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What makes a good matric history exam?

What makes a good matric history exam?. Rob Siebörger SASHT conference 24 September 2011. Constraints. The need to increase the popularity of history, which means that A symbols must be attainable, and the pass rate must be acceptable.

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What makes a good matric history exam?

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  1. What makes a good matric history exam? Rob Siebörger SASHT conference 24 September 2011

  2. Constraints • The need to increase the popularity of history, which means that A symbols must be attainable, and the pass rate must be acceptable. • The difficulty of changing the present examination – inertia. • Limits on what can be done in a two hour examination. • Difficulties faces by students ‘ language proficiency. • The need to come to grips with cognitive demand in history.

  3. General aspects • Coverage of content • Keeping within the prescribed curriculum content topics. • Depth • Allowance for variation in answers

  4. The purpose of essay-type questions Skill: 7. Organise evidence to substantiate an argument, in order to create an original, coherent and balanced piece of historical writing.

  5. The purpose of source-based questions The cycle of enquiry: posing/asking questions of the past, collecting sources which learners interpret by extracting, organising, analysing, and evaluating relevant information in order to address the question. Skills: 1. Understand the range of sources of information available for studying the past. 2. Extract and interpret information from a number of sources. 3. Evaluate the usefulness of sources, including reliability, stereotyping and subjectivity. 4. Recognise that there is often more than one perspective of a historical event. 5. Explain why there are different interpretations of historical events and peoples’ actions.

  6. An example of a source-based question The homelands • In what ways does Source A appear to be one-sided? • Quote three examples from Source A that support your answer to Question 1. • What clues are there in Source B to suggest that Gineewski [a French journalist] admired Bantustans? • Do you think a visiting foreign journalist is in a good position to comment on how well the country is being run? • What else would you like to know before you accept Gineiewski’s opinion of the Bantustans?

  7. An example of a source-based question continued • It might be argued that lack of information is not the reason for Gieiewski’s views on Bantustans. What reasons could have led a person to support the Bantustan policy when he or she was fully informed about it? • What evidence is there to suggest that Source C is biased a) in favour of Bantustans and b) against Bantustans? • What evidence is there to suggest that Source C is biased a) in favour of Buthelezi and b) against Buthelezi? • In what ways is Source C a useful source to people reading it in 2011? (From Siebörger, Weldon and Hinton (1996) What is Evidence? p.29)

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