Learning and Development for Educators (EDUC1650)

For this task, you will present some contemporary literature on learning and development. You will need to find and discuss readings that focus on both of the following areas:

1) How secondary school students develop and learn in general (aspects of general learning theories discussed in the course)

2) The physical, social and intellectual/cognitive aspects of development and learning (one example for physical, social and cognitive learning in secondary schools each). Please make sure your chosen articles are about aspects of physical, social and cognitive learning and development in SECONDARY SCHOOL SETTINGS.

You will prepare an annotated bibliography including six references. You may use three readings included in this course (chapters/sections that are set for weekly readings, or any of the additional readings listed in the course profile), but you must use at least three other readings that you have found yourself. The three other readings that you find yourself have to be journal articles from peer-reviewed journals in the UQ databases, published from 2010 onwards (so, no articles that were published earlier than 2010).

Format

The total word count for this task is 2,000 words. The full reference of your annotated literature sources are included in the word count.

Include in your assignment:

A brief introduction to the physical, social and cognitive aspects of learning and development, based on what you have learnt so far in the course.

For each annotation:

The full reference in APA 7th edition format

A summary of the chapter/article including the main points

A statement of the key message being conveyed by the author(s) 

An interpretation of the strengths and limitations of the work (critical analysis of the content, ideas or the research methods used)

At the end of the annotated bibliography:

A summary about what the six articles in combination might tell us about learning and development theories in education.

This final summary should include implications for teachers. 

Australian Professional Standards for Teachers:

Focus

1.1 Physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of students (Descriptor: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of students and how these may affect learning.)

1.2 Understand how students learn (Descriptor: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of research into how students learn and the implications for teaching.)

For this task, you will design a learning activity for a small group of secondary students. The topic area covered in the activity can be in your preferred curriculum area (e.g. English, Maths, History, Languages, Biology and so on). The activity should be engaging, interactive and based on a student-centred, constructivist approach to education. The activity can be 20-60 minutes in length. You do not need to design a whole lesson, just one activity. The one activity might have an introductory section, a middle part, and a conclusive section that might include a quick assessment to check for learning.

The assignment has two parts:

1. Activity Plan

You will design an activity plan using a template provided to you on Blackboard. The activity plan will be approximately 500 – 600 words. You will need to provide a description of:

• The context for the activity, where and how it should be done, what subject area it is (Chemistry, Japanese, Business Studies etc)) and any other critical information that other teachers would need to know in advance of implementing the activity. You may reference the Australian Curriculum 8.4 or 9.0, or Queensland Syllabus documents. 
• The intended learning outcomes of the activity - what do you think the secondary students will be able to do or understand at the end of the activity
• The resources required for the activity - laptops, URLs, apps, materials.....anything in terms of materials, technical or otherwise, and sources of information that you will need to do this activity with your students
• A description of what students will be doing - what will you ask the students to do at each phase of the activity, will they work alone or in groups/with partners, will there be opportunities to self-check on their progress, for example through peer or teacher interaction, or using apps and other generative AI tools, and so on. 
• An outline of the support that the teacher will provide while students complete the activity - how you will help students do the activity, how you will introduce and guide the activity, and check on students' progress. 

2. Design justification

The second part of the assignment involves you providing a justification for the design of your activity plan. This section will be approximately 1000 – 1200 words. In this section, you will need to cover the following:

• A description of the learning and development theories that underpins your design (design: the decisions you took when developing the activity)
• A justification for why the development and learning theories were chosen - provide specific details of theory concepts, ideas and strategies and link them specifically with steps and phases in your activity
• An explanation of HOW you have drawn on the theories to inform the decisions you made in designing the activity - provide specific details of theory concepts, ideas and strategies 
• The range of teaching strategies that will need to be employed during the activity
• A justification for the resources selected for use in the activity
• A reflection on what this task has helped you to understand about how learning and development theories inform practice
• Consider student diversity for all of the above (differentiation)
• A minimum of four references should be used to support your justification

Australian Professional Standards for Teachers:

Focus

1.2 Understand how students learn (Descriptor: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of research into how students learn and the implications for teaching)

3.3 Use teaching strategies (Descriptor: Include a range of teaching strategies)

3.4 Select and use resources (Descriptor: Demonstrate knowledge of a range of resources, including ICT, that engage students in their learning.)

As future teachers, you are required to:

1. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of students and how these may affect learning
2. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of research into how students learn and the implications for teaching.
3. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of strategies for differentiating teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of abilities.

This reflective journal task enables you to demonstrate your abilities across all these areas. To assist you in maintaining momentum in your course, you are required to complete 6 journal entries that are tied to the learning in this course, submitted online during semester. This is followed by a final reflection task at the end of semester. 

In order to achieve in this assessment, you will need to:

1. Participate in all weekly lectures, workshops and tutorials (including preparation of weekly readings for class discussion).  
2. Complete your journal at regular intervals throughout the Semester (as outlined below). 

You will be provided with questions throughout the semester in line with the topics we will cover. For each of the topics below, you will write 200–300-word journal entries in response to each of the question and add at least one specific reference to course readings you have read in the preparation of your reflection. This may include a chapter/excerpt from your textbook and/or a reading from the course reading list. The reference citation under your reflection is not included in the word count, but all in-text quotes and references are counted in the word count. Please note: your journal entry reflections need to be based on readings, lectures and tutorials in this course. Please reflect on what you have encountered in this course, and how you might have experienced learning situations yourself that remind you of the concepts, ideas and theories you have read or learnt about in this course.  

1. Why is it important for educators to be aware of, and understand current research evidence on how children and adolescents develop and learn? DUE for week 2
2. What are the most important elements of learning theories that teachers may need to support their educational practices? DUE for week 4
3. Identify the key influences on children's and adolescents' development. How might teachers respond to the diversity of development among students in secondary classrooms, to promote optimal outcomes for all individuals?  DUE for week 5
4. What aspects of cognitive and physical development will teachers take account of, when designing learning experiences for students in secondary schools? Provide brief examples. DUE for week 8
5. Which aspect(s) of social/emotional development do you think will be a key to understanding your students, when you are in the classroom? Justify your choices with brief examples. DUE for week 9
6. To what extent and in what ways can current research on how the brain and mind learn contribute to design of effective educational practices for students in secondary schools? How might you ensure that you make best use of research evidence? Due for week 10

It is important to remember to submit each journal entry on its due date AS YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO INCLUDE ANY MISSING JOURNAL ENTRIES IN YOUR FINAL ASSIGNMENT.

Journal entry reflections will not be marked during the semester. Tutors will provide feedback to your first journal entry, to guide you in the beginning. On Thursday 30 October, you will be required to submit on TurnItIn a single document including all your journal entries and an additional 200–300-word reflection on physical, social and intellectual/cognitive development in secondary schools, and how these three aspects of development are interconnected. You will need to provide references to the literature covered in the course to support your reflections, including the additional 200–300-word reflection. All references used during all reflections will need to be included in one single reference list at the end of the single final document. The single document with all your journal entries and the additional reflection WILL BE MARKED as per the criteria sheet after your submission on 30 October 2025. Please read the criteria sheet carefully. 

 A TurnItIn submission linked will be provided on Blackboard.

Outstanding weekly reflections will not be considered in the final reflection assignment if they have not been uploaded beforehand as weekly reflections. In other words, you are likely to fail this assignment if you do not upload your weekly journal entry reflections by their due dates, as they will not be marked as part of your final single document. You will also fail this assignment if you forget to upload the final single document on 30 October 2025.

Australian Professional Standards for Teachers:

Focus

1.1 Physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of students (Descriptor: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of students and how these may affect learning.)

1.2 Understand how students learn (Descriptor: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of research into how students learn and the implications for teaching.)

1.5 Differentiate teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of abilities (Descriptor: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of strategies for differentiating teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of abilities.