AS HISTORY

ASSESSMENT IN THE SIXTH FORM

The most effective method of charting your progress is through regular monitoring, assessment and feedback, as well as through constant self-review.

Assessment is important because:

Ø      It will allow you to identify your strengths but also those areas requiring further attention.

Ø      It will enable you to identify the processes and techniques that need to be implemented to achieve progression.

Ø      It ensures that help and assistance from staff can be targeted to individual students in order to enhance their progression and to provide focused and individual advice on how to progress.

Ø      It demonstrates how well you have understood a particular topic and how well you have developed key historical skills.

Ø      It can enhance your confidence as you can monitor your own progression, set appropriate targets and focus on those areas that need greater development and seek appropriate and focused advice.

In the History department, various methods will be used to help us assess your performance and progression, as well as to allow you to carry out informed self-evaluation and monitoring.

Ø      All students will be given the assessment criteria provided by the Examination Board, with any additional comments needed to clarify points. This will help students to understand how their work will be assessed via coursework, essays and document work. Students will be expected to ensure that a copy of this is at the front of their folder.

Ø      Students will be informed about the learning goals of every lesson and task, so that they can evaluate how far they have achieved these, and what strategies they need to adopt in cases of difficulties.

Ø      All completed tasks will be returned with feedback from staff, advising you how you can develop particular areas. We expect students to reflect on these comments and to consult them before completing another similar task / assignment. There will be advice on how the work could be developed to secure a higher grade.

Ø      Where a student produces a very high standard assignment, feedback will advise why the student obtained that grade and how she can maintain that standard.

Ø      Students will be provided with sample work to assess against the set criteria to gain a greater understanding of how work is marked and assessed. Students will also engage in peer assessment exercises. This will help to develop a student’s self-assessment techniques.

Ø      Meetings will be held between students and staff to assess their academic performance based on a range of materials and data, in order to help set targets and to develop strategies appropriate to that particular student.

Ø      For each lesson, students will be informed of the learning objectives of that lesson and what they should be able to do by the end of the lesson. Students will then be asked to assess how far they believe that they have achieved these objectives and this will be followed up, when appropriate, by a set task or exercise to assess whether the student’s perception is accurate.

Ø      This means that not every piece of work will be marked by staff, as a variety of techniques will be used to help you develop your understanding of the assessment criteria and the strategies necessary to progress within the subject. However, staff will mark key pieces of work in order that students can read comments and suggestions for how to progress or how to maintain a high standard. In some cases, a grade may not be awarded and the feedback may consist solely of comments. This is to enhance progression through an examination of advice and strategies, rather than to simply focus on a grade and ignoring any such comments. Students can, if they wish, use the assessment criteria in conjunction with the comments from the teacher, to assess their own grade.

Ø      Students will be expected to show that they have taken note of the comments. All assignments will be submitted by Studywiz. When marked, students will receive an email saying it has been marked. They will then have to respond saying that they have received the work, read the comments and they will have to include a comment about how they intend to use any advice to help develop their techniques, understanding, skills etc. This can then be accessed when the student produces the next assignment, to ensure that the student has taken advantage of such comments and advice.

THE ASSESSMENT CRITERIA FROM THE EXAMINATION BOARD

Assessment Objectives (AOs)

The Assessment Objectives are common to AS and A Level. The assessment units will assess the following Assessment Objectives in the context of the content and skills set out in Section 3 (Subject Content) and the skills set out in this Section.

AO1a Recall, select and deploy historical knowledge appropriately, and communicate knowledge and understanding of history in a clear and effective manner.

A01b Demonstrate their understanding of the past though explanation, analysis and arriving at substantiated judgements of:

• key concepts such as causation, consequence, continuity, change and significance within a historical context

• the relationships between key features and characteristics of the periods studied.

AO2a As part of a historical enquiry, analyse and evaluate a range of appropriate source material with discrimination

AO2b Analyse and evaluate, in relation to the historical context, how aspects of the past have been interpreted and represented in different ways.

The Assessment Objectives apply to the whole Specification.

Knowledge, Skills and Understanding AO1(a)

A2 students will build on their learning at AS by drawing on and evaluating a greater depth and range of increasingly more sophisticated content and evidence, demonstrating a more complex understanding of historical concepts, producing responses that are more analytical, and judgements that are more effectively substantiated.

Knowledge and understanding of the past AO1(b)

A Level specifications should require students to:

• demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the historical themes, topics, periods and debates

• demonstrate their breadth of historical knowledge and understanding by making links and drawing comparisons between different aspects of the period, society, topic and theme studied

• demonstrate their understanding of key historical terms and concepts

• analyse and evaluate the causes and consequences of historical events and situations, and changes and developments in the periods and themes studied

• assess the significance of individuals, societies, events, developments and/or ideas in history

• develop an understanding of the nature and purpose of history as a discipline and how historians work

Historical enquiry (AO2a)

A Level specifications should require students to:

• investigate specific historical questions, problems or issues;

• use historical sources critically in their context, deploying appropriate information and reaching substantiated conclusions

Historical interpretation (AO2b)

A Level specifications should require students to:

• comprehend, analyse and evaluate how the past has been interpreted and represented in different ways, for example in historians’ debates and through a range of media such as paintings, films, reconstructions, museum displays, the Internet

Weighting of Assessment Objectives for AS

The table bellows shows the approximate weighting of each of the Assessment Objectives in the AS units.

Weighting of Assessment Objectives for A Level

The table bellows shows the approximate weighting of each of the Assessment Objectives in the AS and A2 units.

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