Assessment for VCE Australian History Because it doesn’t need to be a pain in the...

1. Assessment for VCE Australian HistoryBecause it doesn’t need to be a pain in the... HTAV Unit 3 Conference 2012 Tanya Shegog The Grange P-12 College

2. 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

3. 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...

4. 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

5. See-Think-WonderPerceive-Know-Care About

6. 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

7. Let’s do one... • Effects of European settlement on Indigenous communities...

8. 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

9. Visual Sources • Simplistic in Aus. History • Students need to almost automatically ascertain: • Context • Symbolism • Message • Bias • Significance • Here is a method...

10. APPARTS • Author • Place & Time • Prior Knowledge • Audience • Reason • The Main Idea • Significance • What methods do you use?

11. 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.

12. 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

13. Regular assessment for sources • My favourite – Double entry journal • What about yours?

14. 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

15. 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’

16. 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.

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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

20. Making sure students understand what it takes to get a high mark Outcome 1 Explain 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 RANGE DESCRIPTOR: typical performance in each range 41–50 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.

21. 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...

22. 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)

23. 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

25. 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?