TASK 1 - VIVA VOCE - Proposal

05/11/2013 12:44

 

Task 1: VIVA VOCE addressing the proposal for the Major Work

Assessment Task Weighting 10/50

The viva voce addressing the proposal for the Major Work provides students with the opportunity to present information on the major concept(s), scope, emphases and form of their proposed Major Work. Students also have the opportunity to explain how their proposal is based on the knowledge, skills and understanding of the English Advanced and Extension courses.

Importantly, the viva voce also provides the supervising teacher with an early opportunity to become familiar with students’ proposed Major Works. This will assist the school to certify that each Major Work is wholly the work of the individual student when the school submits the Works for external marking at the end of the course.

Recommended practice when conducting the Viva Voce

  1. Students need to be aware of the importance of acknowledging sources used in the development of the Major Work from the outset of the course. Therefore, it is expected that students in their viva voce will include acknowledgement of the sources used to develop their proposal.
  2. The timing of the viva voce is an important consideration for supervising teachers. Early in Term 1 of the HSC year may be most appropriate so that students are able to demonstrate their capacity to develop a ‘sustained composition’ at that particular point in the course.
  3. The viva voce addressing the proposal for the Major Work may be conducted using a panel format. The composition of such a panel should be carefully

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considered. It may be valuable to include a teacher who is less familiar with the students and their work, in addition to the supervising teacher. The Viva Voce should be designed to support the student in clarifying the direction of their work, with students being given the opportunity to explore the work in progress.

• Students should be given meaningful and constructive feedback following the viva voce.

• Suggested time allocation for the viva voce is approximately 15–20 minutes in total.

• All presentations should be completed in the same location, where possible.

• Supervising teachers may consider asking students to present a sample of early research and/or early work (eg reading an excerpt/pieces of writing, storyboard for video or multimedia) for approximately five minutes followed by questions and answers that emerge during the presentation. This will assist students in presenting aspects of investigation and composition to specific audiences, in a range of modes (‘HSC English Extension Course 2 Objectives, Outcomes and Content’,

 

English Stage 6 Syllabus p 93).

• The journal may be used as part of the presentation and the first submission could occur at this key point in the course.

Recommended Proposal Questions for the Viva Voce

Students should be encouraged to present their viva voce in an individual way, tailored to the specific nature of the proposal. Spontaneity and freshness, reflecting the student’s initial investigation into ‘an area of personal interest’ (

 

English Stage 6 Syllabus, p 92) should be apparent in the viva voce.

Therefore the following is intended to provide guidance only on the general approach and types of questions that could be posed for the English Extension 2 viva voce (assessment task 1). It is recommended that this list of questions not be distributed to students. Instead, the questions should be adjusted and refined by the supervising teacher to suit the course candidature in their school, or the supervising teacher should discuss with students the possible areas of investigation to be covered in the viva voce.

Other options might include the supervising teacher providing two questions that the students prepare for their viva voce, and then during their presentation, students are required to answer two ‘without notice’ questions. In addition, students could be asked to include a brief discussion of any ‘burning issues’ in their research towards the end of the viva voce.

Concept

 

  1. What concept have you developed for your Major Work? Describe it.
  2. Why are you interested in this concept?
  3. What are your sources of inspiration?
  4. How is your concept an extension of the knowledge, understanding and skills developed in English (Advanced) and (Extension) courses?

Purpose

 

  1. What are you aiming to achieve during the Extension 2 course?
  2. How are you planning to achieve this purpose?

Form

  1. Have you decided on the form in which you would like to compose?
  2. Why have you chosen this particular form?

Intended Audience

  1. Who is the target audience of your work?
  2. Why?

Investigation

 

  1. What investigation have you undertaken to date?
  2. What research path do you intend to pursue?
  3. How are you planning to evaluate your investigation and the development of your work?

Resources

 

  1. What resources have you identified as being worthwhile?
  2. How have you used them?

The Major Work Journal

 

  1. How are you using the journal?
  2. What system have you developed to ensure that you document the investigative process and the process of composition?

Challenges

  1. What challenges do you foresee?
  2. How are you planning to address these?
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