Planning for curriculum integration generally follows the same procedures as planning in any of the individual essential learning areas. At some point you will need to ascertain what learning areas are to be covered during the unit. Each of these learning areas will have their own specific learning outcome or outcomes which can be recorded on the
essential learning area SLO form.
It is also likely that you will be developing certain essential skills whilst implementing the unit. As with the essential learning areas, each of these skills will have their own specific learning outcome or outcomes, which can be recorded on the essential skills SLO form.
It is not necessary nor desirable to assess every specific learning outcome to gain a picture of student achievement in relation to achievement objectives or the development of essential skills. It is necessary however to ensure that a range of assessment tasks are developed within an integrated unit, if one is to gain an understanding of how students are achieving within each of the areas covered within the unit. The assessment form is useful as a mechanism for recording the tasks that will be used and the criteria against which students will be judged for each of the specific learning outcomes that will be assessed as part of the integrated unit.
Units that use an
integrated approach often last a little longer than units that focus on
one learning area. The learning
experiences form provides a grid like structure for recording
notes about the different "passages of learning" that will
take place during the implementation of the unit.
Keeping track of student achievement during an integrated unit can
also be difficult as a greater number of specific learning outcomes are
likely to be assessed than is the case during units that focus on only
one learning area. The student achievement
form is one mechanism that teachers may like to use to record
student achievement.
Once the unit has been implemented it is a good idea to evaluate how
the process went so that it can be improved if delivered again in the
future. The unit evaluation form
can be used to record information from the effectiveness of resources
used through to the achievement objectives that were not fully covered
during the implementation of the unit.
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