EXCERPT Studies of Religion Assessment Task

Hannah Anthony
Year 12 Studies of Religion I

Religious Tradition Depth Study: Christianity

Due Date: 5 weeks from today

Weighting: 20%

Outcomes to be assessed:

H4 describes and analyses how aspects of religious traditions are expressed by their adherents

H5 evaluates the influence of religious traditions in the life of adherents

H9 coherently and effectively communicates complex information, ideas and issues using
appropriate written, oral and graphic forms

Task Rationale:

Students have been learning about Christianity’s significant practices, and this assessment focuses
on one: Saturday/Sunday worship. Students participate in a research assessment by attending
ONE church service and interviewing ONE adherent (member) of this service in order to
demonstrate and describe their knowledge of how adherents are influenced by and express their
faith tradition.

Task Instructions:

In this task, you will visit a church service (assigned by teacher) and evaluate the influence of this
faith tradition in the life of adherents. You will do this by examining and describing the experience
in detail: service structure, how the adherents express their faith (e.g. singing, prayer, etc.),
segments throughout the service, and key aspects of the service (e.g. sermon topic or Scripture
passage).

You will then investigate this influence and expression by interviewing a member of the service
(organised through teacher) to determine how they express and are influenced by their faith. You
should effectively communicate key questions to the adherent and take note of their answers,
ideas, issues addressed, and key elements of their beliefs and how they express them.

You must synthesise these two criteria into essay form of no more than 500 words, analysing how
the church service and the interviewee’s answers of Christianity are expressed by its adherents by
connecting and relating the interviewee’s answers with the attended church service.

Marking Guidelines Mark

EXCERPT Studies of Religion Assessment Task
Hannah Anthony

 Comprehensively and critically describes, examines, and 9-10

discusses the church service visit in detail
 Investigates, proposes, and coherently communicates how the
adherent expresses and is influenced by the Christian faith
 Analyses and synthesises this information comprehensively by
explaining, making judgements and connecting how the church
service and interview answers relate

 Competently describes, examines and evaluates the church 7-8

service visit in some detail
 Distinguishes and communicates how the adherent expresses
and is influenced by the Christian faith
 Analyses and constructs this information comprehensively by
making some judgements and connecting how the church service
and interview answers relate

 Describes and examines the church service visit 5-6

 Discusses how the adherent is influenced by the Christian faith
 Assesses this information by making some judgements and
discussing how the church service and interview answers might
relate

 Outlines the church service visit 3-4

 Provides some recount of how the adherent is influenced by the
Christian faith
 Draws some conclusions on how the church service and
interview answers might relate

 Recounts general knowledge and gives basic recollection of the 1-2

church service visit
 Does not give much recollection or evidence for a recount of how
the adherent is influenced by the Christian faith
 Does not provide a conclusion or outline of how the church
service and interview answers might relate

Note: Final mark will be doubled to = /20

For example, if you receive 7/10 you will get 17/20

Adjustment: if you cannot attend a church service, you need a note from home stating why you are
unable to fulfil this task (such as religious or personal reasons, health – mental and/or physical).
Once this is approved, you can participate in streaming a church service online organised by the
teacher, but you are unable to explain the experience or community, as it is purely digital. If this
applies to you, please see the teacher immediately so you can discuss and organise other options.
EXCERPT Studies of Religion Assessment Task
Hannah Anthony
Teacher resources:

Differentiation resource: print out the google document from this link: http://bit.ly/2H60LnQ and
give to students to differentiate

Sample Scaffold resource: print out the google document from this link: http://bit.ly/2J7tXgO and
give to student.
EXCERPT Studies of Religion Assessment Task
Hannah Anthony
ESSAY EXCERPT: Body and conclusion:

Quality assessments accomplish sustainable cultures that accomplish the purposes of student

improvement in learning and reporting (Colbert et. al, 2012). Active assessment methods can do this

by combining theory with practice, analysing what they have learnt, and participating in their

learning. This “learning spiral method” has positive effects on increasing student learning actively,

encouraging creativity and autonomy (Lile & Kelemen, 2014). This approach focuses on active

participation in assessment and discusses how student engagement is important in performing

assessment tasks. It enables students to be more independent, and assists them to perform more

creatively.

Assessment has many approaches and avenues that teachers could take, even with the

standards that are listed on the NESA website. The assessment task I have designed above focuses

more on the active participation of students in demonstrating evidence of understanding and

analysis of what they have learnt or recorded in their church visit and interview. This interactive

assessment method was described in Lile and Kelemen’s (2014) article, and I believe this will be a

method in assessment that I would like to use often. Rather than just simply writing a research essay

around theory and religious practices, having a discussion with a real-life adherent is more beneficial

for student engagement and learning than a textbook can teach them. By engaging with someone

who believes in a religion that students are studying, they are able to learn about how people

express their religion in different ways, and while they might believe in the “textbook religion,” they

might not always express it in the same way as the other adherent of the same religion.

Other ideas around assessment addressed in this essay that will inform my practice is

assessment feedback. As a current student myself, I do find feedback as being important in

understanding why I got a result, and why my marker decided to give me that result. Therefore, I

agree with the research above regarding student desire to receive feedback clearly and timely
EXCERPT Studies of Religion Assessment Task
Hannah Anthony
(Pithers & Holland, 2003), as students need to know what they did wrong or right in their

assessments. When I design my own assessment and begin the marking process, I will ensure that

quality feedback for my students is a high priority, and that no students are confused about what

they are expected to do, what they will be assessed on, and how their results were marked. I will do

my best to increase my level of ownership in the assessment practices I take on in order to integrate

assessment into the context of classroom learning (Sach, 2013), and use assessment as a tool, not a

reason, for student achievement and success.

EXCERPT Studies of Religion Assessment Task
Hannah Anthony
References

Colbert, P., Wyatt-Smith, C., & Klenowski, V. (2012). A Systems-Level Approach to Building
Sustainable Assessment Cultures: Moderation, Quality Task Design and Dependability of
Judgement. Policy Futures In Education, 10(4), 386-401. doi: 10.2304/pfie.2012.10.4.386

Crimmins, G., Nash, G., Oprescu, F., Liebergreen, M., Turley, J., Bond, R., & Dayton, J. (2014). A
written, reflective and dialogic strategy for assessment feedback that can enhance
student/teacher relationships. Assessment & Evaluation In Higher Education, 41(1), 141-153.
doi: 10.1080/02602938.2014.986644

El-Kafafi, S. (2012). Assessment: the road to quality learning. World Journal Of Science, Technology
And Sustainable Development, 9(2), 99-107. doi: 10.1108/20425941211244252

Ernst, J., Glennie, E., & Li, S. (2016). Performance-Based Task Assessment Of Higher-Order
Proficiencies In Redesigned STEM High Schools Of Higher-Order Proficiencies In Redesigned
STEM High Schools. Contemporary Issues In Education Research (CIER), 10(1), 13. doi:
10.19030/cier.v10i1.9877

Lile, R., & Kelemen, G. (2014). Results of Researches on Strategies of Teaching/Learning/Assessment

Based on Interactive Learning Methods. Procedia - Social And Behavioral Sciences, 163, 120-
124. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.12.296

New South Wales Standards Authority (NESA). (2019). Principles of Assessment for Stage 6.
Retrieved from http://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/wcm/connect/f50875c7-

O’Donovan, B. (2016). How student beliefs about knowledge and knowing influence their satisfaction
with assessment and feedback. Higher Education, 74(4), 617-633. doi: 10.1007/s10734-016-
0068-y

Pithers, B. & Holland, T. (2003). A study of the purpose and importance of assessment feedback.
Australian Vocational Education Review, 10(1), 15-20. Retrieved from https://search-
informit-com-au.ezproxy.uws.edu.au/fullText;dn=130063;res=AEIPT

Sach, E. (2013). An exploration of teachers' narratives: what are the facilitators and constraints
which promote or inhibit ‘good’ formative assessment practices in schools?. Education 3-
13, 43(3), 322-335. doi: 10.1080/03004279.2013.813956