1. Graduate study with ACER

2. ACER is a registered higher education provider*
Courses are designed to:
share specific ACER skills and knowledge
meet the needs of teachers, education leaders and data professionals for knowledge and credentials
encourage application in your own settings
*by the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Authority

3. We offer
Graduate Certificate of Education (Assessment of Student Learning) now
Future courses are likely in Teaching Mathematics, Teaching Reading and Writing and Educational Measurement
You have
a Bachelor's degree (or higher) and access to an educational setting for project work
English language (IELTS average 7)

4. GCE (ASL) learning outcomes
Understand the theories and research evidence underpinning the purposes and principles of assessment and feedback in the teaching and learning cycle.
Understand the uses of moderation and triangulation of data sources to inform judgements.
Critically evaluate assessment in relation to defined frameworks.
Critically evaluate a range of assessment methods, and use appropriate criteria to select and judge evidence.
Build students' capacity for self assessment and peer assessment.
Use appropriate criteria to make unbiased judgements of student achievement based on evidence.
Use assessment evidence to inform and improve current practice, identify next steps for students and identify professional development needs.

5. Units Unit 1 (must be taken first) Assessment to promote learning
Assessment methods
Unit 3
Estimating student progress
Unit 4
Using assessment evidence to inform teaching and learning

6. Time commitment
You are expected to spend 110 hours over 11 weeks on your studies
This is achieved through
reading
reflecting on your own work
analysing your current data
trying new approaches in small projects
sharing with others online, and
completing the assessment tasks.

7. Blended teaching model
Fully online
Asynchronous and synchronous online events
Online plus face to face
Resources include tailored video recordings of experts
Essential to check firewalls, bandwidth etc

8. Assessment tasks Written report Critical review of literature
Presentation to peers and colleagues
Peer feedback
Portfolio artefacts

9. Who are our students?
Teachers, principals, coaches, cluster leaders, policy officers in several countries

10. Feedback
The blend of face-to-face days, online peer collaboration as well as opportunities for Q&A sessions with some of Australia’s leading educational authorities via web-conferencing enabled me to develop much deeper understandings of all facets of student assessment.
Mark Windsor
Instructional Leader – North Coast Region, Queensland

11. Feedback
At the time, I was writing school curriculum and pedagogical frameworks, and this program was completely relevant to the work I was doing. The current, high-quality readings, course work, collegiate sharing and practical projects supported examination of evidence-based pedagogies, effective feedback and data collection practices.
Jo McCulloch – Principal Education Advisor, Central Queensland

12. Posted online in Teacher
I am currently completing the ACER Graduate Certificate in Education - Assessment of Student Learning - and after 20 years of teaching, I can confidently say that I totally agree with Dylan Wiliam’s statement regarding teachers learning to be even better!!
I thought I was on track with my teaching and learning and really enjoyed the learning environment created every year in my learning community. However, through this course, I have a new vision, a new mindset, a new attitude towards teaching and a new approach!! By using research and evidence-based practices, MY practices have changed to be more meaningful, more personal, more student-driven and more rewarding - both for me and for my students. I am actually using what I am reading, hearing, discussing and viewing every day in the classroom.
The benefits are already evident - my students are recognising their areas of growth and I feel as though we are ALL learning and teaching every day!!
Michele Hicks

13. Library Services for your Study
Online catalogue.
Remote access, via a personal student login, to selected databases including A+Education for Australian research, Education Research Complete for international research and OECDiLibrary for OECD’s education literature.
A student portal with selected links to open access resources such as ERIC, an online collection of educational research, and ACEReSearch, ACER’s research repository.
Remote access to a selection of electronic books and electronic journals.
Provision of Unit readings online where possible.
Daily Australian education news service.
Customised alerting services.
Experienced information professionals.

14. Readings

15. RPL & Credit transfer potential
Depends on matching the intended learning outcomes, level of qualification and other factors at the discretion of individual institutions
RPL into ACER courses
Credit transfer to other institutions
See policy at

16. Course dates GCE (ASL) GCE (ASL) Mid-year intake Unit 1
16 February - 24 April 2015
Unit 2
18 May - 31 July
Unit 3
31 Aug - 15 November
Unit 4
8 Feb – 15 April 2016
Unit 1
18 May - 31 July 2015
Unit 3
31 Aug - 15 November
Unit 4
8 Feb – 15 April 2016
Unit 2
May – Jul 2016 dates TBC

17. Fees and funding Price per unit (2015) $AUD1750.00
Discount for paying 4 units up front: 10% (= $6300)
There is no HECS or FEE-HELP for post graduate courses with private providers
Some participants gain system-level or school funding

18. What next? Send further questions to courses@acer.edu.au
Explore the website
Enrol using the form on the website