A SSESSMENT FOR VCE A USTRALIAN H ISTORY B ECAUSE IT DOESN ’ T NEED TO BE A PAIN IN THE... HTAV Unit 3 Conference 2012 Tanya Shegog The Grange P-12 College

P ROGRAM 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

F ORMATIVE A SSESSMENT – Q UICK & E ASY Most important assessment Ensure students are on track Engagement/Summarisation activities Break up the usual lecture/independent study routines So here are some suggestions...

P ROJECT Z ERO V ISIBLE T HINKING 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

S EE -T HINK -W ONDER P ERCEIVE -K NOW -C ARE A BOUT

Q UICK & E ASY – Q UICK L ISTS 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

L ET ’ S DO ONE... Effects of European settlement on Indigenous communities...

S OURCE A NALYSIS Everyone has their own methods Crux of what we do as historians Do NOT overload students with hundreds of methods Quick, concise and accurate

V ISUAL S OURCES Simplistic in Aus. History Students need to almost automatically ascertain: Context Symbolism Message Bias Significance Here is a method...

APPARTS A uthor P lace & Time P rior Knowledge A udience R eason T he Main Idea S ignificance What methods do you use?

W RITTEN S OURCES - P RIMARY 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.Van Diemen's Land

U SING THE E XAM F ORMAT Students should get used to the 2-10 point questions of a document analysis Be clear where the marks come from Command Terms

R EGULAR ASSESSMENT FOR SOURCES My favourite – Double entry journalDouble entry journal What about yours?

O UTSIDE THE C LASSROOM – M AKING 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

F ORMAL A SSESSMENT – P REPARING 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’danger words

K EY S KILLS 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.

R ESOURCES THAT MAKE LIFE EASIER... Public records office of Victoria (PROV) State Library of VictoriaState Library of Victoria – Ergo Australian War Memorial Shrine of Remembrance Founding Docs Marvellous Melbourne 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

C ONSTRUCTING SAC S 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 1 st SAC should be a document analysis like Section A 2 nd is more open, I personally do research

M AKING 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

M AKING 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.

M ARKING – T HE 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...

E XAM R EVISION 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)

S ILLY 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 21 st 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?