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

Assessment task changes to reflect explicit teaching and guided inquiry approaches to learning.

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 10	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 effectively in secondary schools, it is essential to develop a strong understanding of the disciplinary knowledge, concepts, and skills that underpin each subject.
Write two short academic responses (approximately 250 words each) that address the following questions:
1. What is History?
2. What is Geography?
In your responses, you must:
• Demonstrate an understanding of the disciplinary foundations of History and Geography, including key concepts, distinctive ways of thinking, and the methodologies used in each subject.
•
• Draw on relevant professional and scholarly literature about History and Geography as disciplines within the HASS learning area.
• Use academic writing conventions, including full sentences, structured paragraphs, and APA referencing.
• You may write in either the first-person or third person.
• This task supports your development toward meeting the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) 2.1, which focuses on content and teaching strategies of the teaching area.

Task Length:

500 words

Due Date:

Week 3 (20/Jul/2026)

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:

Part A:
Design a learning sequence of approximately four (4) lessons based on the Years 7–12 Australian Curriculum: Humanities and Social Sciences (History).
Your learning sequence must:
Demonstrate an understanding of explicit teaching practices, including modelling, scaffolding, and guided practice, as well asand history-specific teaching strategies.
•
IIncorporate strategies to reduce students’ cognitive load, such as chunking and spacing learning, and using retrieval practice to strengthen memory and understanding.
•
Make appropriate and authentic links to the General Capabilities and Cross-Curriculum Priorities, where relevant.
•
• Include at least one assessment strategy (formative or summative) that is aligned with the learning goals and supports student progress.
Additionally, you will need to create one (1) resource to be used in your lesson sequence as an appropriate scaffold for learning, such as a graphic organiser, a template, a modelled exemplar, or visual aid.

Part B:
Produce academic justification for your learning sequence. This justification should::

• Explain your pedagogical choices in relation to the curriculum requirements, explicit teaching practices, and history-specific teaching strategies.
• Reference relevant theoretical and professional literature on effective teaching practices and history education.
• Be written in academic style, using full sentences and paragraphs, and follow APA referencing conventions.
• Be written in either the first-person or third-person voice, depending on your preferred academic style.

Task Length:

1750 words (excluding teaching resource)

Due Date:

Week 10 (18/Sep/2026)

Weight:

40 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Design a coherent and developmentally appropriate learning sequence that aligns with the Australian Curriculum: Humanities and Social Sciences (History), explicit teaching practices, and history-specific teaching strategies (30%)	LO1
2	Develop a relevant and meaningful assessment task that is clearly aligned with student learning goals and the achievement standards of the Australian Curriculum: Humanities and Social Sciences (History) (20%)	LO1
3	Create a learning resource that scaffolds students’ acquisition of historical knowledge and skills (20%)	LO2
4	Critically evaluate the designed learning sequence with reference to current research on effective history teaching (20%)	LO3
5	Effectively communicate ideas using academic writing conventions and APA 7th edition referencing style (10%).	LO4

Assessment Task 3: Geography Lesson Sequence

Task Description:

Part A:
Design a learning sequence of approximately four (4) lessons based on the Years 7–12 Australian Curriculum: Humanities and Social Sciences (Geography).
Your learning sequence must:
• Demonstrate an understanding of explicit teaching practices, including modelling, scaffolding, and guided practice, as well as geography-specific teaching strategies.
• Incorporate strategies to reduce students’ cognitive load, such as chunking and spacing learning, and using retrieval practice to strengthen memory and understanding.
• Make appropriate and authentic links to the General Capabilities and Cross-Curriculum Priorities, where relevant.
• Include at least one assessment strategy (formative or summative) that is aligned with the learning goals and supports student progress.
Additionally, you will need to create one (1) resource to be used in your lesson sequence as an appropriate scaffold for learning, such as a graphic organiser, a template, a modelled exemplar, or visual aid.

Part B:
Produce academic justification for your learning sequence. This justification should:
• Explain your pedagogical choices in relation to the curriculum requirements, explicit teaching practices, and geography-specific teaching strategies.
• Reference relevant theoretical and professional literature on effective teaching practices and geography education.
• Be written in academic style, using full sentences and paragraphs, and follow APA referencing conventions.
• Be written in either the first-person or third-person voice, depending on your preferred academic style.

Task Length:

1750 words

Due Date:

Week 14 (12/Oct/2026)

Weight:

40 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Design a coherent and developmentally appropriate learning sequence that aligns with the Australian Curriculum: Humanities and Social Sciences (Geography), explicit teaching practices, and history-specific teaching strategies.	LO1
2	Develop a relevant and meaningful assessment task that is clearly aligned with student learning goals and the achievement standards of the Australian Curriculum: Humanities and Social Sciences (History).	LO1
3	Create a learning resource that scaffolds students’ acquisition of geography knowledge and skills.	LO2
4	Critically evaluate the designed learning sequence with reference to current research on effective history teaching.	LO3
5	Effectively communicate ideas using academic writing conventions and APA 7th edition referencing style.	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.