TRANSFORMATIVE LEARNING
The post teaching questions featured in the appendices were offered to all 3 focus students. They were asked to write a PEC paragraph that summarised their responses to their questions, not simply do question and answer. A starting sentence was offered (which S3 has used). An analysis is provided after each student response.
S1
PRETEST SUMMARY
S1 hadn’t heard the term taxation before but understood that citizens of a country pay taxes and that they are used to fund medical supplies, schooling and housing. He also understood that the economy has information about our money in other countries. S1 had never heard the term ‘income’ before but did save money for a rainy day. He has a bank account but couldn’t identify why that type of account was chosen. He understood that a budget was for buying the things that you want and need. When choosing a mobile phone option he selected one of the middle priced ones that looked good and had good technological features. S1 had no understanding of rules and regulations that applied to mobile phones.
COURSE WORK
S1’s class tasks were often incomplete but showed an understanding of the requirements. For example if 3 responses were required then 1 was completed which was usually correct. His PMI about the use of taxation showed a plus – more hospitals and housing- and a minus – taxation can be spent on public art (a reference to current political discussion). When he conceptualised with theory he identified that if roads were poorly maintained then safety would be compromised and if there was no fire department then everyone would have to fight fires. His personal budget contained items of phone credit, clothing, entertainment, food and shrapnel with a yearly income rather than the monthly one identified. The class discussed the idea that they would need to provide all basics of living. S1 is still operating from the perspective of being supported by his parents, the conceptual link to the reality of a household budget is missing.
PEC FINAL REFLECTION
The Government spends our tax on public transport, education, hospitality, development, resources. They get parks, new roads, houses, free medical treatment, water, electricity. The hume highway is a road that the government built and our taxes effect our economy and it effects how much our money is worth in other countries as well as the price of gold and oil. How much is spent per items that you need and how much you are willing to spend for the week and how long you will use the phone. Yes fuel costs 80 cents more than it used to 20 years ago. A mobile phone can be cheaper than a bike. Newer models of technology cost more than the one before. If the company I’m buying the mobile phone from is legitimate, the cost of the phone and check costs of other stores. Sometimes the cost can be 10 times more than you should pay. Don’t get extra deals for extra money. Eg buying a better headset. Don’t buy it if you don’t need it. Do research before buying and don’t always listen to the sales people. I would choose pre-paid so that I cannot spend more than my budgeted amount. With pre-paid you know how much you are going to be spending. For example with pre paid if you only put $20 on the phone then that’s all you can spend but if you have a monthly bill you could spend over $100. With deals that say $49 cap they can add up to lots more. I will be able to buy a better mobile phone and save money. I think the learning was easy and steady and was not all at once and with time limits. We ended up learning the whole subject with an easy environment that was fun and creative.
*S1’s PEC lacks the necessary flow and structure. He omitted using the suggested opening sentence and his paragraph simply strings together the answers to the questions that were posed. Compared to his pre test responses Jake has retained a strong conceptual understanding of the issues discussed in the unit but his expression is unclear. He is still challenged by the written mode. The post test questions were posed several weeks after the completion of the unit and the detailed responses show this information is written into a deeper part of his memory; evidence of transformative learning.
S2
PRETEST SUMMARY
S2 identified that taxation is a fee that everyone has to pay and that the money is used for things that the government chooses. She said that it was important that everyone pays taxes but didn’t know what the economy was. She also hadn’t heard about income before but did actively save money because otherwise when a person needs it, they don’t have it. S2 had a bank account with a debit card but didn’t choose the account. She also had no budget but identified that budgeting meant a person would always have money. S2 chose a good mobile phone and plan but didn’t understand any of the rules or regulations that apply to mobile phones.
COURSE WORK
S2 understood all task requirements and included a necessary amount of detail in her work but the responses were at a basic level of thinking. Her PMI on Taxes included pluses of tax refunds, road and public area repairs and funding for hospitals. The minuses were about losing money and people having trouble paying. Something she found interesting was that taxes for alcohol and cigarettes were high. When S2 was conceptualizing with theory she identified what would happen if roads, public libraries, emergency services, schools, public toilets, public art works, baby bonuses, parks and camp sites were not provided by the Government. S2’s personal definition of taxation was “Tax is collected by the government and that money is spent on roadworks etc. The government uses the tax money from the people to help pay or rebuild things in Australia.” In her reflection about the difference between adolescent and adult expenditure she noted that the difference is because of bills. Some of the pitfalls recorded about the use of mobile phones were; paying for reply messages in competitions, fine print, weekly costs of membership for ringtone downloads. Some things that were interesting about mobile phones and competitions were; the public never hears of anyone winning, ringtone signups were often scams, applications gave consumers choices and for reality TV votes it is difficult to tell if your vote is counting.
PEC REFLECTION ABOUT ADVERTISING (in lieu of final reflection – S2 went on a family trip and didn’t complete the unit of work)
Advertisers use many different techniques to manipulate their audience. The way that they use colour is to choose the colours that attract young teenagers by using bright colours such as hot pink and purple. Another technique is using slogans that convince the audience that 3 is the best brand. An example of a slogan in “The way it should be” (p1). Two more techniques they use are using giveaways and questions. They use giveaways to make the audience buy the product. They also use questions to make you think about what you want. There are a lot of different techniques advertisers use.
*S2’s PEC uses the correct format but the concluding sentence is unispired. Overall the paragraph shows a strong conceptual understanding of advertising techniques but the vocabulary is slightly repetitive and extremely basic. Confirmation that S2 understanding requirements but lacks a high level of conceptual understanding. The answer is correct but expressed without flair.
S3
PRETEST SUMMARY
S3 understood that the Government taxes working citizens for goods and services to make a profit for the economy and the Government. He identified that tax was paid so that the economy remained strong and healthy but didn’t understand much else about economics. S3 didn’t think they had any income apart from bank interest but saved money for future uses like buying a house. He had a bank account but didn’t know what kind and didn’t choose it himself. S3 understood that budgeting was about setting limits so that ‘you don’t go broke’. He didn’t have a mobile phone and had no understanding of features, choices or regulations.
COURSE WORK
S3 had a very high level of understanding and detail in course work examples. His definition of taxation is “Tax is collected from citizens for the government. Tax is collected through GST and department services like electricity and water. Tax is needed to control and keep the economy healthy. The money is then used to build, fund and make services for the public including businesses and parks.” In the PMI pluses were tax strengthens the economy and is used for public needs. Minuses included citizens pay all the time, increased taxes and Governments can get greedy. Some things that were interesting were people get taxed in supermarkets, tax contributes to the dole and they are also used to fund schools and hospitals. When S3 conceptualised with theory he identified what his world would be like without roads, healthcare, police & SES, public art, schools, parks, mining industry, defence, baby bonus and public buildings. His analysis of advertising techniques discussed the effects of colour, slogans, popular culture references, giveaways, literary techniques like alliteration and identified that the marketers manipulate their audience by using any or all of these strategies. S3’s personal budget contained items of phone credit, food, clothing, entertainment, rent, personal hygiene, accessories, stationery for school, sporting expenses, gifts and identified savings per week.
PEC
In the work about financial literacy, we looked at the Government, taxation, mobile phones and advertising and budgeting. The Government spends tax money on infrastructure, healthcare, education and public needs and services. Consumers get services (GST), needs and the growth of cities and public places. This is how tax payers money get spend back into the public. The effect that taxation has on the economy is that the Government has more money to spend on the public, as so previously mentioned. They could build infrastructure like hospitals, schools, offices and roads, which increases more jobs available for people and so with jobs people get more money to spend back into the economy. This boosts interest rates and keeps our economy healthy. When preparing a personal budget, many things need to be taken into account. Like food, electricity, water, fuel and other essentials. These must be included in a budget, so it is a good idea to cut back on less important needs. It was really surprising to find the cost of essential needs add up at the end of a year, which strengthens the idea to draw up a plan for budgeting in the future. When thinking about buying a new mobile phone, it is ideal to think about what to avoid, such as contests and quizzes, because there are usually fine prints involved which can make you pay more in the future. I would choose a prepaid option for selecting a phone because you have limits, whereas receiving a monthly bill could leave you having to mistakenly pay a higher bill at the end of each month. Plus with prepaid mobiles you can get bonus features. It was surprising in learning about learning how the economy works, because I only had a brief idea about it in prior to the unit. This learning of the taxation work will be useful in the future like when I get a job, house, etc. And it gives me a better idea on taxation for when I have to start paying bills when I’m older. I think the coarse and activities were interesting, I found the paper money activity at the start of the unit to be fun, – (that coming from a rich kid!) and the coarse let me to give my own views on the Government and taxation – which is important to me – overall it was an informative and useful
riley7
