Program

Commerce/Education (Secondary) - 3462

Program Summary

Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Contact: School of Education

Campus: Sydney

Career: Undergraduate

Typical Duration: 4 Years  

Typical UOC Per Semester: 24

Min UOC Per Semester: 6

Max UOC Per Semester: 24

Min UOC For Award: 192

UAC Code: 422120

Domestic Entry Requirements: See Domestic Entry Requirements

International Entry Requirements: See International Entry Requirements

Award(s):

Bachelor of Commerce

Bachelor of Education (Secondary)

View program information for previous years

Program Description

The Dual degree program, Bachelor of Commerce Bachelor of Education (Secondary) is a four-year program (192 UOC) for intending secondary school teachers. The program is a nationally accredited pre-service qualification.

Students undertake studies to qualify as a secondary school teacher in two teaching specialisations (i.e., business studies and economics). The program covers both theoretical and practical aspects of education, including 80 days supervised professional experience in at least two different secondary schools.

Program Objectives and Graduate Attributes

You should achieve the Program Learning Outcomes upon successful completion of the Bachelor of Commerce 3502.

Program Learning Outcomes

You should achieve the following Program Learning Outcomes upon successful completion of the Bachelor of Education (Secondary):
  1. Know students and how they learn
  2. Know the content and how to teach it
  3. Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning
  4. Create and maintain supportive and safe learning environments
  5. Assess, provide feedback and report on student learning
  6. Engage in professional learning
  7. Engage professionally with colleagues, parents/carers and the community

Program Structure

The requirements for the Bachelor of Education component of the dual degree (96 UOC) are:
  1. Education Core (66 UOC)
  2. Prescribed Education methods (24 UOC)
  3. Prescribed Education elective (6 UOC)
This comprises the following Education Core courses:

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

Level 4

EDST2002, EDST6760 and EDST6765 provide students with a total of 80 days of professional experience in secondary schools and other educational settings.

Prescribed Education Methods

Prescribed Education Electives

Choose one course from the following list:

English Proficiency

Proficiency in English is essential in all courses that form a part of the Bachelor of Education (Secondary) component of the dual degree. It is expected that all applicants will have a Higher School Certificate minimum Band 5 in Standard English, English as a Second Language or Advanced English, or an overall IELTS score of 7.5, with a minimum of 8.0 in Speaking and Listening and a minimum of 7.0 in Reading and Writing, or the equivalent.

Participation and Enrolment Requirements

For accreditation as a teacher in NSW, all teacher education students will need to meet the following participation and enrolment requirements set by the NSW Educations Standards Authority (NESA).

Assessment of Suitability for Teaching

It is a NESA requirement that all UNSW Bachelor of Education students successfully complete a full year (48 UOC) of studies in their specific disciplinary content area (e.g., Maths, Science, Economics, Arts, etc.) before undertaking any discipline-specific curriculum and pedagogic studies (Methods) or professional experience placements in schools. At the end of their first semester they must also complete a motivational statement as to why they want to be a teacher, which is scored on a 2-point scale: No – incoherent, irrelevant, or inappropriate reasons, or Yes - coherent and valid reason. If students score ‘No’, they will be counselled out of the program.

In addition, before their first supervised professional experience placement, all teacher education students must successfully complete:

  1. The National Literacy and Numeracy Test for Initial Teacher Education.
  2. The Classroom Readiness Questionnaire. The Classroom Readiness Questionnaire is a pre-professional experience self-assessment tool that requires students to provide evidence of success across six areas (subject content, inherent requirements, professional language/literacy/numeracy, oral communication, classroom management, and commitment to the profession). Their self-assessments are then endorsed (or not) by at least two staff members who teach them.
  3. A situational judgement test. This test is a scenario-based measurement tool designed to assess individuals’ judgement in a contextualised workplace setting. This test evaluates a number of key non-academic capabilities deemed necessary for teaching (e.g., adaptability, empathy).
We also undertake extensive evaluation of teacher suitability for their specific teaching areas. We do this via: (a) including a compulsory microteaching assessment in Methods courses, (b) using direct observation of all professional experience placements, including the first semester placement as a teaching assistant, (c) multiple critical assessment tasks, (d) a teaching performance assessment, and (e) a set of inherent requirements used by a range of UNSW teacher education providers. We continually monitor and evaluate the relationship between these measures, the performance during professional experience, and graduate outcomes, including level of self-efficacy.

English Language Proficiency

It is a NESA requirement that all teacher education students have very high levels of English language proficiency, thus in addition to satisfying UNSW entry requirements, see www.unsw.edu.au/english-requirements-policy, oral and written communication skills are assessed regularly as part of all coursework and professional experience. By graduation it is expected that all teacher education students will be able to demonstrate English language proficiency equivalent to a Band 5 NSW HSC- level or an IELTS 7.5, with 8.0 for speaking and listening.

The National Literacy and Numeracy Test

The National Literacy and Numeracy Test for Initial Teacher Education Students is designed to assess initial teacher education students’ personal literacy and numeracy skills to ensure teachers are well equipped to meet the demands of teaching, and assist higher education providers, teacher employers, and the general public to have increased confidence in the skills of graduating teachers.

The test has been introduced to assess those aspects of initial teacher education students’ personal literacy and numeracy skills that can be measured through an online assessment tool. At UNSW, students must successfully complete both components of the LANTITE test prior to enrolling in their first Professional Experience course. You are supplied with information for the tests though Moodle and the link is provided at https://teacheredtest.acer.edu.au. Successful completion of the LANTITE test will be recorded as two zero credit courses, EDST6600 LANTITE (Literacy) and EDST6601 LANTITE (Numeracy) on a student’s academic record.

Working With Children Check

Before their first professional experience placement, all teacher education students must obtain a current Volunteer Working With Children Check (WWC) and attend a UNSW-based 2-hour child protection lecture delivered by the Department of Education – Employee Performance and Conduct Directorate. They must provide a copy of their WWC clearance number to the Professional Experience Office (PEO) via the Online Placement System (OPS). The PEO verifies all WWC numbers in the Office of the Children’s Guardian verification page for employers (https://wwccheck.ccyp.nsw.gov.au/Employers/Login) and classifies students as ‘eligible’ for placement, or not. All EDST 6765 Professional Experience 2 students must then obtain a valid paid WWC clearance. For more information about volunteer and paid WWC Checks, find the link here: https://www.kidsguardian.nsw.gov.au/child-safe-organisations/working-with-children-check.

All students must also familiarise themselves with the NSW Department of Education Code of Conduct and the document Responding to Allegations against Employees in the Area of Child Protection. All students are provided access to the policy via the Professional Experience Handbook specific to their year of placement.

Anaphylaxis Training & Certification

The NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) and the Department of Education (DoE) has mandated the completion of anaphylaxis e-training for all permanent, temporary, and casual employees who work in schools, including teacher education students. All UNSW teacher education students must complete the anaphylaxis e-training module provided by the Australian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA) in conjunction with practice using an adrenaline auto-injector training device prior to commencing their first placement in schools.

The e-training is a free, online module available at http://etraining.allergy.org.au/. On successful completion of the online module, participants will receive a certificate of completion which should be printed immediately. The Professional Experience Office will then arrange practice using the adrenaline auto-injector training device. Students are then required to upload their signed certificate to the OPS. NESA and the DoE require that students also present a copy of their certificate of completion to principals at the commencement of their professional experience placements. Students should also retain a copy of the certificate for future use within the two years of the certificate’s currency.

The NSW DoE advises that student teachers who do not successfully complete this training, as verified by the university and the principal of their placement school, will not be able to undertake professional experience activities in NSW public schools. The training is required to be successfully undertaken every two years. This is the only training that will be accepted by the DoE to meet the requirement of anaphylaxis training for initial Teacher Education Students.

Award with Distinction

You are eligible for the award of your Pass Degree "with Distinction" if you achieve a Weighted Average Mark (WAM) of at least 75 in all courses and complete at least 50% of the requirements of your award at UNSW.

Honours

After completion of 144 UOC including all of the requirements of the Bachelor of Education (Secondary) dual degree, high achieving students may apply for admission to the Bachelor of Education (Secondary) (Honours) program 4509. A minimum WAM of 70 in the Bachelor of Education (Secondary) component of the dual degree is required for entry into Honours.

Bachelor of Education (Secondary) (Honours) program 4509

Academic Rules

To qualify for the award of the degree at Pass level, a student must:
  1. enrol in the Bachelor of Education (Secondary) in Dual mode and complete 96 UOC;
  2. complete the method requirements for one or two teaching specialisations
  3. complete at least 30 UOC of Level 1 courses before enrolling in Level 2 courses
  4. complete at least 30 UOC of Level 2 courses before enrolling in Level 3 courses


The requirements for the Bachelor of Commerce component of the dual degree (96 UOC) are:
  1. Compulsory core courses (24 UOC)
  2. Flexible core courses (24 UOC)
  3. Major requirements (48 UOC)
This comprises the following courses:

1. Compulsory core courses (24 UOC). All four of the following courses must be completed:
2. Flexible core courses (24 UOC). Four of the following courses must be completed, being mindful of the major that the student has chosen (i.e., depending on the major, different combinations of the following courses may need to be completed):
3. Students enrolled in a Bachelor of Commerce Bachelor of Education (Secondary) dual degree need to choose one major from: (a) Business Economics, (b) Financial Economics, (c) Business Strategy and Economic Management, and (d) Accounting. Information on the precise courses that need to be completed for each of these majors may be obtained by clicking on one of the following links:
4. One or more of the courses in each of these majors are also core courses (Compulsory or Flexible core) for the program. This means that students will need to ensure they complete all courses for the major outside of the Core, PLUS additional Business courses to ensure they fulfil the 96 UOC required for the Bachelor of Commerce component of the dual degree.

Students who intend to qualify as a secondary school teacher in business studies and economics AND also wish to gain associate membership of CPA Australia, or wish to enter the Chartered Accountants Program of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, are permitted to complete a major in Accounting instead of Business Economics, Business Strategy and Economic Management or Financial Economics. THESE STUDENTS WILL NEED TO COMPLETE THE COURSE REQUIREMENTS OF CPA AUSTRALIA OR CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND (please refer to the CPA or CA websites, noted below, for the requirements of the two bodies) AND ADDITIONALLY COMPLETE TWO 6 UOC ECONOMICS COURSES AT LEVEL 2 OR ABOVE. ONE LEVEL 2 ECONOMICS COURSE MAY BE TAKEN AS THE COMMERCE ELECTIVE, WHILE THE SECOND LEVEL 2 ECONOMICS COURSE MAY NEED TO BE TAKEN ON A NON-AWARD BASIS.

For academic entry requirements for the CPA Program with CPA Australia refer to: https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/ManageApplications/AccreditedCourse.mvc/SearchAccreditedCourses

For academic entry requirements for the Chartered Accountants Program with Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand refer to: https://www.charteredaccountants.com.au/Candidates/The-Chartered-Accountants-Program/Entry-requirements/Accredited-courses

Award with Distinction

You are eligible for the award of your Pass Degree "with Distinction" if you achieve a Weighted Average Mark (WAM) of at least 75 in all courses and complete at least 50% of the requirements of your award at UNSW.

Honours

After completion of 144 UOC including all of the requirements of the Bachelor of Commerce component of the dual degree, high achieving students may apply for entry into 4501 Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) to undertake honours in their business discipline. The Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) comprises one year of full-time study (48 UOC) and provides students with advanced knowledge in their chosen field, research skills and communication skills. Students usually complete advanced courses/seminars and a thesis. Students interested in studying at Honours Level should refer to the 4501 Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) program and plans for entry requirements.

Academic Rules

Please refer to the Program Structure for the academic requirements relating to this program.
Rules relating to the award of the degree of Bachelor of Commerce shall apply wherever relevant. Students are advised to consult the Academic Rules for further information.

Sample Program

Bachelor of Commerce Bachelor of Education (Secondary) Sample Program - Example Only

 
Level 1

Semester 1

EDST1104 Social Perspectives in Educ. (6 UOC)Commerce Compulsory Core (6 UOC)

Commerce Compulsory Core (6 UOC)

Commerce Flexible Core (6 UOC)

Level 1

Semester 2

EDST1101 Educational Psychology (6 UOC)Commerce Compulsory Core (6 UOC)

Commerce Compulsory Core (6 UOC)

Commerce Flexible Core (6 UOC)

Level 2

Semester 1

EDST2003 Learning and Teaching Persp. (6 UOC)EDST1108 Indigenous Perspectives (6 UOC)Commerce Flexible Core (6 UOC)

Commerce Major 1 (6 UOC)

Level 2

Semester 2

EDST2002 Professional Engagement (6 UOC)EDST Elective (6 UOC)Commerce Flexible Core (6 UOC)

Commerce Major 2 (6 UOC)

Level 3

Semester 1

EDST6760 Professional Experience 1 (6 UOC)

EDST4084 Managing the Classroom (6 UOC)

EDST6715 Business Studies Method 1 (6 UOC)

EDST6716 Economics Method 1 (6 UOC)

Level 3

Semester 2

EDST4080 Special Education (6 UOC)Commerce Major 3 (6 UOC)

Commerce Major 4 (6 UOC)

Commerce Major 5 (6 UOC)

Level 4

Semester 1

EDST4096 Gifted and Talented Students (6 UOC)Commerce Major 6 (6 UOC)

Commerce Major 7 (6 UOC)

Commerce Elective (6 UOC)

Level 4

Semester 2

EDST6765 Professional Experience 2/Internship (12 UOC)EDST6745 Business Studies Method 2 (6 UOC)EDST6746 Economics Method 2 (6 UOC)


Fees

For information regarding fees for UNSW programs, please refer to the following website:  UNSW Fee Website.

Important Information

The Academic Rules for the UNSW BCom BEd (Secondary) and the online enrolment facility provide students with a wide range of course choices. The online enrolment facility checks that students meet the enrolment requirements for individual courses but not that a course complies with Program Rules. Students are responsible for ensuring they are enrolling in accordance with the Academic Rules outlined above. Students should not assume that because they have enrolled in a course online that the course is automatically credited to their degree program.

Further Information

Contact the UNSW Arts and Social Sciences Student Centre for advice.
Tel: + 61 2 9385 2289
Email: arts@unsw.edu.au
Location: Room G1 Ground Floor, Morven Brown building (C20)
Opening Hours: Monday to Friday 9am - 5pm
Frequently asked questions

Glossary of Terms


Area(s) of Specialisation