Authentic Learning in Commerce

One of the rights of citizens within a democratic nation such as Australia is the participation in political elections once 18 years old. In Year 10 Commerce this term students have been learning about the political process in Australia. Authentic learning is a teaching strategy that encourages students to construct concepts and relationships in contexts that involve real-world problems and projects that are relevant to the learner. As an authentic learning experience, students in Ms Vikki Cummins’ class were given an immersive opportunity to participate and organise a Class Election using the preferential voting system which is used in Australia. Students demonstrated engagement and deep learning about the political system.

Brigida Zagora
Head of HSIE (Humanities and Social Sciences)

Year 10 Commerce conducted a class election where students actively participated by forming single-issue political parties, presenting persuasive arguments to the class to vote for their party. Through negotiation, students learn firsthand how political parties engage in preference deals. Students cast their votes and the ballots were counted. Students were engaged in this authentic learning experience, demonstrating both the first-past-the-post and preferential voting system.

Vikki Cummins
HSIE Teacher

Student Reflections

Today in Commerce, we had an interactive exercise by conducting a class election. I gained a practical understanding of how different voting systems work. I also experienced the democratic principles in action as well as how political parties negotiate preference deals. It was fun seeing how competitive everyone got. This made the learning interesting.
Siana Pinto

I really liked the immersive approach to learning because I learned both knowledge about the political process but also important skills such as working in a group to come up with a creative single issue political party, the skills of public speaking. I also learned firsthand how political parties engage in preference deals by negotiating and compromising. Today’s lesson gave me a deep understanding of the Australian democratic process, making me feel more prepared when I am old enough to vote.
Abigail Middleton

The atmosphere in the classroom buzzed with excitement and anticipation as we all cast our votes and when counting began. I found this authentic learning experience an exciting way to learn about the process of voting. Because I was actively participating in my learning in this hands-on activity I gained a practical understanding of how different voting systems work but also experienced the democratic principles in action.
Amelia Qasim