Unit Outline

EPR260 Introduction to Humanities and Social Sciences Education will provide you with the foundational knowledge, threshold concepts and skills you need to teach Humanities and Social Sciences to students aged 5 to 13 years. By studying Humanities and Social Sciences, you—and your future students—will learn to ask questions, think critically, solve problems, communicate effectively, make decisions, and learn how to adapt to change.

This unit will help you understand learning about identity and place through the study of Australian History and Geography. We will examine issues about teaching History and Geography: What are our origins? What is History? What is Geography? How much do you know about Australian History and Geography? What is historical thinking? What is geographical thinking? How are History and Geography constructed in the Australian Curriculum?

EPR260 focuses on place-based learning through outside the classroom experiences. You will learn about Australia’s Deep Time past, nineteenth century colonial history and effective and engaging methods of communicating Australian History to students. We then examine the processes of teaching Geography with relevant cross-curriculum priorities.

Assessment tasks are authentic and meaningful to provide you with practical resources you can use during your Professional Experience and early years of teaching. The overall aim of the unit is to achieve a balance between current theory and praxis that will give you the sound professional knowledge to teach Humanities and Social Sciences with confidence and enthusiasm.

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	Recall and apply substantive and procedural knowledge of Australian History and Geography from the Australian Curriculum: Humanities and Social Sciences to specific learning contexts
2	Design engaging learning and teaching activities using curriculum documents, age-appropriate pedagogies, and research
3	Communicate to students and other teachers about Humanities and Social Sciences substantive and procedural knowledge research, and pedagogies using appropriate written, oral, or digital forms

Requisites


REQUISITE TYPE	REQUISITES
Pre-requisite	ESH102 or EDU102

Alterations as a result of student feedback

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:	Knowledge Quiz	Week 3	10 %	LO1
Assessment Task 2:	Museum learning activities	Week 7	30 %	LO1, LO2, LO3
Assessment Task 3:	Yarning Story Video	Week 9	30 %	LO1, LO2, LO3
Assessment Task 4:	Geography learning activities	Week 12	30 %	LO1, LO2, LO3

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Knowledge Quiz

Task Description:

Complete an online quiz in MyLO. The quiz is based on content covered in Weeks 2 and 3.

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

Task Length:

Approximately 100 words

Due Date:

Week 3

Weight:

10 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Recall knowledge about Australia's Origin stories and Deep Time past	LO1
2	Recall knowledge about historical thinking and pedagogy	LO1

Assessment Task 2: Museum learning activities

Task Description:

Design learning activities that encourage your students to participate in hands-on, historical inquiry learning back at school after their visit to a museum or heritage site. You may choose any year, from Foundation to Year 8. The learning activities must relate directly to objects, displays, or themes that students encountered during their visit to the museum or heritage site. Instructions on how to complete this task will be provided in MyLO and during tutorials. This Assessment Task relates to Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) 1.2, 1.3, 1.6, 2.1, 2.2, 3.1, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 4.1

Task Length:

1300 words equivalent

Due Date:

Week 7

Weight:

30 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Select and describe primary sources presented in the museum or heritage site (25%)	LO1
2	Communicate to students using appropriate language in written, visual, or digital form (35%)	LO3
3	Design learning activities that use primary sources to facilitate historical inquiry	LO2

Assessment Task 3: Yarning Story Video

Task Description:

Create a yarning story (3-5 minutes) in which you communicate in video format your knowledge of either Deep Time, First Contact or Colonisation in Australian history to a Year/Grade of your choice (Foundation to Year 8). Instructions on how to complete this task will be provided in MyLO and during tutorials. This Assessment Task relates to Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.4, 2.5, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 4.1

Task Length:

1300 words equivalent

Due Date:

Week 9

Weight:

30 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Apply knowledge of Aboriginal pedagogy to design a yarning story (25%)	LO1, LO3
2	Use visual aids and age-appropriate language to communicate to students in video format (25%)	LO2
3	Use the Australian Curriculum, Aboriginal pedagogy, and research to communicate a yarning story to students (50%)	LO3

Assessment Task 4: Geography learning activities

Task Description:

Scenario: The HASS Coordinator at your school has asked you to create Geography learning activities for learners in either Year 3, 4 or 5. Your Geography activities will be shared with your co-teachers so they can use the same activities with their classes. Instructions on how to complete this task will be provided in MyLO and during tutorials. Completion of this Assessment Task relates to Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) 1.2, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.6, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 4.1

Task Length:

1300 words

Due Date:

Week 12

Weight:

30 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Apply knowledge of curriculum and pedagogy to design inquiry learning activities for Geography (30%)	LO1, LO2
2	Explain to students how to participate in inquiry learning activities for Geography(30%)	LO2, LO3
3	Explain to co-teachers how to facilitate learning activities that teach geographical inquiry (40%)	LO2, 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.

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

Tudball, L., Brett, P., and Gilbert, R. (eds.) (2025). Teaching Humanities and Social Sciences: Teaching & Learning across Australia, (8th ed). Melbourne: Cengage.
You will also use this textbook for EPR360: Advanced Humanities and Social Sciences.