Assessment criteria and
Report writing
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Criteria Assessment of Biology CAT 2
Your teacher will grade your CAT 2 Report according to the Assessment Criteria published by the Board of Studies (BOS).
S/he will probably also 'cross mark' your work with another experienced Biology teacher, and discuss any differences the two have in your assessment.
Teachers are helped to understand what is needed for each Assessment Criterion by the information provided to them, and training offered to them by BOS.
The Board of Studies publishes an Assessment Criteria mark sheet every year.
YOU SHOULD GET A COPY OF THE 1997 CRITERIA ASSESSMENT SHEET FROM YOUR TEACHER.
The Board of Studies also publishes, as a guide to teachers, a detailed description of what constitutes Very High, High, Medium, Low, Very Low and Not Shown for each of the assessment criteria. For all of the Science subjects, including Biology, this is in a booklet called 'VCE Assessment Advice: Science, 1997'.
Some teachers give each of their students a copy of this material.
If your teacher has not given you this soon after you start work on your CAT, ask politely if you could at least have a look at it.
Alternatively, your VCE Coordinator or your school library may have copies the Assessment Advice for all subjects' School Assessed CATs. You could make copies of all that you need.
As a last resort, you may be able to get copies of this information from the Board of Studies.
This year (1997), there are 7 Assessment Criteria for Biology CAT 2, each worth up to 5 marks. The maximum possible mark for the CAT is therefore 35 marks. The range of marks for A+ is 35-30, for A you need 29-26 marks. The other marks and grades can be found on the Criteria Assessment Sheet.
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The seven assessment criteria.
What follows is a summary of the information for Very High or High for each of the seven assessment criteria. (I have not added those for lower assessments, I assume that all students aim for High at least!)
This information comes from the Board of Studies Assessment Advice booklet, and it is © copyright, but used here with permission.
Criterion 1: Knowledge of the genetic application
This criterion considers the student's knowledge of the application in broad terms, the purpose and type of the application and its distinctive characteristics.
In using this criterion consider how well knowledge is displayed of the:
- type of the application
- purpose of the application
- distinctive feature(s) of the application such as cost, reliability, general public acceptance.
| VERY HIGH |
Comprehensively and accurately describes the type of the application, and the organisms involoved.
Comprehensively and accurately describes the purpose of the application.
Accurately describes the distinctive feature(s) of the application. |
| HIGH |
A complete and accurate description of the type of the application and the organisms involved.
A complete and accurate description of the purpose of the application.
Accurately describes some of the distinctive features of the application. |
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Criterion 2: Understanding of relevant genetics
Students need to explain the genetics needed by a Year 12 student to make sense of the application and the resource material in their report.
In using this criterion consider the:
- degree of identification of relevant genetics
- understanding of genetics demonstrated by providing explanations of appropriate depth and detail
- accuracy of the explanations.
| VERY HIGH |
Fully identifies the relevant genetics and provides an accurate and comprehensive explanation in appropriate depth and detail. |
| HIGH |
Fully identifies the relevant genetics and provides an accurate and adequate explanation. |
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Criterion 3: Understanding of the genetic techniques used in the application.
The application considered in the report is likely to use many techniques. The understanding of genetic techniques, such as gene probes, PCR, restriction enzymes, and DNA hybridisation, is assessed in this criterion. The explanation of non-genetic techniques such as tests for hormones, amniocentesis vetinary procedures and electrophoresis, should only be included in a very brief form where it is necessary in the context of the application.
In using this criterion consider the:
- degree of identification of relevant techniques
- understanding of the techniques demonstrated by providing explanations of appropriate depth and detail
- accuracy of the applications.
| VERY HIGH |
Fully identifies the relevant techniques involved in the application, and provides an accurate and comprehensive explanation in appropriate depth and detail. |
| HIGH |
Fully identifies the relevant techniques involved in the application, and provides and accurate and adequate explanation. |
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Criterion 4: Understanding of biological implications of the genetic application.
This criterion assesses how well the report discusses implications resulting from the application. An implication is an outcome that affects the genetic make-up of an individual or a species in a temporary or permanent way, that affects the health or survival chances of an individual or species, or that reveals information about the genetics of a species or individual which can be shown to have any of these effects. The implications must be significant and biological, not economic, social or moral.
An application of genetics is likely to have many biological implications/outcomes/consequences, whether the student identifies these as one or many implications does not matter, the assessment of the work is based on the quality of the discussion.
In using this criterion consider :
- understanding of the association between the implications and the use of the application through a clear description.
- the understanding of the implications demonstrated by the depth and detail of the explanations.
- the accuracy of the explanations.
| VERY HIGH |
The association between the implications and the application is fully described, in appropriate detail and depth.
The implication is fully explained in appropriate detail and depth.
Explanations are accurate. |
| HIGH |
The association between the implications and the application is fully described, in appropriate detail and depth.
The implication is partially explained. |
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Criterion 5: Knowledge of an issue related to the genetic application.
An issue is something about which people express differing opinions, or it is a topic about which concerns arre expressed.
In using this criterion consider :
- how well the relationship between the issue and the application is explained
- how well the issue is described
- the presentation of the various points of view held in the community about the issue.
| VERY HIGH |
A thorough description of the issue, its relationship to the application accurately and comprehensively explained, and a thorough presentation of the differing views expressed in the community. |
| HIGH |
A thorough description of the issue, its relationship to the application accurately and completely explained, and an adequate presentation of the differing views expressed in the community. |
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Criterion 6: Skill in relating details of the information to the genetic application.
In using this criterion consider:
- do descriptions, explanations, examples, and discussions use details of the application or are they expressed in general terms?
- are diagrams modified to include details of the application?
| VERY HIGH |
Definitions, explanations, examples, diagrams, discussion and opinions comprehensively integrate the specific organisms and the specific genetics involved in the application throughout the report. |
| HIGH |
Definitions, explanations, examples, diagrams, discussion and opinions adequately integrate the specific organisms and the specific genetics involved in the application throughout the report. |
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Criterion 7: Skills in using the conventions of report writing.
In using this criterion consider :
| VERY HIGH |
The skills of report writing are fully demonstrated throughout the report.
Explanations are clear and concise; a comprehensive range of current resources is used and cited; citations allow the reader to access the source material.
All information, including diagrams, is in the student's own words. |
| HIGH |
The skills of report writing are demonstrated well throughout the report.
Concepts are well explained; there is an appropriate range of resources used and cited; citations allow the reader to access the source material.
Some parts of the report may be in the style of others. |
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Writing your report under appropriate headings.
So that your teacher, and anyone else who assesses your CAT 2 report, can easily find where you have addressed Criteria 1 - 5 it is wise to prepare your report under suitable headings.
Criteria 6 and 7 are concerned with the way you have structured your report and are therefore assessed over the entire report.
If your headings relate to the particular application you will indicate that you are trying to tie theory and application together as you should. That is why my suggested headings have ....(to the application you are reporting) to remind you to do this.
This leads, logically, to the headings that many students use to prepare the CAT report. However, if your teacher has other instructions for the structure of your report, you should probably use those - s/he will be marking the report, not me!
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Introduction to (the application you are reporting).
This is where you give a brief introduction to your report.
If you look at Assessment Criterion 1, you will see that you need to address three points here. These three points could logically form three paragraphs under this heading. Don't be tempted to give the paragraphs sub-headings, or write in point form, that doesn't look good for Criterion 7. The 'themes' of the paragraphs are suggested by the dot-points listed under Criterion 1:
- type of the application
- purpose of the application
- distinctive feature(s) of the application such as cost, reliability, general public acceptance.
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Genetics relevant to (the application you are reporting).
Here you need to identify and explain the relevant genetics needed to understand the report and the applied genetics described in it. This is where Criterion 2 will be assessed.
Relevant means that you need to explain concepts essential for the topic you have chosen. In doing this, you should not only explain the concept(s) clearly and concisely, but you should point out why it's relevant in your topic.
Genetics, not surprisingly means related to genes! Unless you can relate the concept you are describing directly to either DNA, genotype or phenotype you must ask whether it is relevant.
The decision of what should and should not be in this section is sometimes difficult for students to make. So it would be wise to make a preliminary list of possible concepts you might include and check with your teacher as part of your planning process. It is unlikely that your teacher will tell you straight out what to put in here (I wouldn't), but if you show that you have thought about it and just ask for clarification, you are much more likely to be helped by her/him.
This section frequently lends itself to diagrams, which are discussed further below.
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Techniques used in (the application you are reporting).
Go back to the information for Criterion 3 to check what you are supposed to put in here.
The most usual trap that students fall into in this section is that they waste too many words on irrelevant information. Because of this happening year after year, the State Reviewer has even listed in this Criterion the sorts of things that are NOT relevant. Unfortunately, there will still be students this year who fall into the same trap ... make sure that you're not one of them!
This section can often be tackled well with a flow-chart of methods used in the application. Techniques involving manipulation of DNA need to be fully explained, but techniques such as sample collection and routine separation methods need only be briefly mentioned as part of the complete sequence of events. As with the previous section, students sometimes find it difficult to decide the balance in this section. Again, a brief meeting with your teacher, where you have developed something to discuss, will usually set you on the right path.
This section frequently lends itself to diagrams, which are discussed further below.
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Biological implications of (the application you are reporting).
Again, go back and read about Criterion 4 to find out what is, and is not, appropriate here.
You have to find a biological implication of the applied genetics on which you are reporting. Don't be confused with an issue here, that's the next section.
You need to report on an outcome, in the short or long term, which might:
- affect the genetic make-up of and individual or species in a temporary or permanent way, OR
- affect the health or survival chances of an individual or species, OR
- reveal information about the genetics of a species or individual which could have any of the above effects.
As it says in the Criterion, it does not matter whether you discuss one or more of these biological implications. What does matter is that your discussion is described and explained in both depth and detail.
To score well on this Criterion, you will need to do some wide reading and logical thinking about your topic. This is not the sort of information usually found in text-books, rather it requires you to really grasp what the genetics is about and what its consequences are likely to be.
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An issue related to (the application you are reporting).
Criterion 5 is assessed in this section.
Try to choose an issue here on which you can report in a balanced, objective way. Too many students provide only one side of the issue and their assessment suffers.
Try to avoid emotive arguments such as "is this genetic technique allowing scientists to 'play God'?" - the CAT reviewers have read that hundreds of times before and are rarely impressed with it. What is impressive is a well reasoned debate, where arguments are supported by evidence of wide reading and research from a number of sources.
Whilst this section is not directly demonstrating your knowledge of biology, it is showing that you do not 'believe everything you hear on the 6 o'clock news', and that you can use your biological understanding to make informed, reasoned decisions about the use of biology in society.
It is not necessary for you to state you personal view on the issue. In fact, the best issue discussions I have read leave it to the reader to decide and do not try to influence the reader at all.
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Using diagrams in your report.
'A picture speaks a thousand words' is very true in preparing you CAT 2 report. But you must be careful in how you use diagrams in your report.
| DIAGRAM DOs |
DIAGRAM DON'Ts |
| Do modify diagrams to suit you needs |
Don't merely photocopy and paste diagrams from other sources into your report. |
| Do put the minimun labelling on the diagram for clarity. |
Don't put large slabs of writing on a diagram. |
| Do give your diagrams Titles and Figure numbers. (These words do not count) |
Don't stick in diagrams without saying what they are. |
| Do refer to the diagram in the text - or why would the reader look at it? |
Don't expect the reader to find a diagram you haven't told him/her to look at. |
| Do put the diagrams in the body of your report, located where they are relevant. |
Don't put a bunch of diagrams at the end as an appendix. |
| Do cite the source(s) of information in your diagram. (These words don't count) |
Don't claim the diagram as your own work unless you have geniunely drawn it from 'scratch'. |
| Do keep diagrams simple and uncluttered - they are diagrams, not works of art! |
Don't spend hours on amazing diagrams - it's not worth the time. |
| Do let your teacher see the diagrams and labels before the final draft. You can't get feedback unless you do. |
Don't leave diagrams to the last minute. |
| Do remember that single word labels in diagrams do not count in the word count. |
Don't put slabs of explanation on a diagram; these words count and can rapidly add up. |
| Do let the diagram explain instead of using words in the text. |
Don't spend lots of words in the text explaining what's plain on the diagram - it defeats the purpose. |
Do think about the diagrams you use; are they relevant, helpful, simple and succinct? |
Don't sprinkle diagrams like confetti without good reason. |
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Using and citing references.
How you use references is an important aspect of the assessment for Criterion 6 and especially Criterion 7.
You need to use a variety of resources (references) to gather information and use in the preparation of your report. Hopefully your teacher may be able to help suggest some useful material, and the "Interviews with Scientists" at this Web site will be useful too.
Criterion 7 asks for a variety of resource material to be used. This indicates that you should aim for at least three different types of resources, with two or more references coming from each type of source.
It is also important that resources be recent. I advise my students that the majority of resources should be 1 - 5 years old, a couple could be early 1990s and anything older should be included only for historical purposes.
I advise my students to aim for at least six references in their reference list, possibly ten, but twenty of more is unnecessary. The kinds of sources students have used in the past include:
- VCE Biology Textbooks - for 'basic' biological concepts.
- First year Uni. Biology textbooks. These usually go into a bit more detail on techniques as well as concepts. University libraries, older friends and possibly teachers are places to find these. If you are able to find books at this level, make sure that they are up to date, nothing looks worse that your Mum's 25 year old 'General Nursing' as a reference!
- Encyclopedia are rarely appropriate! Anything you find in an encyclopedia is probably in one of the above resources, and should be gained from there. The exception may be certain specialised technical encyclopedia, but my general advice is not to use them at all.
- Specialist review articles - with information relevant to the chosen Topic. Such reviews can be found in publications such as
- New Scientist
is on the www, but is also usually in libraries.
- Scientific American
on the www (and easily searchible) or in your library.
- Rural Review
- National Geographic
may be useful for some topics.
- Australian Geographic
- and many others - ask your librarian for more suggestions.
- Primary source material. This means original research papers in Scientific Journals. Take care with these, they are often difficult to obtain by school librarians, and when you do get them they are so technical that even your teacher will find them difficult to understand! It is fine to cite (= refer to) such papers if they have been reporting major discoveries, but trying to do much more than that is likely to provide you with stress and frustration.
- The Internet (World Wide Web). Presumably that is where you are reading this, so at least you have access to it. The information on the WWW ranges from plain wrong, through nicely explained to as complicated as primary sources (see above). Just because something is on the WWW does not make it correct or suitable for your use. However, if you search intelligently, you can find some very good information on the Web. Try searching for what you need using a search all in lower case letters, enclosed by quotation marks, for example "vce biology" . The search engines I use most are (in order of my personal preference):
As a starting point for some general 'netsurfing' you might find my own favourite Biology Bookmarks helpful.
- TV and Video programmes. There have been many excellent videos produced for use in schools with material relevant to this CAT. Your teacher may run one or more of these in class, or you may be able to view them in your school library. Also, parts of programmes taped from TV are often useful. If your school librarian has complied with copyright these may be available for your use too. Make sure that you have all the relevant details of date, time, Channel for your reference list for programmes from TV.
- Newspapers can be useful for discussion of issues, especially 'letters to the Editor' on controversial topics. Also, many newspapers carry special articles to help with the CAT, some of these are good, but they are often general in their focus, or used to illustrate a topic other than yours. Be aware of this and take out the ideas you want, adapting them for your own particular genetic application.
- Popular magazines such as 'Womans Weekly' or (horror of horrors!) 'Cleo' and 'Dolly' look terrible on a Biology CAT reference list, and even if you find great information in one, my advice would be to resist the urge to quote it!
- Interviews with scientists and doctors can be helpful, but be aware that these people rarely understand the way your CAT is assessed and they may give you interesting but not very relevant information. (That is why LaTrobe Biochemistry has asked me to make this Web site, they are aware that students need accurate, relevant information.) However, interviewing someone with a particular genetic disorder, or a farmer who will benefit from genetically engineered crop plants would be a highly appropriate way to get information for your 'Issue'. Remember to write down the date, time, place of the interview.
- Special student information kits and/or lectures. These can be either extremely valuable or a waste of time/money. Which they are again depends on the relevance to the CAT. Before investing time/money in these you should ask "has it been prepared/organised by someone experienced in assessing the Biology CAT?" If the answer is yes, then it is probably good value. If no, perhaps you will only become confused which is not what you want at all.
Having accumulated and read/digested all this resource material, you need to use it properly in your report.
Any ideas or facts that you have gained from your resources should be acknowledged where you use them in the report. This means that you have to use one of the accepted methods of citation (=naming in a way that the source could be located by the reader).
There are several methods of citation, and it does not matter which you use as long as you are consistent.
Remember that claiming as your own the work of another author (including a student who wrote a CAT in a previous year!) is plagiarism - you will not be viewed sympathetically if you get caught doing this.
My personal preference is to quote the author, year of publication and page number in brackets in the text, then list all references by author alphabetically in the "References" at the end of the report. (Example; "..... a restriction enzyme, or restriction endonuclease can be described as an enzyme that recognises a short sequence of nucleotides in a DNA molecule and cuts the DNA at this recognition sequence so that a reproducible set of fragments form (Knox et al, 1994, p228) ... " In the reference list you would find Knox B., Ladiges P., and Evans B. Biology Mc Graw Hill Book Company, Sydney, 1994. )
I do not like footnotes and op cits, ibids and the like as these can be confusing and are only very rarely used in the scientific literature any more.
References other than books can be difficult to cite and record in your reference list. If you keep in mind that the purpose of doing this is to make the location of the information accessible to the reader you should be OK.
For Internet references, I suggest that you use the style that I found on the Internet itself (Walker J., 1997) in which the author (if known) is cited in the text and the reference list has the full details, including the date of visit. For the reference I just cited, that would be:
Walker, Janice, "MLA-Style Citations of Electronic Sources", http://www.cas.usf.edu/english/walker/mla.html (21 April, 1997).
The date on the reference is important here as Internet pages are frequently changed by their authors and if someone checks up on your reference and finds it different, or worse still no longer there, the date verifies that it was there when you visited.
The above Internet address will also tell you how to cite and reference other Internet sources such as FTP or GOPHER sites.
Students often put references in their reference list which have not been cited in the body of the report. These are generally books used in wider reading about the topic. This is not the appropriate thing to do. If you haven't cited a reference in your report, it should not be in your reference section.
As with all things to do with your CAT 2 report, discuss with your teacher how s/he wants the referencing done. Certainly, print this out and ask if it will be OK if you like, but remember who marks your CAT!
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The word count
The Board of Studies official policy on Word limits and what does/does not count is found in the 1997 VCE Administrative Handbook. Your VCE coordinator should have a copy of this and you might want to read or photocopy the relevant pages, (p 49 - 50) which has information relevant to all subjects, not just Biology.
Here is the important information from those pages, as it applies to Biology CAT 2, used with thanks to the BOS.
Word Limit: 1500 words. Teachers are to rule off after that number and only assess the work within the word limit. Should the report go to the BOS reviewers, the same applies.
Word count does include:
- all written text including the definite and indefinite article (the and a/an counts)
- headings and sub-headings in body of the text including reference to criteria
- annotations and notes to and within any non-text representations such as diagrams, tables, flowcharts (ie explanations within a diagram or similar DO count)
- direct quotations
- footnotes and endnotes which contain further discussion, explanation or quotations.
Word count does not include:(provided that there is no further accompanying text which would count)
- standard citations and references (ie the words used to cite references in the body of the text)
- reference lists or bibliographies (the list at the end of the report)
- chemical equations, symbols and formulae
- diagrams, photographs, charts, figures, including titles, captions, and labels (title a to diagram, and simple labels on it DO NOT count - but text within a diagram DOES count)
- page numbers
- student and CAT identification material on the cover sheets
- computer code
Don't invent words! There is no use inventing acronyms or abbreviations to minimise words. Such inventions will count as the total of the words you are trying to replace.
Standard acronyms or abbreviations such as DNA or PCR are acceptable and count as one word. But don't forget to define each one the first time that you use it.
Dates such as 1st April, 1997 count as one word. (But I have never seen a date in a Biology CAT!)
Beware of computer word counts! Because a computer word count cannot discriminate between the 'ins' and 'not ins' described above, they will always give a higher count than the proper word count for your report. That does not mean that you can choose a computer word count number and say that's OK. You need to manually count the words and write the count lightly in pencil at the end of the report.
Again, when in doubt, ASK YOUR TEACHER!!!
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The drafting process
The Board of Studies is very definite about this:
"Written comments should be made on only one draft of each CAT. Where written comments are made, the draft containing the teacher's comments should be initialled and dated by the teacher and should be retained and attached to the piece of work that is finally submitted."
VCE Administrative Handbook, p 50, © BOS, used with permission.
This is NOT the only help you teacher can offer with the CAT. Class discussions of relevant biology or the assessment criteria, advice on topic selection, help with location of resource material, and one-to-one discussion of your plans are all allowed. It is up to you and your teacher to negotiate how, when and how much help s/he is willing and able to give you.
In general, teachers try to be fair in their help to students during the preparation of CAT 2. Teachers want their students to do well, but they may become impatient with students who "hound them" mercilessly. It is sometimes difficult to say "enough is enough" to an anxious student, but every year teachers need to do this out of a sense of fairness to everyone in the class.
You will find that your teacher is more helpful if you go to her/him with a number of specific questions, perhaps even in writing. Vague 'is this on the right track', or worse' I don't know where to start' is difficult for a teacher. Remember that it is your work, the teacher is only required to provide guidance.
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Last update :21 April 97
