practical achievement task thursday oct 13 th 2011 drumcondra education centre

The PDST is funded by the Department of Education and Skills under the National Development Plan, 2007-2013


Practical Achievement Task

Thursday Oct 13th 2011

Drumcondra Education Centre

Harry [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]



Nature of TaskThis task requires the student to:

Undertake and complete a significant task of apractical and /or enterprising nature over anextended period of 3 months.

It requires the accumulation of tangible evidence of the achievement



Purpose of Task

• undertake a practical task

• develop skills of goal setting

• develop skills of on-going planning, reflection and evaluation

• sustain activity in the targeted area

• gain a sense of mastery and achievement

• gain recognition for out-of-school learning

To provide the student with an opportunity to:



Scope of TaskThe task :• must be an individual task• must be specific/well-defined and realistic • must be independently verifiable• must involve regular engagement over a period of at least

3 months• must present a challenge to the student• must be broadly related to the Leaving Certificate Applied• may build on existing pursuits



The Practical Achievement should:

• be meaningful for the student

• have educational integrity

• be adequately supervised

• be appropriate to age, ability and interest of student

• be oriented towards achievement



• Community involvement• Enterprise activity• Physical / recreation• Practical skill• Product manufacturing• Provision of a service• Organising an event• Adventure activity• Hobbies/Interests• Other

The practical achievement might come from one of the following:



Stages of Task• Planning

• Implementation

• Culmination



Planning StageSelectionThe following should be considered:• interest audit• background research on minimum of 3 options• appropriate level of challenge• safety considerations• relationship to lca courses• selection of task from alternatives considered• time• resources



The plan should consider how the following will be organised:

• Activities required to achieve the goal

• Setting of time scales and ongoing deadlines

• Identification of potential obstacles

• Contact with verifier

• Plan for recording progress

The above should be included in the initial statement which should be about 200 words or 2 minutes audio/ video.

Planning StageAction Plan



IMPLEMENTATION

This involves:- Process- Outcome/Evidence



Implementation

The process requires the student to:• engage with the action plan.• acknowledge the starting position.• record involvement with the

activity in the log entries including time, effort and progress.



Evidence & VerificationTwo separate sources of evidence.Evidence must show progress/achievement.1 source of evidence must show achievement.Both pieces of evidence must be signed by Verifier.Describe how chosen evidence shows achievement.

Possible Sources of Evidence• Certificates• Participation records• Video/Audio tapes• Samples of work• Series of photographs etc.• Testimonials/Letters



VERIFIER

• must be an adult who has supervised or monitored the student’s practical achievement

• must be an adult who is knowledgeable in the area

• must sign both pieces of evidence of the student’s achievement



• description of goals that have been achieved• evaluation of the challenge• self evaluation• application to future endeavours.• cross curricular links• changed perspectives

CulminationThe student prepares a Concluding Statement which should include:

The concluding statement should be 400 words in length or

a maximum of 4 minutes in audio/video format



• Initial Statement

• Log Book (Minimum 5 entries)

• 2 pieces of evidence verifying the achievement

• Concluding statement

AssessmentThe following 5 items must be presented for assessment:



• Ability to select and plan the achievement

• Quality of engagement and evidence of progress

• Ability to reflect on and evaluate the experience

• Quality of integration of learning

• Quality of communicative ability

• Evidence of cross-curricular applications

• Ability to appraise goals on an on-going basis

Assessment Criteria



• Timetabled class periods with whole class group

• Mentoring by teaching team members

• A teacher’s timetable is reduced by one to two periods

• Back-to-back timetabling (team teaching)

• Teachers who are not anchoring any other tasks

• Students seek out teachers themselves

Possible Strategies



Teacher/Mentor Role• Introduce and explain task

• Negotiate and facilitate individual selection

• Motivate/encourage/advise/challenge

• Question/facilitate/monitor

• Give feedback

• Assist in identifying progress

• Support completion of logbook

• Check for 2 pieces of evidence

• Assessment process

practical achievement task thursday oct 13 th 2011 drumcondra education centre

Documents

department of education

national development

skills of goal

skills of ongoing planning

practical achievement

nature of taskthis task

lca coursesselection

significant task of