statement of intention
Key skills for the 21st century should be strengthened through learning activities that develop higher-order thinking skills like critical and creative thinking, problem-solving, metacognition, communication, collaboration, innovation, and creativity. (Wijayati et.al, 2019). This resource addresses inquiry-based learning from both a student and teacher’s point of view.
The Student Hub focusses on the investigation of open questions, concept exploration and supports their developing creative practice. Whereas the Teacher site is designed as a pedagogical tool to support in the planning and teaching of content for their students.Lessons and assigned tasks should be curriculum-aligned with objectives that are responsive to student needs, thus evidence based pedagogical practices are shown to positively influence student learning if planned coherently (Australian Education Research Organisation [AERO], n.d). AERO (n.d) suggests that teachers should thoroughly understand the progression of learning in their chosen subject area and identify the critical knowledge needed for students to make, monitor and evaluate progress.
My unit sequence aims to provide both the teacher and student opportunities to monitor and evaluate progress by integrating a dual approach of Backwards Design approach and Understanding for Design framework. This is exemplified in the identification of 'Desired Results' and ‘Evidence of Learning’ as foundational sections, influenced by Bloom’s (1968) contention that the design of learning objectives should be paired with students’ evidence of mastery. An evidence-based strategy detailed in AERO’s (n.d) report is the importance of explicit modelling and scaffolding, specifically the emphasis that scaffolding should be gradually lessened, and the worked examples evolve to more independent problem solving and practical exploration as the students become more proficient in their skills and consolidation of knowledge. To encourage self-directed learning and ownership of their own developing art practice, I have included resources on the student and teacher hubs to further support explicit modelling examples and scaffolding for differentiated learning models.
Guskey (2010) emphasises that teachers should ‘meet students at where they are at with their learning’ (p.52) and to plan lessons that consider reviewing concepts if students have not met their learning objectives, as well as further enrichment tasks for those students who reach mastery sooner. Focussing on the VCE Unit 3 Study Design for Art Creative Practice (VCAA, 2022) I have endeavoured to create a sequence which sets clear expectations of each outcome’s success criteria, including its purpose and relevance. Placing the content, tasks and outcome goals in one place will hopefully ensure convenient usability to the busy teacher-user throughout the unit and make it easier for them to understand and apply teaching strategies to new content to be presented (Black & William, 1998).
design & dialogue
Designing lesson plans or lesson sequences makes one aware of the importance of language and its connection to dialogic thinking. I really connected with the idea expressed by Johnston et.al (2016) in their book- “language that is invitational, promotes dialogues and thinking together, and emphasises noticing, intentionality and causal processes” (p.195). I have aimed to incorporate language that is based off these factors and is inclusive for teacher and student use, derived from the pedagogies of Backward Design and Bloom’s Taxonomy. I have chosen to include Bloom’s Taxonomy verbs under the unit outcomes and key criteria with the purpose of identifying the action to be taken and demonstrated based on the higher order thinking capabilities from the cognitive hierarchy. The decision to include several verbs per section was in consideration of inclusive, differentiated learning instruction, where students can choose a word that they best connect with to motivate their learning and outcomes. These cognitive hierarchy-derived verbs can be seen as ‘calls to action’ in each corresponding task list per key unit area. Written in present-tense, they demonstrate critical thinking and higher order thinking under the following categories:
1. Remember
2. Understand
3. Apply
4. Analyse
5. Evaluate
6. Create
From a flipped learning perspective, I have integrated Bloom’s Taxonomy on the Student Hub to nurture student inquiry. These include sentence starters to develop higher-order thinking and templates to analyse and discuss artworks and their art elements and principles as tools, adapted from Caudullo (2024), as learning tools for students to engage with inside and outside of the classroom.
Please refer to the teacher hub for more information on integrating Bloom’s Taxonomy as a teaching tool.
“It is my intention first to cite experience, then to demonstrate through reasoning why experience must operate in a given way”
(Leonardo da Vinci in Zammattio et al., 1980, p.124, 141)
I have considered integrating tasks which ensures the students can review their knowledge, for example reviewing practical tasks with reflective theoretical tasks and vice versa – putting the theory into practice to connect the dots between the learner’s working memory and kinaesthetic experiences. The list of tasks in the template are somewhat general to allow for specific adjustment for each teacher and student to ensure it is relevant to each unique class context. As a teacher, I would encourage students to have their own version where they edit in the names of their own artists and their chosen techniques or mediums in the descriptors.
Carpenter et.al (2012) encourages pre-service teachers to focus on concepts of spacing and retrieval practice as they learn to plan a sequence of lessons to set students up for success eg. exploring a skill across a two or more lessons to embed routine and refinement of application to strengthen the brain synapses. This view on professional responsibility presupposes that teachers do not merely choose methods to address students’ learning needs, but also consider their students’ social and emotional needs to then be able to actively seek to define those needs (Biesta, 2015). Not only is it important to develop students’ personal inquiry experiences and habit of reflecting on their creative practice, but a teacher should also consider their teaching as a process of discovery. Mason (2002) refers to the idea of ‘researching from the inside’ as the ‘Discipline of Noticing,’ where a teacher cultivates and deepens their professional development by systematically observing students’ responses to scaffolding and modelling, while also reflecting on their own experience and learning journey.
Designing with differentiation & understanding in mind
The Australian curriculum emphasises how crucial differentiation and assessment practices are to responding to student diversity; stating that differentiation is one of the most prevalent strategies for 21st Century learning opportunities in our nation’s classrooms (ACARA, 2014). The Victorian curriculum builds on this further by specifying differentiation with a focus on social and emotional learning.Regardless of the curriculum design, I must consider that learning happens within students and not to them (Tomlinson & McTighe, 2006), therefore a planning approach which considers the following can help to mediate an equitable learning journey for all:
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Provide part-to-whole and whole-to-part explanations
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Model and demonstrate ideas tailored to range of learning styles (eg. visual, auditory, kinaesthetic)
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Use evidence derived from students’ own personal experiences (eg. stories, anecdotes or analogies)
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Timetables, timelines and unit planners designed in diverse formats and set into manageable chunks to cater to different learning paces
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Glossary of terms to clarify definitions-Acknowledgement and validation of student abilities, socio-economic, religious and cultural backgrounds, opportunities, language, individual interests and support systems
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Acknowledgement that results and success can look different for every student
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A range of creative thinking and critical thinking tools
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Setting up a classroom space that helps students feel safe to create their art and develop beneficial learning routines-Incorporate thoughtfully the use of ICT/technology as scaffolded supports to cater to a variety of learner styles, languages or levels of engagement to foster an inclusive education experience:
I believe that the UbD framework is an ideal fit to foster differentiated learning. A backwards design approach can enable a teacher to develop lessons that can be tailored towards a range of abilities and differentiated assessment tasks that demonstrate levels of understanding in diverse ways (Tomlinson & McTighe, 2006). The dual approach of incorporating Differentiated Instruction and Understanding by Design provides flexibility for teachers and learners through the multiple learning pathways that can be created. Differentiated Learning is evidenced in the design of my unit sequence through a tiered system approach that aims to guide the teacher in activities for those needing extra support and those needing to be challenged further.
Gleaning ideas from Department of Education (n.d.) “Strategies for differentiation” I have referenced 3 tiers that reflect how tasks can be adjusted to cater for different levels of learning and pace of productivity. Tier 1 can be defined as ‘developing expectations but may require further support’ , Tier 2 can be defined as the level the majority of the students are at; where they are ‘meeting expectations with room for growth’, and Tier 3 can be defined as ‘exceeding expectations and require extension activities to continue progressing’. My ideas for a tiered approach have considered levels of knowledge complexity, prior knowledge, outcomes and processes. For example, Tier 3 may have a greater level if independence, whereas for Tier 1 students- teachers can break up expected task into more manageable steps required for completion.It is important to note that this is subjective and teachers should refer to VCAA’s rubric for Unit 3 Art Creative Practice Study Design (2023) for accuracy when assessing to set standards.
Reflecting upon my unit sequence design, I could improve on increasing my differentiation approach by the addition of a ‘prior knowledge’ column and a ‘resources’ column for students and teachers to refer to.
I have designed this unit website inclusive of a flipped learning approach and backwards design that integrates the Understanding by Design (UbD) framework in relation to Differentiated Instruction (DI) framework. The lesson sequence plan is modelled off UbD’s emphasis on the centrality of standards that aims to ensure students understand content and can apply it in multiple ways. UbD is primarily a curriculum design model that emphasises both what is taught and how it is taught. It focuses on identifying clear learning goals and determining the necessary assessment evidence, while also guiding instructional methods to foster student understanding (Tomlinson & McTighe, 2006). Although it addresses the importance of student success, its core emphasis is on defining the "what" and "how" of effective teaching and curriculum planning. Tomlinson & McTighe’s (2006) proposed combined approach considers both the implementation and design of curriculum and outcomes, as well as providing opportunities for diverse needs and spectrum of learning styles to address issues of learner variance in the classroom. Utilising these two approaches in tandem has begun to inform my teaching approach as I aspire to create a constant flow of dialogue between learning and meaning, however still grounded in some structure and accountability of the curriculum criteria.
Refer to resources in the Teaching Hub for more comprehensive information on DL and UbD strategies and ideas.
“Differentiated instruction is a way of thinking, not a formula or recipe. Educators draw on, apply, and adapt its tools with the goal of maximizing knowledge, understanding, and skill for the full range of learners” (Tomlinson & McTighe, 2006)
integration of : PBL & IBL
I have drawn from pedagogical theories on Project-based learning and Inquiry-based learning and demonstrated this through integrating both Practical Tasks and Theoretical Tasks into my lesson sequence template. I have used highlighted colours to indicate how I have incorporated PBL and IBL thinking into each criterion and demonstrate the distinctive differences between the two approaches but that they must work in tandem towards good curriculum design.
Pink represents Inquiry-Based Learning. This is about discovering an answer
Green represents Project-Based Learning. This is about exploring an answer
Project-Based Learning (PBL) places students in the driver’s seat education as they aim to explore and address complex questions, problems, or challenges over a course of the unit (Main, 2022). PBL is a form of active learning, derived from academic viewpoints from pedagogies such as John Dewey’s philosophy of ‘Learning by Doing’"Give the pupils something to do, not something to learn; and the doing is of such a nature as to demand thinking, or the intentional noting of connections; learning naturally results" (Dewey, 1916).
Inquiry based learning (IBL) fosters a classroom culture that is built on deep, transferable learning, allows for differentiation and values student empowerment (Gholam, 2019). IBL focuses on investigating an open question or problem, while from a teacher’s perspective, inquiry-based teaching focuses on moving students beyond basic curiosity into the realms of critical thinking and understanding (Guido, 2017).
ict as a pedagogical tool
Information Communication Technology (ICT) has been used to improve teaching and learning process by motivating students, enhancing collaborative practices and offers greater accessibility to a variety of information for secondary school students (Haruni et.al, 2018). The integration of technology in higher education, particularly in teacher education, is essential for equipping pre-service teachers for 21st-century classrooms, with research indicating that technology fosters deeper student engagement with content and supports authentic learning experiences (West & Malatji, 2021). The term ‘Technology Literacy’ refers to one’s ability to use technological skills and tools for learning, and there is a real rise in the integration of technology in blended, hybrid learning modes (Ejikeme and Okpala, 2017).
Use of ICT as a pedagogical tool could positively engage tech-savvy teenagers. Technology integration has also been associated with students gaining ownership, being creative and becoming problem solvers in the fourth industrial revolution (Gardner, 2014). Learn more about the value of technology in the classroom HERE.
TPCK: Blending content, pedagogy and technology
The TPCK model identifies various domains of knowledge that intertwines a teacher’s content knowledge with technological understanding towards successful teaching strategies (Koehler et al., 2014). It is widely used by educators and researchers to define the competencies that teachers need for successful technology integration. Rooted in the concept of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), TPCK highlights the blending of subject matter expertise with teaching methods to enhance student learning (Saubern et al., 2019). In the TPCK model, the symbol C stands for Content knowledge, T for Technology knowledge and PK for Pedagogy Knowledge (Haruni et.al, 2018)
