Stage 1 | Subject outline | Version control

Geography Stage 1
Subject outline

Version 4.0 - For teaching in 2024.
Accredited in May 2016 for teaching at Stage 1 from 2017.

Stage 1 | Subject outline | assessment-design-criteria

Assessment design criteria

The assessment design criteria are based on the learning requirements and are used by teachers to:

  • clarify for the student what he or she needs to learn
  • design opportunities for the student to provide evidence of his or her learning at the highest level of achievement.

The assessment design criteria are the specific features that:

  • students need to demonstrate in their evidence of learning
  • teachers look for as evidence that students have met the learning requirements.

For this subject, the assessment design criteria are:

  • knowledge and understanding
  • analysis and evaluation
  • application.

The specific features of these criteria are described below.

The set of assessments, as a whole, must give students opportunities to demonstrate each of the specific features by the completion of study of the subject. 

Knowledge and Understanding 

The specific features are as follows:

KU1 Knowledge and understanding of geographical concepts. 
KU2 Knowledge and understanding of natural, built, economic, and/or social characteristics of places.

Analysis and Evaluation  

The specific features are as follows:

AE1 Analysis of the interactions between, and interdependence of, people and environments at local, national, or global levels.
AE2 Analysis and evaluation of information to determine possible outcomes, make justifiable recommendations, and form conclusions. 

Application  

The specific features are as follows:

Ap1 Application of geographical and fieldwork skills, including the use of spatial technologies, to identify and examine geographical issues.
Ap2 Communication of geographical information, using subject-specific terminology and visual representations.