Page 16 - The Ontario Curriculum Grades 10 to 12 Computer Studies - Revised (2008)

thE ontario curriculum, GradES 10 –12 | Computer Studies
The purpose of the achievement chart is to:
• provide a common framework that encompasses all curriculum expectations for all courses outlined in this document;
• guide the development of quality assessment tasks and tools (including rubrics);
• help teachers to plan instruction for learning;
• assist teachers in providing meaningful feedback to students;
• provide various categories and criteria with which to assess and evaluate students’ learning.
categories of Knowledge and Skills
The categories, defined by clear criteria, represent four broad areas of knowledge and skills within which the subject expectations for any given course are organized. The four categories should be considered as interrelated, reflecting the wholeness and intercon- nectedness of learning.
The categories of knowledge and skills are described as follows:
Knowledge and Understanding. Subject-specific content acquired in each course (knowledge), and the comprehension of its meaning and significance (understanding).
Thinking. The use of critical and creative thinking skills and/or processes, as follows:
• planning skills (e.g., focusing research, gathering information, selecting strategies, organizing a project)
• processing skills (e.g., analysing, interpreting, assessing, reasoning, generating ideas, evaluating, synthesizing, seeking a variety of perspectives)
• critical/creative thinking processes (e.g., problem solving, decision making, research) Communication. The conveying of meaning through various forms.
Application. The use of knowledge and skills to make connections within and between various contexts.
Teachers will ensure that student work is assessed and/or evaluated in a balanced man- ner with respect to the four categories, and that achievement of particular expectations is considered within the appropriate categories.
criteria
Within each category in the achievement chart, criteria are provided that are subsets of the knowledge and skills that define each category. For example, in Knowledge and Understanding, the criteria are “knowledge of content (e.g., facts, technical terminology, definitions, procedures, standards)” and “understanding of content (e.g., concepts, prin- ciples, methodologies, use of tools)”. The criteria identify the aspects of student perfor- mance that are assessed and/or evaluated, and serve as guides to what to look for.
descriptors
A “descriptor” indicates the characteristic of the student’s performance, with respect to a particular criterion, on which assessment or evaluation is focused. In the achieve- ment chart, effectiveness is the descriptor used for each criterion in the Thinking, Com- munication, and Application categories. What constitutes effectiveness in any given
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