DISCIPLINE
Education (Primary)

DURATION
It is expected that students will allocate 150 hours over 13 weeks to this unit. This time is allocated as follows:

Residential School - 30 hours.
Directed study and reading - 50 hours.
Assignment preparation - 50 hours.
Online participation - 15-20 hours (approx 90 mins per week).

ICT USED
W ebCT

DELIVERY CONTEXT
Mixed-mode: students attend a 4-day school at the University campus in the middle of the 13-week period. During this school they are engaged in face-to-face workshop and lecture sessions. These sessions are focused on:

• Demonstrating, teaching, and practising artistic techniques and skills.
• Discussing approaches to primary creative arts teaching.
• Introducing students to other professional artists' work and developing skills in art analysis.
• Library and online research.
• Reviewing teaching resources and materials relevant to the creative arts.

The remainder of the subject is delivered online. The main components of the online learning design are the bulletin board for class discussion, the glossary for developing a class bibliography of art/music terms, and the art gallery for exhibiting student's artworks.

TARGET AUDIENCE
Undergraduate level: Students are enrolled in the combined degree Bachelor of General Studies/Bachelor of Teaching award. The duration of the award is 4 years full-time and 6 years part-time.

The students are first year undergraduates who are often mature-age students. Many have not studied since leaving high school some years before. The majority of students have not gone beyond primary or middle school training in the music and visual arts. They are also unfamiliar with primary teaching methodology, as the compulsory methodology units are not undertaken until students are in their third and fourth year of the award. In this sense this unit serves as an early orientation and preparation for those methodology units.

COHORT
Originally it was assumed that a small number of students would elect to do this learning design and enrolment numbers were expected to be between 20-30 students. It is, however, possible that we could support up to 100 students in future if we were to increase the teaching ratio (1 teacher to every 25 students).

The following pattern of enrolment may be of interest:

• In 1999, 8 students enrolled (this was the first year the award itself was introduced).
• In 2000, 25 students enrolled.
• In 2001, 55 students enrolled.
• In 2002, 71 students enrolled.

Only 2 lecturers (one music /one vis arts) have supervised this unit since its inception. There are no tutors involved, therefore, all residential school teaching, online design, participation and direction, and marking is done by the 2 supervising lecturers.

This unit is the only unit amongst a total of 9 undergraduate creative arts units that does not also have an internal cohort of students.

BROADER CONTEXT
It is an elective unit.

It is also a first year foundational unit for students who may elect in future to do either a minor or major in creative arts education in the second, third and fourth years of their combined degree (Bachelor General Studies/ Bachelor of Teaching) program. The sister unit to this first year subject is called Introduction to Drama and Dance for Teachers .

Typically the same group of students are enrolled in both units.

Through online communication students are able to :

• Share their opinions and responses to the large body of literature and resources that they are expected to study throughout the course.
• Refine their ideas for music and art tasks (done individually) by discussing frameworks and approaches they intend to take and gain feedback from others on this.
• Share information about valuable resources/ texts/ artistic venues and artist contacts that they have uncovered in the course of their own research.
• Reflect upon what it means to be a learner in, as well as a teacher of, the creative arts.
• Create an exhibition of original artworks and provide positive feedback to each other about their artistic efforts.
• Develop a good repertoire of art/music language.
• Discuss the life and work of a range of Australian contemporary and historical artists.
• Receive direction and advice from their lecturers when it is needed.

Furthermore, this learning design is thought to contribute to the development of certain student attributes and learning outcomes. These are described as follows:

Communication Skills: In this unit students should begin to be able to demonstrate forms of musical, written and graphic communication. They should be able to use the medium and form of communication appropriate for a given situation and present well-reasoned arguments or ideas.

Global Perspective: In this unit students should begin to demonstrate an awareness of the global context of the arts disciplines, be able to function in a multicultural or global context, and understand and recognise different cultural and historical nuances in works of art.

Information Literacy: Students should be able to find, acquire, evaluate, manage and use information in a range of media and acquire, organise and present information.

Life-Long Learning: In this unit students will:

• Understand and have the capacity to evaluate their current knowledge.
• Identify, evaluate and implement personal learning strategies.
• Use a wide range of academic skills (research, analysis, synthesis etc.).
• Practise intellectual curiosity, creativity and critical thinking.
• Learn independently.
• Learn new skills and apply learning to new and unexpected situations.
• Recognise opportunities for artistic growth and build on their artistic skills.

Problem Solving: In this unit students will:

• Identify critical issues in the field of arts education.
• Identify areas within the arts that individual learners experience problems.
• Conceptualise problems and formulate a range of solutions.
• Collect, collate and analyse relevant information to assist in problem-solving.

IMPLEMENTATION OF ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES
There are 3 assessable tasks:

1. Art-focussed task- this involves a written essay and an artwork. Both are assessed by a single instructor according to a grade scale (High Distinction, Distinction , Credit, Pass , Fail).
2. Music-focussed tasks -A musicianship Level One course (this is either a Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory result) and an essay that discusses the challenges to music teachers teaching in an integrated primary arts curriculum (also follows a grading system as described above).
3. Art/music-focussed task - a set of at least 5 significant personal contributions made to the learning design web site throughout the semester (These contributions may be discussions about texts or other issues raised, assignment tasks, observations about the place and function of the arts in the primary school or entries to the class glossary). This is marked as either a Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory result.

The assessment criteria are made explicit to the students in their unit outline. The criteria used in the UNE grading system is also stated in some detail in this booklet. Students do not negotiate their assessment unless they are unable to complete Task 3 because of a lack of computer or internet access. An alternative task is negotiated between instructor and student in this instance.

IMPORTANCE OF ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES USED
The assessment tasks require students to read the appropriate texts and disseminate that information. They are particularly encouraged to be critical and reflective thinkers. The art tasks also require them to experience the creative process as the learning isn't intended to be just theoretical but practical also. The assessment tasks aren't really integrated and don't exactly serve as resources for further study although the student artwork promotes some ongoing discussion and reflection through the online forums.

WHY ICT IS USED
There was no specific learning problem that led to the development of this learning design, however ICT was generally thought to improve the quality of experience of distance learning.

HOW ICT USE HELPS

• The creation of a virtual art gallery.
• Potentially an interactive music 'sound space' could be utilised.
• Class debate.
• Potentially cooperative and collaborative group work could be attempted as distance learners usually work alone.
• Sharing of a range of learning resources between peers.
• Quick direct communication between the entire class and the lecturers.
• Social interaction for distance learners.

MOST IMPORTANT ICT CONTRIBUTION TO LEARNING DESIGN
The fact that ICT supports the students in their learning and provides a link to the University campus for students who are geographically very dispersed and isolated from one another.