Unit writing training

Unit Writing
HN Review
May 2011
Scottish Qualifications Authority
bobby.elliott@sqa.org.uk
caroline.douglas@sqa.org.uk

Agenda

Outcomes
Describe the unit writing process.
Identify and locate support materials.
Identify the unit specification template.
Explain Bloom’s Taxonomy.
Write a unit specification.

Outcome 1: Describe the unit writing process

Outcome 2: Identify and locate support materials
Documentation
Writing Higher National Units using the revised format
Online resources
SQA Groupspace for unit writers
People
Vetter
Qualification leader
Lead developer (Gerry)
SQA officer (Caroline)

http://groupspaces.com/UnitWriting/

Outcome 3: Identify the unit specification template

Outcome 4: Explain Bloom’s Taxonomy

Outcome 5: Write a unit specification
Devising the title
Stating the unit purpose
Determining level and credit
Writing outcomes
Writing knowledge and skills statements
Writing evidence requirements
Producing assessment guidelines
Holistic assessment

Devising the title
One line summary of the unit’s contents
State the area of skills and knowledge
Examples
Software Development
Operating Systems: Virtualisation
Troubleshooting PC Problems
Don’t…
Use “Introduction to…” or equivalent
Begin with a conjunction such as “A” or “The”
Use numbers

Stating the unit purpose
Brief summary of what the unit is about
The summary leads to the outcomes
May include information about target group(s) or progression routes
Example
“The purpose of this unit is to provide the knowledge and skills required to write Higher National unit specifications. It is intended for college lecturers who wish to acquire these competences to enable them to participate in unit writing as part of the Higher National Review of HNC/D Computing.”

Determining level and credit
Level
Use the SCQF system
Use the SCQF level descriptors
It’s not a science!
Credit
Express as HN credits and SCQF points
1 HN credit = 40 hours of guided learning
1 HN credit = 8 SCQF points
Avoid fractional values
Round up

SCQF descriptors

Writing outcomes
Follows from purpose
Normally 3-5 outcomes per unit
Prefaced with: “On completion of the unit, candidates should be able to:”
Begins with a verb
Use Bloom’s Taxonomy
Don’t use intangible verbs such as “Know” or “Understand”
Don’t use vague verbs such as “Demonstrate” or “Illustrate”
Avoid process-oriented outcomes such as “Use” or “Participate”

Writing outcomes: examples
State the main roles in an Information Services Department
Describe the main stages in the software development life cycle
Explain a virtual machine
Test a computer program
Analyse a network fault
Resolve a customer problem
Create a flowchart to illustrate a common problem solving procedure

Writing knowledge and skills statements
Essential knowledge and skills needed to achieve the outcomes
Background knowledge/underpinning skills
New knowledge/new skills
General knowledge
Soft skills
Not performance criteria
Don’t define standards
Don’t define quantity or quality

Examples
Describe the unit writing process
Structure of qualifications
Need for national standards
Role of awarding bodies
Role of writer and vetter
Main stages in the writing process
Quality control within the writing process
Inter-personal skills needed

Examples continued
Identify and locate support materials
Background knowledge?
Underpinning skills?
New knowledge?
New skills?

Writing evidence requirements
What candidates have to do to produce evidence that they have achieved the outcome(s)
The type of performance
The standards expected
The volume of evidence
Any essential conditions
Evidence for all skills
Sampling of knowledge
Do not specify the instrument of assessment

“Describe the unit writing process”
The evidence for this outcome comprises a knowledge assessment that samples from the knowledge and skills statements in the outcome. The assessment will consist of a number of short answer or selected response questions, undertaken under controlled conditions without access to reference material. Each assessment should consist of a different sample of knowledge and skills.

Producing assessment guidelines
This section is not mandatory
It provides guidance on the assessment activity that will generate the required evidence
It suggests how best to carry out the assessment
It may suggest a specific instrument of assessment including duration and pass mark

This outcome could be assessed by a multiple-choice test, comprising 25 questions, with a pass mark of 15 out of 25 (60%). The questions would be drawn from each of the knowledge and skills statements. A distribution of questions could be:
Structure of qualifications (3 questions)
Need for national standards (2 questions)
Role of awarding bodies (4 questions)
“Describe the unit writing process”

Holistic assessment
THE FIRST RULE OF UNIT WRITING IS
MINIMISE ASSESSMENT
THE SECOND RULE OF UNIT WRITING IS
MINIMISE ASSESSMENT
THE THIRD RULE OF UNIT WRITING IS
MINIMISE ASSESSMENT

Holistic assessment
Do not assess each outcome
Assess the unit as a whole
Aim for one assessment per unit
No more than one knowledge and one practical assessment per unit
Sample knowledge
Don’t produce long lists of knowledge and skills

Questions & Answers

Unit writing training

by bobbyelliott on May 26, 2011

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