Western Australia has just held an election and it may not be so long until the next federal election. During an election campaign the various parties advocate for or against a range of political issues. The aim of this assignment is to investigate one particular issue in depth and then present it to the class in the form of an oral presentation. (Note: You will also submit your notes online, but more on that later.)
You are expected to take a partisan point of view in this assignment. That means you are taking a particular stance or point of view in favour or against a particular political issue (see examples below). You will be assessed on both your understanding of the topic, and upon your ability to provide a convincing argument.
Political Issues
You may choose from the following list of political issues (or negotiate with your teacher to do an issue of interest to you). No two students may select the same issue unless they are on opposing sides of the issue.
- that there should be free public health care for all.
- that we should build nuclear reactors to power our cities.
- that we should deregulate retail trading hours so that shops are open all the time.
- that we should reduce the number of migrants coming to Australia.
- that there should be stronger laws against animal cruelty.
- that possession and use of marijuana should be decriminalized.
- that mining uranium should be banned.
- that there should be stronger laws against advertising and use of alcohol and tobacco.
- the we should build a light rail infrastructure in Perth.
- that primary, secondary and tertiary education in Australia should be free of charge.
- that there should be tough laws against abortion.
- that we should allow the growing of genetically modified plant crops and domestic animals.
- that we should scrap the costly Medicare public health insurance fund and make everyone use private health insurance (user pays).
- that gay marriage should be legally recognized.
- that we need tougher penalties against polluting industries to protect our biosphere.
- that there should be a rebate on purchase of solar panels and/or a feed-in tariff for electricity provided to the grid by privately owned solar panels.
- that gun ownership should be legal for all citizens.
- that terminally ill people should have the right to die.
- that there should be a "3 strikes and you out" policy for repeat criminal offenders.
- that Australia should have a bill of rights.
Information, Communication & Participation - Applying and Communicating Findings
Level 3.4: The student justifies decisions from a personal perspective using some evidence and begins to review original understandings when communicating findings.
Level 4.4: The student develops and informed opinion and communicates this witha particular purpose or audience in mind.
Level 5.4: The students communicates findings in ways that show consideration of the facts, opinions and motives for a particular viewpoint when justifying generalisations made.
Level 6.4: The student when communicating findings develops conclusions, justifies personal stances by discussing logically and considering viewpoints and evidence presented by others. They justify their personal stance by discussing logically and considering the viewpoints and evidence presented by others.
Level 7.4: The student communicates findings based on evidence gathered, according to the purpose of the investigation and can justify own values stance and the validity and conclusions drawn by others. Students examine the values position inherent in the viewpoint they represent and analyse the values cited by people who support or oppose a viewpoint different from their own.
Assessment Checklist
- Have you prepared a detailed arguement with ample supporting material (examples, statistics, case-studies, historical pre-cursors)?
- Have you rehearsed your oral presentation?
- Have you posted your written arguements to the Ning.com forum?
- Have you posted supporting materials like diagrams (pictures, graphs, tables) or videos to the Ning.com site and linked to them from your written argument?
