1. North-West University (Potchefstroom Campus) .
Pieter Warnich
North-West University
(Potchefstroom Campus)
School of Commerce and Social Studies in Education
Faculty of Education
Republic of South Africa

2. Title
ASSESSING HISTORY TRAINEE TEACHERS’ EXPERIENCES IN UTILIZING HISTORICAL ENQUIRY AS AN ASSESSMENT TOOL: A CASE STUDY

3. 1.Introduction and background 2. Historical enquiry conceptualised
Overview
1.Introduction and background
2. Historical enquiry conceptualised
3. The research context and methodology
4. Discussion and Findings
5. Conclusion
Nylstroom is about (135 km ) from Pretoria

4. Introduction and Background
For past decades – a important shift in the teaching, learning and assessment of history from factual to a more enquiry-based approach
In SA it is grounded in the specific aims of the History curriculum:
"It is a process of historical enquiry based on skills"
Scanty research on History teachers experiences when utilizing the "enquiry lesson" in their classes as an assessment strategy
Lord Roberts , Commander-in Chief of British forces, and his successor Lord Kitchener introduced this policy in 1900

5. Introduction and Background
Aim of this paper is to:
Empirically and quantitively assessing final year History trainee teachers (n=13) experiences when implementing historical enquiry as an assessment tool during their practical teaching period in secondary school classes

6. Historical enquiry conceptualised
The term History was derived from the Ancient Greek historia meaning a learning or knowing by inquiry
Differentiate between substantive knowledge and procedural knowledge (Lee, Asby & Shelmit)
Substantive knowledge =content knowledge ("to know that")
Procedural knowledge = the tools for handling historical facts to understand History as processes, relations and interpretations ("to know how")

7. Historical enquiry conceptualised
So what is an enquiry lesson?
When learners are "doing" history. In an enquiry lesson the teacher is posing an inquiry question. The teacher finds and selects sources that offer different perspectives and information regarding the inquiry lesson
How does it work?
1.Chose a historical topic with sufficient content/body so that enough sources can be found that will allow for different perspectives

8. Historical enquiry conceptualised
Pose a historical question (or make a hypothesis) relevant to the topic/content you have chosen
Use the first set of sources to confirm the hypothesis (the possible answer to the question asked)
The second set of sources should contradict or challenge the ideas of the first set of sources
Reformulation of the original question or hypothesis
Have a discussion and come to conclusion in answering
the question or hypothesis

9. Historical enquiry conceptualised
Advantages
Think critically
Weigh and sift arguments
Develop perspective and judgment
Evaluating the reliability of evidence
Develop a more complete and nuanced understanding
of history

10. The Research context and methodology
All participants were trainee teachers in their 4th and final year in History Education (n=13)
After these trainee teachers all have received training on the theory and structure of Enquiry Lessons
They were requested to implement at least one EL in their senior secondary classes (age 16-18) during their time when they are visiting different schools to do practical teaching
They had to complete a lesson plan with one of
their objectives built around an inquiry question
(hypothesis)

11. Research context and methodology
Printouts of the sources that will be used for the EL should also accompany the lesson plan
An open-ended questionnaire was supplied to each trainee teacher to complete on their experiences after implementing the EL as an assessment strategy
This questionnaire was to submit when they come back from their schools

12. Findings and discussion1
Excited and eager to learn more. Learners were involved and enjoyed it : 10 ( 77%) 2
Not terribly exited, but also not entirely negative. By times interest was shown: 3 (23%) 3
Not interest. For most of the learners it was just another teaching and learning attempt : 0

13. Findings and discussion
According to the trainee teachers the following reasons apply for the learners experience of EL
First category (77%) :
The contradicting sources started an interesting discussion and debate . The learners were excited and enjoyed it
Eye-opener for the learners when they realized that there was more than one view to a historical event
The learners were excited to express their opinion and learned from their peers' views
Learners were thinking critically – they realized you need to take the whole picture into account from every possible historic angle from everyone involved before a conclusion can be made
Learners valued the reliability of the different sources

14. FindingFindings and discussions and discussion
The EL involved the learners in a way they were not used to, and they loved working in this creative way
The teacher does not often do such interactive lessons, and so the learners were excited when the EL class was done
The learners enjoyed discussing and debating the contradicting sources in an effort to answer the question (hypothesis)

15. Findings and discussion
Second Category (23%)
[not terribly excited, but not entirely negative. By times interest was shown]
Not all Grade 10 learners (16 year old) are eager to do self-study by reading and studying the different sources. They prefer the teacher to convey all the information in the sources to them verbally
The learners are excited to experience a new learning and assessment approach but do not like the idea that they should do the research in the various sources. Afraid that their views and answers might be wrong

16. Findings and discussion
Question to trainee teachers:
What were the main issues you have experienced in preparing the enquiry lesson?
Difficult to find reliable and relevant contradicting sources on the topic in an effort to investigate the different perspectives
To design a good enquiry question ("unsure if I pose the correct enquiry question on the sources") or
set a hypothesis for argumentation on the
available sources

17. Findings and discussion
Question to trainee teachers:
What were the main issues you have experienced in presenting the enquiry lesson?
Very time consuming
Learners not used to it-class teacher never allows class discussions
Difficult for a trainee teacher to maintain discipline during the discussion time
Sometimes the conversations deviate to a large extend from the original question asked
To keep the learners involved during the whole lesson
Some learners do not participate in discussions
Not enjoying to read all the sources

18. Findings and discussion
Question to trainee teachers:
Does your tutor history teacher implement the EL from time to time. If your answer is no, what may the reasons for this be
Yes: 3
No:10
Time consuming
Prefer the old traditional style (talk and chalk) by not involving the learners in active learning
It creates disciplinary problems (large classes)
Does not enjoy group work as it is "unorganized and "unstructured
Not happy me doing an EL lesson

19. Conclusion Positive: Learners
For the most of the learners there was an excitement and enjoyment when EL was implemented
Some learners acknowledged that they were testing the reliability of the contradicting sources when they weighing and sifting arguments
By comparing the sources on a specific topic, critical thinking occurred to come to new conclusions
The development of perspective and judgment
took place in some instances

20. Conclusion Negative : Learners
Not all learners are eager to do self-study by reading and studying the different sources
Some learners do not like the idea that they should do the research in the various sources
Some prefer the teacher to convey all the information in the sources to them verbally
Afraid that their views and answers might be wrong

21. Conclusion Trainee teachers
An EL does inspire learners' curiosity and encourage critical thinking
Difficult to find reliable and relevant contradicting sources for an EL lesson
Find it difficult to design a good enquiry question or
set a hypothesis for argumentation on the available sources
Difficult to keep the learners involved during the whole EL Some learners prefer not to participate in
discussions

22. Conclusion
Not all mentor teachers do from time to time an EL; some still prefer the traditional way of teaching by not actively involving the learners
Learners not used to it-class teacher never allows class discussions
EL creates disciplinary problems (large classes)
Sometimes the conversations deviate to a large extend from the original question asked
Not all learners enjoy reading the sources

23. Conclusion
From this small scale case study research it is clear that not all the learners were previous exposed to an EL by their class teacher
But in instances where it was implemented by the trainee teachers, the majority of learners became involved , enjoyed it and were eager to learn more
Despite the many advantages of an EL, there are still obstacles that hinder the effective and continuous implementation thereof

24. Conclusion
For this reason EL lessons should become an integral part of the training programs of all prospective History teachers
This will encourage and enable them to confidently use the EL more often once they enter the history classroom as qualified teachers
THANK YOU