Individual assessment:  This assessment requires you to demonstrate your ability to read and interpret empirical findings and associated recommendations from a research article and apply these to a learning activity/element of a lesson plan for improved pedagogical practice. The purpose of your essay is to demonstrate how your chosen article, and the recommendations for teaching practice therein, influence your chosen learning activity/element of a lesson plan.

ASSIGNMENT DETAILS: In order to complete this assignment you need to:  Perform a close, critical read of the provided research article for application and consideration; o While reading,  develop your informed understanding of:  The research that has informed the study being reported on (e.g. the literature review section of the paper);
  The method by which data was collected and analysed;
 The findings and where these supported/contradicted other findings from similar research; and
 The recommendations for practice.  NB:  Papers might not have an explicit “recommendations” section.  Rather, recommendations for practice may be interspersed throughout the article as the author(s) present and discuss the findings.  Some recommendations might also be included within a “conclusions” section.  Be aware of this, and read your article carefully.

 Locate a learning activity/element of an ENGLISH lesson plan;
 o Some suggestions for online sources include:
 NESA resources (http://syllabus.NESA.nsw.edu.au/support-materials/programming/);
   Australian Curriculum Lessons (http://www.australiancurriculumlessons.com.au/); 
 Cool Australia (http://www.coolaustralia.org/curriculum-materials/body-wrapper); 
 ABC Splash (http://splash.abc.net.au/home!/resources).  

o Isolate a manageable learning activity (or small set of activities) which would be used within a single lesson. 
 Use insights from your chosen article to reconsider and revise your chosen learning activity/element of a lesson plan.  You may add or revise elements related to classroom procedure, physical layout, materials, medium of delivery, content, differentiation, and/or groupings/organisation of students. All changes/additions must be explained and justified using insights from your chosen research article.

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Your final essay should:
1. Briefly introduce the educational issue addressed in your chosen article.
2. Explain how this issue is relevant both broadly and specifically within your KLA (ENGLISH).
3. Provide a critical summary of your article, discussing how the cited background research, methods used and findings lead clearly to the author(s)’ recommendations for practice.
4. Introduce your chosen learning activity/activities (don’t forget to reference the resource!) and highlight areas where pertinent information may have been missing or oversights relevant to your educational issue may have been made.
                                     You may include screen shots of elements of your learning activities to highlight areas where revisions may be needed.  Images will NOT be counted in the overall word count of the essay. 5. Discuss the revisions you would make to your chosen learning activity and, most importantly, justify these using your chosen article. 
6. Your assignment will reference (at minimum for a Pass): a) Your chosen article; b) The source for your chosen learning activity/element of a lesson plan; and c) Your textbook – particularly sections relevant to interpreting research recommendations and/or critical reading of research articles.
7. Those working towards a higher mark (Credit/Distinction/High Distinction – see marking rubric) will also incorporate additional empirical journal articles into their justification for revision, weaving these into their support for their additions and/or editing of their chosen research activity. These additional references do not guarantee a higher mark but they are a necessary prerequisite for obtaining one.  ProQuest Education is a good place to start for peer-reviewed journal articles from an education journal in a subfield of your choice
8. Present your work professionally, demonstrating appropriate academic literacy including APA 6th edition referencing.