Post on 01-Apr-2015
ASSESSMENT FOR VCE AUSTRALIAN HISTORY
BECAUSE IT DOESN’T NEED TO BE A PAIN IN THE...
HTAV Unit 3 Conference 2012
Tanya Shegog
The Grange P-12 College
PROGRAM FOR TODAY
Ongoing Formative Assessment Quick & Easy Source Analysis Outside the classroom
Major Formal Assessment Preparing for students for SACs Constructing SACs Assessing SACs Preparing for the exam now
-Discussion is encouraged throughout so be ready to contribute
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT – QUICK & EASY
Most important assessment Ensure students are on track Engagement/Summarisation activities Break up the usual lecture/independent study
routines
So here are some suggestions...
PROJECT ZERO VISIBLE THINKING
See-Think-Wonder Asking ‘What do I see?’ ‘What do I think about
that?’ ‘What do I now wonder?’ Perceive-Know-Care About
Asking ‘What does the figure in the source perceive?’ ‘What do they know?’ ‘What do they care about’
Headlines Constructing a single sentence to sum up the
lesson/source
SEE-THINK-WONDERPERCEIVE-KNOW-CARE ABOUT
QUICK & EASY – QUICK LISTS
Oldie but a goody! Start or end class with this Quick lists
Push/Pull Factors Groups/Individuals (Immigration, Effects of
European Settlement, Effects of gold, Federation, Processes of Inclusion/Exclusion)
Primary/Secondary Sources – Include these to make the students really think
LET’S DO ONE...
Effects of European settlement on Indigenous communities...
SOURCE ANALYSIS
Everyone has their own methods Crux of what we do as historians Do NOT overload students with hundreds of
methods Quick, concise and accurate
VISUAL SOURCES
Simplistic in Aus. History Students need to almost automatically
ascertain: Context Symbolism Message Bias Significance
Here is a method...
APPARTS
Author Place & Time Prior Knowledge Audience Reason The Main Idea Significance
What methods do you use?
WRITTEN SOURCES - PRIMARY The first paroxysm of success and excitement is
gone off. The diggers have ceased to have handfuls of money to throw away [...] The water of the Yarra, saturated with the filth of the town, is to cease to poison the people. Pure and excellent water from the river Plenty […] The Gas Company promises to light up the streets of Melbourne in another six months as well as those of any English town: and coal of excellent quality is ready for the getting [...] The electric telegraph, already working between Melbourne and Williams Town, will soon be extended to the Heads. The railway from Melbourne to Liardet's Beach is complete, and only awaits the arrival of engineers and carriages from England.
Howitt, W 1855, Land, labor and gold, or, Two years in Victoria: with visits to Sydney and Van Diemen's Land, Ticknor and Fields, Boston.
USING THE EXAM FORMAT
Students should get used to the 2-10 point questions of a document analysis
Be clear where the marks come from Command Terms
REGULAR ASSESSMENT FOR SOURCES
My favourite – Double entry journal
What about yours?
OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM – MAKING IT STICK
Best way for students to remember sources is if they see them for themselves
Excursion ideas: Tour de Melbourne Old Treasury Building State Library of Victoria Old Government House/Latrobe’s Cottage Royal Exhibition Building Sovereign Hill
FORMAL ASSESSMENT – PREPARING STUDENTS FOR THE SERIOUS STUFF Students must have almost memorised all of
the key knowledge for each AOS Each dot point must be deconstructed so that
students understand everything about it Don’t overload with too much content outside
of the study design – keep focussed Encourage strongly that students always use
the terminology of the study design. Revision and good study habits are the bottom
line Practise all of the key skills throughout the
year so that problem areas are identified Indoctrinate students to never use ‘danger
words’
KEY SKILLS
Explain the historical issues covered in the key knowledge
Apply historical concepts related to the period Analyse and evaluate written and visual historical
evidence Synthesise material and evidence to draw
conclusions Analyse the way that the experience of the period
has been interpreted and understood over time by historians and other commentators;
Express knowledge and ideas in writing, presenting material using historical conventions such as quotations, acknowledgement of sources, and a bibliography.
RESOURCES THAT MAKE LIFE EASIER... http://www.trove.nla.gov.au Public records office of Victoria (PROV) State Library of Victoria – Ergo Australian War Memorial Shrine of Remembrance Founding Docs Marvellous Melbourne – Museum of Victoria Past Exams HTAV Publications Historians to look out for:
A.G.L. Shaw Stuart MacIntyre Geoffrey Blainey Manning Clark Richard Broome Marilyn Lake Bill Gammage Russel Ward
CONSTRUCTING SACS The closer to the exam, the better Mark out of 50, less maths the better
Also, it allows to give maximum marks for each criteria.
Don’t make the actual SACs too challenging – we want them to succeed Using past exams to help construct SACs give
students a true indication of difficulty levels BUT putting students through their paces in
practises isn’t a bad thing 1st SAC should be a document analysis like
Section A 2nd is more open, I personally do research
MAKING SURE STUDENTS UNDERSTAND WHAT IT TAKES TO GET A HIGH MARK
If you can get access to past year’s high scoring SAC and a mid scoring SAC, show them and let the students mark it
Use the descriptors from the Assessment Handbook to show students what a high scoring SAC looks like as well
Allow students to peer assess practice SACs using these guides.
Again, ensure students are 100% clear with the language used
MAKING SURE STUDENTS UNDERSTAND WHAT IT TAKES TO GET A HIGH MARKOutcome 1Explain the motives and hopes underlying the settlement of
the Port Phillip District (later the colony of Victoria) up to 1860 and the impact on the Indigenous population.
MARK RANGEDESCRIPTOR: typical performance in each range41–50 marks
Comprehensive and detailed knowledge of motives and hopes underpinning settlement. Detailed and coherent explanation of the impact of European settlement on Aboriginal communities and/or the impact of the gold rushes and gold on visions of the future. Thorough and relevant application of knowledge and use of concepts such as terra nullius, migration, expansion, ‘new world’, land ownership. Critical analysis and evaluation of evidence that synthesises a range of written and visual sources as well as critical analysis and evaluation of the way the experience of the period has been interpreted and understood over time. Very sophisticated use of historical conventions.
MARKING – THE BANE OF OUR EXISTENCE... This is hard & tedious! Our job is to attempt to give the most marks
for the work produced using the criteria Don’t be too harsh – they are not university
students yet Give specific feedback for each criteria so
students are aware of exactly where their marks came from
If you have someone to cross-mark with, use it! Doesn’t necessarily have to be another AH teacher – skills remain relatively consistent
For example...
EXAM REVISION
Never too early! After every AOS or even dot point, students
should be using past exam questions Again, students must be intimate with the
study design – put them up in your classroom!
So let’s here some revision strategies! Post its Foldable study booklets for each AOS (as shown)
SILLY THINGS TO MAKE IT ALL MEMORABLE
Humour works! Horrible Histories Be a proud dork
Make it authentic – how does it affect them today Particular groups bring their ideologies –
Chartists, Social Darwinism, ideas of Democracy Encourage historical empathy – ditching the
21st century goggles Devils Advocate – argue for ideas that go against
modern thinking Perceive-Know-Care About Speech bubbles
FIN
This is the discussion part What have we done that has worked?
What have we tried that hasn’t worked so well?
What would we like to try?