Graduate study with ACER

ACER is a registered higher education provider*

• Courses are designed to:– share specific ACER skills and knowledge– meet the needs of teachers, education leaders

and data professionals for knowledge and credentials

– encourage application in your own settings

*by the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Authority

We offer

• Graduate Certificate of Education (Assessment of Student Learning) now

• Future courses are likely in Teaching Mathematics, Teaching Reading and Writing and Educational Measurement

You have • a Bachelor's degree (or higher) and access to an educational setting for project work• English language (IELTS average 7)

GCE (ASL) learning outcomes• Understand the theories and research evidence underpinning the

purposes and principles of assessment and feedback in the teaching and learning cycle.

• Understand the uses of moderation and triangulation of data sources to inform judgements.

• Critically evaluate assessment in relation to defined frameworks. • Critically evaluate a range of assessment methods, and use appropriate

criteria to select and judge evidence. • Build students' capacity for self assessment and peer assessment. • Use appropriate criteria to make unbiased judgements of student

achievement based on evidence. • Use assessment evidence to inform and improve current practice, identify

next steps for students and identify professional development needs.

Units

• Unit 1 (must be taken first)Assessment to promote learning• Unit 2Assessment methods• Unit 3Estimating student progress• Unit 4Using assessment evidence to inform teaching and

learning

Time commitment

• You are expected to spend 110 hours over 11 weeks on your studies

• This is achieved through – reading– reflecting on your own work– analysing your current data– trying new approaches in small projects– sharing with others online, and – completing the assessment tasks.

Blended teaching model

• Fully online• Asynchronous and synchronous online events• Online plus face to face

• Resources include tailored video recordings of experts• Essential to check firewalls, bandwidth etc

Assessment tasks

• Written report• Critical review of literature• Presentation to peers and colleagues• Peer feedback• Portfolio artefacts

Who are our students?

Teachers, principals, coaches, cluster leaders, policy officers in several countries

Feedback

• The blend of face-to-face days, online peer collaboration as well as opportunities for Q&A sessions with some of Australia’s leading educational authorities via web-conferencing enabled me to develop much deeper understandings of all facets of student assessment.

Mark WindsorInstructional Leader – North Coast Region, Queensland

Feedback

• At the time, I was writing school curriculum and pedagogical frameworks, and this program was completely relevant to the work I was doing. The current, high-quality readings, course work, collegiate sharing and practical projects supported examination of evidence-based pedagogies, effective feedback and data collection practices.

Jo McCulloch – Principal Education Advisor, Central Queensland

Posted online in Teacher• I am currently completing the ACER Graduate Certificate in Education -

Assessment of Student Learning - and after 20 years of teaching, I can confidently say that I totally agree with Dylan Wiliam’s statement regarding teachers learning to be even better!!

• I thought I was on track with my teaching and learning and really enjoyed the learning environment created every year in my learning community. However, through this course, I have a new vision, a new mindset, a new attitude towards teaching and a new approach!! By using research and evidence-based practices, MY practices have changed to be more meaningful, more personal, more student-driven and more rewarding - both for me and for my students. I am actually using what I am reading, hearing, discussing and viewing every day in the classroom.

• The benefits are already evident - my students are recognising their areas of growth and I feel as though we are ALL learning and teaching every day!!

Michele Hicks www.teachermagazine.com.au/

Library Services for your Study• Online catalogue.• Remote access, via a personal student login, to selected databases

including A+Education for Australian research, Education Research Complete for international research and OECDiLibrary for OECD’s education literature.

• A student portal with selected links to open access resources such as ERIC, an online collection of educational research, and ACEReSearch, ACER’s research repository.

• Remote access to a selection of electronic books and electronic journals.

• Provision of Unit readings online where possible.• Daily Australian education news service.• Customised alerting services.• Experienced information professionals.

Readings

RPL & Credit transfer potential

• Depends on matching the intended learning outcomes, level of qualification and other factors at the discretion of individual institutions

• RPL into ACER courses• Credit transfer to other institutions

• See policy at http://courses.acer.edu.au/files/Academic_Credit_and_RPL_Policy.pdf

Course datesGCE (ASL)

• Unit 1 16 February - 24 April 2015 • Unit 2 18 May - 31 July• Unit 3 31 Aug - 15 November • Unit 4 8 Feb – 15 April 2016

GCE (ASL) Mid-year intake

• Unit 1 18 May - 31 July 2015• Unit 3 31 Aug - 15 November • Unit 4 8 Feb – 15 April 2016• Unit 2 May – Jul 2016 dates TBC

Fees and funding

• Price per unit (2015) $AUD1750.00• Discount for paying 4 units up front: 10% (=

$6300)• There is no HECS or FEE-HELP for post

graduate courses with private providers• Some participants gain system-level or school

funding

What next?

• Send further questions to courses@acer.edu.au

• Explore the website http://courses.acer.edu.au/

• Enrol using the form on the website