set text for this course. A list of weekly required readings will be available through the library. A link to course readings is provided on the MyLO home page for this subject.