Unit Outline

This unit is designed to provide students with an understanding of the key subject disciplines, History and Geography, in the secondary school. Students will learn about key aspects of historical and geographical knowledge and understanding and skills and begin to understand how such discipline knowledge can be transformed into classroom practice. Emphasis will be given to learning about how to teach using primary sources and developing an understanding of the importance of fieldwork in History and Geography. Students learn how to examine Australian Curriculum: Humanities and Social Sciences for planning, teaching and evaluating History and Geography lessons. Students will improve their research skills and knowledge of available teaching and learning resources. Students will experience a variety of teacher- and student-centred teaching and learning strategies.

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	Design effective teaching and learning activities for secondary students that are consistent with the Australian Curriculum: Humanities and Social Sciences
2	Create learning resources, which may include ICT resources, which support secondary students understanding of content and skills from the Australian Curriculum: Humanities and Social Sciences
3	Evaluate teaching resources and learning sequences based on an understanding of subject-specific pedagogies and methods for teaching
4	Incorporate theoretical and professional literature, and apply academic language and APA referencing conventions, to communicate ideas about teaching the Australian Curriculum: Humanities and Social Sciences in the secondary school

Requisites


REQUISITE TYPE	REQUISITES
Concurrent Pre-requisite	EMT502

Alterations as a result of student feedback

Greater attention has been paid to supporting students' content knowledge development and pedagogical expertise through experiential learning opportunities.

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:	Explanation of History and Geography	Week 3	20 %	LO4
Assessment Task 2:	History Lesson Sequence	Week 9	40 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
Assessment Task 3:	Geography Lesson Sequence	Week 14	40 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Explanation of History and Geography

Task Description:

To teach history and geography in the secondary school, you will need to have a strong grasp of the knowledge and skills related to each discipline.

Produce written responses (approximately 250 words per response) to the following questions:

1. What is history?
2. What is geography?

In responding to these questions, draw on the Australian Curriculum: Humanities and Social Sciences and relevant professional and theoretical literature about teaching history and geography.

You are permitted to write from either the first- or third-person perspective. Academic writing (including full sentences and paragraphs) and adherence to APA referencing conventions is also required.

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

Task Length:

500 words

Due Date:

Week 3 (08/Aug/2025)

Weight:

20 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Demonstrate understanding of the disciplines of History and Geography within the Australian Curriculum: Humanities and Social Sciences (7-10) (40%)	LO4
2	Justify arguments with reference to theoretical and professional literature related to history, geography and Humanities and Social Sciences education (40%)	LO4
3	Communicate ideas through appropriate use of academic writing conventions (academic language and APA referencing) (20%)	LO4

Assessment Task 2: History Lesson Sequence

Task Description:

Design a learning sequence (approximately FOUR (4) lessons) based on the secondary (Years 7-12) Australian Curriculum: Humanities and Social Sciences (History).

Your lesson sequence must make use of the historical inquiry approach and history-specific pedagogies. Your lessons sequence must make appropriate and genuine links to the General Capabilities and Cross-Curriculum Priorities, where applicable.

You will need to include in your submission ONE (1) of the teaching/learning resources used in your learning sequence.

Produce a written justification for your learning sequence based on your understanding of the curriculum requirements, historical inquiry, and history-specific pedagogies.

Your rationale must be supported by references to relevant theoretical and professional literature. Academic writing (including full sentences and paragraphs) and adherence to APA referencing conventions is also required. In the rationale, you are permitted to write from either the first- or third-person perspective.

Your submission, therefore, will include: a learning sequence, a written justification, and one teaching/learning resource that you have created.

Completion of this Assessment Task relates to Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.6, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4

Task Length:

1750 words (excluding teaching resource)

Due Date:

Week 9 (26/Sep/2025)

Weight:

40 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Design teaching and learning activities that are consistent with the Australian Curriculum: Humanities and Social Sciences (20%)	LO1
2	Create learning resources that support student learning (20%)	LO2
3	Evaluate teaching resources and/or learning sequences based on an understanding of subject-specific pedagogies and technology methodologies (20%)	LO3
4	Communicate ideas through the appropriate use of academic writing conventions and justify arguments with reference to theoretical and professional literature (20%)	LO4

Assessment Task 3: Geography Lesson Sequence

Task Description:

Design a learning sequence (approximately FOUR (4) lessons) based on the secondary (Years 7-12) Australian Curriculum: Humanities and Social Sciences (Geography).

Your lesson sequence must use the geographical inquiry approach and geography-specific pedagogies, including one fieldwork lesson. Your lesson sequence must make appropriate and genuine links to the General Capabilities and Cross-Curriculum Priorities, where applicable.

You will need to include in your submission ONE (1) of the teaching/learning resources included in your learning sequence.

Produce a written justification for your learning sequence based on your understanding of the curriculum requirements,

geography inquiry and geography-specific pedagogies, including fieldwork.

Your rationale must be supported by references to relevant theoretical and professional literature. Academic writing (including full sentences and paragraphs) and adherence to APA referencing conventions is also required. In the rationale, you are permitted to write from either the first- or third-person perspective.

Your submission, therefore, will include: a teaching/learning sequence (including a fieldwork lesson), a written justification and one learning resource that you have created.

Completion of this Assessment Task relates to Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.6, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4

Task Length:

1750 words

Due Date:

Week 14 (31/Oct/2025)

Weight:

40 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Design teaching and learning activities that are consistent with the Australian Curriculum: Humanities and Social Sciences (20%)	LO1
2	Create learning resources that support student learning (20%)	LO2
3	Evaluate teaching resources and/or learning sequences based on an understanding of subject-specific pedagogies and technology methodologies (20%)	LO3
4	Communicate ideas through the appropriate use of academic writing conventions and justify arguments with reference to theoretical and professional literature (20%)	LO4

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.

Academic progress review

The results for this unit may be included in a review of your academic progress. For information about progress reviews and what they mean for all students, see Academic Progress Review in the Student Portal.

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.

Academic integrity

Academic integrity is about acting responsibly, honestly, ethically, and collegially when using, producing, and communicating information with other students and staff members.

In written work, you must correctly reference the work of others to maintain academic integrity. To find out the referencing style for this unit, see the assessment information in the MyLO site, or contact your teaching staff. For more detail about Academic Integrity, see Important Guidelines & Support.

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.

Required Resources

Required reading materials

Taylor, T., Fahey, C., Kriewaldt, J. & Boon, D. (2019). Place and time: Teaching history, geography and social science (2nd ed.). Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson.

Note: The textbook is available as for a limited loan period for the University Library as an eBook.

Reading Lists provide direct access to all material on unit reading lists in one place. This includes eReadings and items in Reserve. You can access the Reading List for this unit from the link in MyLO, or by going to the Reading Lists page on the University Library website.