ASSESSMEN

T IN
HISTORY
HITV 4705
Learning outcomes
At the end of this learning unit you will be able to :
 Discuss the conceptualization of assessment in history.
 Differentiate between Informal and formal assessment in history.
 Critically analyze the impact of cognitive levels of the questions; content framework,
historical concepts and historical skills on assessment.
 Describe the programme of assessment for history in the FET Band.
 Design and conduct assessment to address specific assessment tasks such as the
heritage assignment, oral history project, essay questions, source-based questions.
 Designing and setting test and examination papers that are in line with the policy
requirements.

The unit discusses assessment as an integral component

of teaching and learning
Assessment in History
• Assessment is a continuous, planned process of identifying, gathering
and interpreting information to gauge learners’ performance, and can
take various forms. It involves four steps: generating and collecting
evidence of achievement; evaluating this evidence; recording the
findings; and using this information.

• Performance information helps teachers and other involved parties to

understand and thereby assist the learner’s development in order to
improve the process of learning and teaching.

• Assessment should be both informal (Assessment for Learning) and

formal (Assessment of Learning). In both cases, regular feedback
should be provided to learners to enhance the learning experience.
Assessment in History cont.
In history, assessment is always based on content knowledge and skills (based on the
Specific Aims). Tasks, projects, tests or examinations must always assess both
aspects.

Assessment in history usually involves writing. This means that learners should be
taught writing skills and they should be helped to practice them. Oral work, speaking,
debating and drama can also, however, be assessed, and are sometimes very
valuable for revision or preparation for written work.

Learners often experience difficulty in writing long pieces, such as essays. They need
to be trained to select the information they want to include (only to choose what is
relevant), to arrange the information (to put it in a logical order, together with other
information) and to connect information (to present a reasonable sequence of facts, or
an effective argument).
Plagiarism

Plagiarism (using someone else’s work and pretending it is

your own) is a particular problem in the study of history,
whether it involves someone other than the learner doing the
work, a learner copying another learner’s work, or cutting and
pasting from the internet. It is essential that learners be
trained to indicate when they quote something and to provide
references.
Likewise, teachers need to set the example by always giving
the references for information and sources that they use.
Informal assessment in History

Informal assessment sometimes takes the form of simply stopping during the lesson
to observe learners or to discuss with them how learning is progressing. Informal
assessment provides feedback to the learners and informs planning for teaching. The
results of daily assessment tasks are not taken into account for promotion and
certification purposes.

Examples of informal assessments include but are not limited to observations, class
discussions, content/research sharing and analysis in class.

Self assessment and peer assessment actively involves learners in assessment. This is
important, as it allows learners to learn from and reflect on their own performance.
 Formal assessment in History

• Formal assessment tasks are marked and formally recorded by the teacher for
progression and certification purposes. All formal assessment tasks are subject to
moderation for the purpose of quality assurance and to ensure that appropriate
standards are maintained.

• Formal assessment provides teachers with a systematic way of evaluating how well
learners are progressing in a grade and in a particular subject. Examples of formal
assessments include tests, examinations, practical tasks, projects, oral
presentations, demonstrations and performances. Formal assessment tasks form
part of a year-long formal programme of assessment in each grade and subject.

• The forms of assessment used should be age and development-level appropriate.

The design of these tasks should cover the content of the subject and include a
variety of tasks designed to achieve the objectives of the subject.
 Cognitive Levels: Source-based
assessment questions and tasks

LEVEL 1 (L1)

Extract evidence from sources

LEVEL 2 (L2)

Explain historical concepts

Straightforward interpretation of the sources

 What is being said by the author or creator of the source? What are the views or
opinions on an issue expressed by a source?

 Compare information in sources

LEVEL 3

 Interpret and evaluate information and data from sources

Engage with questions of bias, reliability and usefulness of sources

Compare and contrast interpretations and perspectives within sources and by

authors of sources
Have a look at this picture and tell me what
you see?
http://www.bible2life.com/2020/07/28/how-images-can-mislead/
 “A picture is worth 1,000 words.”
By David Lang July 28, 2020

This old cliché captures the obvious truth that a single image
can tell a story with greater impact and eloquence than 1,000
words of text. But whose words are an image
worth? Which story does it tell? Sometimes an image which
seems to tell one story actually tells another. In the absence
of 1,000 words explaining an image’s context, that image can
mislead.
Take a second look…

Look at this image a little more carefully, and there are reasons to question the “obvious” story it seems to
tell. The angle of the photograph makes it look as if police officer and protestor are directly facing each
other, but she is actually closer to the camera than the police officer, so that she is standing a little to his
left. Follow his eyes and the barrel of the rifle carefully, and both seem to be aimed beyond her rather than
directly at her.

The visual cues which give us this sense of three-dimensional perspective are subtle and can be obscured by
other factors. For example, the female protestor appears to be slightly larger than the police officer, which
may indicate that she is closer to the camera. On the other hand, if she actually is taller and larger than he
is, her relative size would be less of an indication of nearness to the camera. In the absence of other visual
clues, it is impossible to state conclusively their positions relative to one another.

How Images Can Mislead

By David Lang July 28, 2020

The programme of assessment for
history in the FET Band
*Please refer to CAPS pg 33 – 34 for detailed information.

1. Programme of Assessment and weighting of tasks (mark allocation). Term

1-4.

2. Examinations (format for examinations/test).

3. Global assessment of essays (presentation of content: level 1

(inadequate) -7 (well planned/structed)).

4. Assessment of source-based questions.

5. Guidelines for Grade 12 examination papers.

 Designing and conducting assessments in line
with the CAPS policy requirements

Assessment of source-based questions

Sources will be grouped around a key question. The context of the sources
will be provided so that learners can use the sources to answer questions.
Contextualization includes the author or creator of the source, the title of
the publication in which the source appeared, and the date and place of
publication. Learners will therefore have the information to enable them
to discuss the reliability or usefulness of each source. All people in
cartoons or photographs will be identified. Each source will be a single
source; no sources will be combined into a composite source.
Candidates will be assessed on
their ability to:
demonstrate thorough knowledge and understanding of the topic;

extract information from sources;

interpret information from sources;

identify and compare different perspectives within sources and between sources;

explain the different perspectives within the sources in the context of the period
studied;

draw conclusions about the reliability and usefulness of sources; and

synthesize information from a range of sources.

 Designing and conducting
test/examinations in line with the CAPS
policy requirements
Guidelines for Grade 12 examination papers

Format of the question paper: Example

There are two question papers. Each question paper consists of the question paper
and an addendum containing sources.

Each paper has six questions: three source-based questions and three essay
questions. Learners must answer three questions: one source-based, one essay and
one other question.

Learners may answer two questions on the same topic.

DELIBERATION AND DISCUSSION
A S S I GN M E N T ON E : F E E D B AC K A S S I GN M E N T T W O: I N F OR M AT ION

• ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS. • PDF DOCUMENT.

• USING SOURCES AND INTEXT

CITATIONS.

• UFS PLAGIARISM POLICY.

• HARVARD REFERENCING.

• RESAERC, PRACTICE AND

RESAERCH SOME MORE!
Tuesday, February 2, 20XX Sample Footer Text 17
QUOTES OF THE DAY