World History
Using Alternative Assessments To Improve the Teaching and Learning of History. This ERIC Digest si from 1997. Although almost ten years old, I enjoyed reading it. One problem I have always had to deal with is how to grade students. I do not always like doing it. How do I know if my assessment actually reflects what the student learned? I know I have given Bs to students who learned a lot but struggled with a test while I have given As to some students who are good at turning in well crafted papers but never really struck me as having learned a lot based on my interactions with them a semester later.
This article addresses a few different ways to assess learning in history beyond the traditional methods. Further, the methods are proposed with the intent that the mere use of the assessment method will help students learn more. There is some food for thought here.
From the site:
A history teacher's curriculum planning, choice of classroom methodology, and means to assess student learning are inextricably linked. Forms of assessment that involve only recall of discrete information are likely to encourage teaching methods that emphasize low-level cognition. Further, traditional forms of assessing students' knowledge of history neither prompt students to reveal all they know about the subject nor challenge them to learn more. Thus, teachers and researchers have concluded that traditional assessments must be complemented by new methods that can reinvigorate and improve the teaching and learning of history in schools.
Alternative assessment can be a diagnostic tool to improve both a teacher's instruction and a student's learning of history by revealing information about three dimensions of a student's historical literacy. First, students who complete alternative assessment activities demonstrate their knowledge of historical facts, themes, and ideas. Second, students who complete alternative assessment activities demonstrate their ability to reason; that is, to analyze, evaluate, and synthesize historical evidence. And third, students who complete alternative assessment activities demonstrate their ability to communicate their historical knowledge and reasoning to others.
Each dimension of a student's historical literacy has its own important characteristics that provide the structural frame teachers need to create an alternative assessment activity for their students. Knowledge of historical evidence is the prerequisite students need to demonstrate their ability in the other two dimensions. The Bradley Commission's "Vital Themes and Narratives" is a conceptual scheme that helps students organize their knowledge of the past. These themes serve as filters to help students differentiate between what is important and what is insignificant in the historical record. They provide direction for students to accurately identify, define, and describe important concepts, facts, and details. (The Bradley Commission on History in the Schools 1988, 10-11).
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- Teaching The 20th-century History Of The United States.
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Achieving History Standards in Elementary Schools. This is a good article on why history standards should be sought in elementary schools in the USA. From the site: Concern over the quality and quantity of history instruction offered in many U.S. public...
World History
Using Alternative Assessments To Improve the Teaching and Learning of History
Using Alternative Assessments To Improve the Teaching and Learning of History. This ERIC Digest si from 1997. Although almost ten years old, I enjoyed reading it. One problem I have always had to deal with is how to grade students. I do not always like doing it. How do I know if my assessment actually reflects what the student learned? I know I have given Bs to students who learned a lot but struggled with a test while I have given As to some students who are good at turning in well crafted papers but never really struck me as having learned a lot based on my interactions with them a semester later.
This article addresses a few different ways to assess learning in history beyond the traditional methods. Further, the methods are proposed with the intent that the mere use of the assessment method will help students learn more. There is some food for thought here.
From the site:
A history teacher's curriculum planning, choice of classroom methodology, and means to assess student learning are inextricably linked. Forms of assessment that involve only recall of discrete information are likely to encourage teaching methods that emphasize low-level cognition. Further, traditional forms of assessing students' knowledge of history neither prompt students to reveal all they know about the subject nor challenge them to learn more. Thus, teachers and researchers have concluded that traditional assessments must be complemented by new methods that can reinvigorate and improve the teaching and learning of history in schools.
Alternative assessment can be a diagnostic tool to improve both a teacher's instruction and a student's learning of history by revealing information about three dimensions of a student's historical literacy. First, students who complete alternative assessment activities demonstrate their knowledge of historical facts, themes, and ideas. Second, students who complete alternative assessment activities demonstrate their ability to reason; that is, to analyze, evaluate, and synthesize historical evidence. And third, students who complete alternative assessment activities demonstrate their ability to communicate their historical knowledge and reasoning to others.
Each dimension of a student's historical literacy has its own important characteristics that provide the structural frame teachers need to create an alternative assessment activity for their students. Knowledge of historical evidence is the prerequisite students need to demonstrate their ability in the other two dimensions. The Bradley Commission's "Vital Themes and Narratives" is a conceptual scheme that helps students organize their knowledge of the past. These themes serve as filters to help students differentiate between what is important and what is insignificant in the historical record. They provide direction for students to accurately identify, define, and describe important concepts, facts, and details. (The Bradley Commission on History in the Schools 1988, 10-11).
- Constellation Building And Teaching History
I have been asked by students several times why they should study history. They think learning a few facts is fine but they do not expect to learn anything that is will open up a floodgate of knowledge building. The assumption on their part is that most...
- History Standards In The Fifty States
History Standards in the Fifty States. This essay looks at attempts in the United States to devise a core or common body of history knowledge that all students should be exposed to and hopefully learn. This article primarily looks at statistics and progress...
- Teaching History For Citizenship In The Elementary School
Teaching History for Citizenship in the Elementary School. What better place to teach history than when students are little and in elementary school? From the site: A substantial amount of research and curriculum development completed over the past...
- Teaching The 20th-century History Of The United States.
Teaching the 20th-Century History of the United States. This essay reviews ways that teachers can teach about the 20th Century in class. From the site: It is important to reaffirm the teaching of recent United States history in secondary schools. Diane...
- Achieving History Standards In Elementary Schools.
Achieving History Standards in Elementary Schools. This is a good article on why history standards should be sought in elementary schools in the USA. From the site: Concern over the quality and quantity of history instruction offered in many U.S. public...