Unit Outline

This is the first of four units of study that focuses on contemporary issues relating to the health of young people in Australian society. The unit emphasis follows the Teaching as Inquiry model by having a focus inquiry, whereby you will examine a range of sensitive health topics including: mental health; body image; positive relationships and communication; loss and grief; sexuality education and drug education, and their importance for young people. These content areas are explored within the context of the Australian Curriculum by identifying appropriate learning experiences for primary and high school levels.

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.	use knowledge of health and health education to justify your opinion on current health-related issues in Australia
2.	select, discuss and justify a broad range of strategies for involving parents/carers in the health education proces
3.	evaluate youth health education resources and programs.

Alterations as a result of student feedback

In response to the feedback from previous student cohorts, changes have been made including some adjustment to assessment task due dates and alignment of some of the timelines. As always, the teaching team will greatly appreciate your feedback both informally during the delivery of the unit in 2024, and formally through the University of Tasmania's eVALUate surveys following your completion of the unit.

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:	Letter to the Editor	Week 5	20 %	LO1
Assessment Task 2:	Written Report: Engaging Parents in Health Education	Week 10	40 %	LO2
Assessment Task 3:	Health Education Resource Analysis	Week 14	40 %	LO3

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Letter to the Editor

Task Description:

In week 1 you will be provided with a newspaper/magazine article related to health. Your task is to write a persuasive letter to the editor in response to the newspaper/magazine article, whereby you try to convince the reader to adopt your position or point of view of the article. You are presenting an opinion and evidence to try to persuade the reader to accept the merits of your point of view. Your letter should be academically informed, intelligent and insightful.

In general, you should consider the following in preparing your letter:
• Have a definite point of view;
• Maintain the readers interest;
• Use sound reasoning;
• Use academic evidence;
• Remember who your audience is, write to them;
Don’t use overly technical jargon and use simple and concise sentences;
• Research your topic so your evidence is convincing;
• Don’t get so sentimental or so passionate that you lose the reader;
Use abbreviated referencing (not APA style) to strengthen your letter e.g. according to Dr John Smith of the University of the Moon……

Note: Your letter must be informed and supported by literature or a substantive argument. Don’t just give your opinion.
Take some time to read a cross section of letters to the editor. Get a feel for how they clarify the issue, how they present the deficiencies in others’ arguments and how they present their own view on the issue.

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

Task Length:

500 words

Due Date:

Week 5 (25/Mar/2024)

Weight:

20 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Articulation of a coherent argument/position	LO1
2	Opinion is academically informed/supported	LO1

Assessment Task 2: Written Report: Engaging Parents in Health Education

Task Description:

Submit a written report answering the following points:
• An explanation of the purpose and importance of teaching health education in a school setting and why teaching it could be considered as sensitive or controversial in a school setting.
• An explanation of the purpose and importance of engaging parents/carers in the health education process.
• A range of strategies that you may use to engage parents/carers and students in the educative process, including details around how these strategies will be implemented.
You need to refer to literature and use examples where appropriate to support your ideas and thoughts.
Sub-headings may be used.

Completion of this Assessment Task relates to Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) 3.7, 7.3

Task Length:

1500 words

Due Date:

Week 10 (07/Jun/2024)

Weight:

40 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Depth and quality of explanations regarding the purpose and importance of teaching health education in a school setting and why it could be considered sensitive or controversial	LO2
2	Depth and quality of explanations and strategies in regard to involving parents/carers in the health education process	LO2
3	Appropriate reference to relevant literature (in keeping with the audience of parents/carers) and examples to support your ideas and thoughts	LO2
4	Identify, engage with, and communicate ideas with coherence and clarity	LO2

Assessment Task 3: Health Education Resource Analysis

Task Description:

For the purposes of this assignment, you are a registered teacher and your school has asked you to prepare a document/video that examines and reviews a health education resource.
You need to find a resource related to health education for a grade of your choice. Your resource could be a text, a website, a mobile application, a resource kit, or a guest speaker from an organisation. Examples of each of these will be provided throughout the semester.
In your review you need to read and engage with your selected resource in detail so that you can present a fair and reasonable review. To do this well, you should attempt to understand the topic from a different perspective (i.e. refer to related resources) and in relation to selected literature.
Your review/analysis needs to contain the following:
• An overview of the resource you are reviewing (intent).
• An analysis of the quality of the resource for teaching purposes and how it links to evidence-based research (more information on what could be covered for this point will be provided in online activities, readings and during face-to-face tutorials).
• A discussion on the appropriateness of the resource for teachers seeking to develop health literacy.
• At least TWO recommendations for improvement (justify your responses).
You need to refer to literature and use examples where appropriate to support your ideas and thoughts.
You can choose to present this task in a word document, in PebblePad, as a PowerPoint presentation or in a video – other options may be considered in consultation with your Unit Coordinator.
Finally, you will also need to include a summary of the resource you have reviewed. In this summary you should also score a rating out of 10 for the resource (this will NOT be marked but will be used to build a resource for you to keep of the reviewed resources).

Completion of this Assessment Task relates to Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) 2.1, 3.4

Task Length:

2000 words (written) OR 8 minute video (not including references)

Due Date:

Week 14 (06/May/2024)

Weight:

40 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Critical evaluation of the quality and relevance of the resource to teaching	LO3
2	Analysis of the resource in relation to selected literature (including curriculum)	LO3
3	Identify, engage with, and communicate ideas with coherence and clarity	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

Any Required Readings are those provided by your Unit Coordinator.