A characteristic of most objectives, though not all, is that they are capable of being assessed. Assessment is a vast, complex and, at times in history, an inexact activity. It is not the purpose of this section of the site to consider this whole complex area. You are advised to read chapter 10 of ‘Learning to Teach History in the Secondary school’ in order to understand the wider issues involved.
Here we are concerned with the day-to-day assessment that arises from a lesson or combination of lessons. This is usually called, ‘formative assessment.’ An important aspect of ‘Thinking It Through’ is the planning in advance in order to provide those learning experiences and that data, which will enable you to assess whether your pupils have achieved the desired outcomes. At the same time you should be aware of the limitations of your assessments and take care you are really assessing what you think you are assessing.
In order to illustrate how the process off our basic model, described earlier, is carried through to the assessment stage, further use is made of the five exemplar lesson plans and in particular the highlighted objectives.
Example A.
Objective 3: Assessing Causation.
In this lesson the pupils offer reasons which are fielded by the teacher who then creates a spray- or spider-diagram. The pupils then copy or make notes from this diagram. Should the teacher wish to reinforce the pupils’ understanding of causation, the diagram could be used to highlight long term / short term causes, choice of the most important cause, etc. at the same time as emphasising the variety of causes that contribute to a particular outcome. Further evidence of understanding would come with the marking of the written work, where pupils give their reasons for Henry’s victory. More evidence of understanding of the generic features of the concept could come later when pupils, without prompting, are asked to explain why Henry V11 was able to hand over, on his death, a more peaceful and efficiently run country in 1509 than it was in 1485. Note the difference between copying a diagram and asking pupils to explain a diagram in their own words or use it for a piece of extended writing as a means for providing data for assessment.
Objective 4: Assessing oral contributions.
One difficulty that can arise is when assessing whether objectives have been attained is when pupils are making oral answers or are involved in a class discussion. How can you ensure that all pupils participate and have understood? This can be very difficult. However, pair work, as recommended here, and the strategy of trying to involve as many pupils as possible, can help. Similarly not allowing some pupils to dominate and nominating pupils, once you know the class, will also increase the numbers involved. Even then you have to make a mental note of perceptive contributions or limited understanding. You really need other evidence to complement oral contributions.
Example B
Objective 3: Assessing group work
This objective targets KSU 4a using a range of sources. The pupils have to produce a list and later a spray diagram. The group list sheets will produce some data for assessment, but as the list involves contributions from several pupils, individual assessment is difficult. A homework activity, which asks pupils to try to add to the list / diagram would provide further data about individuals. Some assessment data can also be obtained by moving about the classroom, monitoring and noting individual contributions to group work, but, as ever, take care you are assessing what you think you are assessing i.e. historical understanding not personality or behaviour.
Example C
Objective 3: Assessing Chronological Skills
The target here is chronology, KSU 1 and again assessment is by group. In the feedback sessions, both during the lesson and in the lesson conclusion, you could nominate pupils, who you think might have been passengers in their group. Otherwise there remains a summative test.
Example D
Objectives 4 and 5: Evaluating Interpretations
Assessment here is more straightforward as you have some written work to mark. Completion of objective 4 will show how much the pupils rely solely on the text-book. They should be encouraged not to do so. Where pupils discount some theories with valid comments not in the text-book, this is a good indicator of ability. With objective 5, the quality of the reasons for the decisions will provide very useful data for assessment. Credit the informed sceptic and note the concluding point about being influenced by the nature of the evidence available.
Example E
Objective 5: Assessing knowledge of physical evidence and the concept of change.
The explanations pupils offer for the changes in building materials could furnish some useful insight into much the pupils understand change. A homework following this lesson and the next could ask pupils to use all the information covered to explain the changes in housing between the 15th and the 17th centuries under specified sub-headings. Again, a piece of extended writing will provide the best data for your assessment.
Consolidating an objective
A usual consequence of your assessment of how successfully your pupils have attained the objectives will be consolidation or reinforcement. In some situations, you may have to repeat part of a lesson or an explanation in a later lesson. Often the key teaching points are reiterated in the succeeding lesson. Many of the objectives dealing with concepts, skills and values are on going and need constant reinforcement with new content.
Marking is an important part of consolidating the learning. It may be rather time-consuming but it is usually time well spent. Give praise and encouragement, of course, but also indicate and counter any misunderstandings. An interesting method of marking is to open up a dialogue with the pupil in which you ask the pupils to read your comments in class and to make a written response either in class or for homework. With some (abler) pupils you might even seek to ask further questions, requiring a response. For example, with Example E, pupils could be asked to consider how they might tell whether a building was genuinely 16th century or ‘mock Tudor’.