Qualifications Update:Higher History

Jane Henderson QDM

Qualifications Update:Higher History

Jane Henderson QDM

• Coherent progression from National 5 and to Advanced Higher

• Relevant, challenging and enjoyable contexts • Opportunities for candidates to show the breadth

and depth of what they know• Opportunities for candidates to show the

application of their History skills• Personalisation and choice for learners in the

Assignment

Key messagesKey messages

• Units combine skills and knowledge and offer flexibility in how evidence is gathered, to challenge and motivate learners

• Knowledge and understanding and the application of skills build progressively up levels in Unit and in Course assessment

• Maintains the best aspects of current Higher to ensure the continuing quality and value of History

Key messagesKey messages

Points of stabilityPoints of stability• Applying source handling skills within the

Scottish section• Extended response questions in the British

and European and World sections• Familiar areas of study• Use of command words/question stems• Extended response in the Assignment

Points of changePoints of change• In the Assignment, candidates have an open

choice of historical issue or question to study• British: Church, State and Feudal Society 1066-

1406• “How far” no longer in exam• Combined question paper of two hours and 20

minutes duration• Production of evidence in Assignment up to one

hour and 30 minutes

Assessment Support Schedule 2013/14 Assessment Support Schedule 2013/14

Sept 13 CfE Update Letter

Oct 13 Unit Assessment Support (Package 1)

Feb 14 Unit Assessment Support (Package 2)

Feb 14 Higher Specimen Question Paper

Mar 14 Coursework General Assessment Information

Apr 14 Unit Assessment Support (Package 3)

May 14 Update Mandatory Documents

Jun 14 Update Unit Assessment Support

HistoryUnit Assessment

HigherRobert Doig QDC

HistoryUnit Assessment

HigherRobert Doig QDC

Unit assessmentUnit assessment• Supports assessment as part of learning and

teaching • Is flexible in the ways in which evidence can

be generated• Open in the context which is used and in the

form of the evidence

Unit Assessment Support Unit Assessment Support packages – purpose packages – purpose

• Assess your candidates

• Adapt in line with your own assessment strategy

• Help you develop your own assessments

Unit Assessment Support Unit Assessment Support Packages – key featuresPackages – key features

• Tell you – with examples – how to judge evidence against Assessment Standards

• Provide further clarification of the Assessment Standards

• Encourage and support professional judgment• Include advice on adapting to different contexts • Valid from August 2014

Unit assessment support Unit assessment support packages - approachespackages - approaches

• Unit by Unit approach – discrete assessment tasks for each Unit

• Combined approach – groups Outcomes and Assessment Standards from different Units

• Portfolio approach – evidence generated Assessment Standard by Assessment Standard

Assessment Package 1Assessment Package 1Scottish History British History European and World

History

You can use the illustrative examples provided and adapt these to suit the contexts that your learners have studied or the kind of approach that would suit them best

N3Great Scots Tudors End of Imperial China

N4Mary Queen of Scots and the Reformation

Changing Britain Tea and Freedom

N5Era of the great War Creation of the Medieval

KingdomsAppeasement and the Road to War

H

Migration and Empire Changing Britain 1850-1951 Crusades

Assessment Package 2Assessment Package 2Scottish History British History European and World

History

You can use the illustrative examples provided and adapt these to suit the contexts that your learners have studied or the kind of approach that would suit them best

N3 Burke and Hare

Crime and Punishment

Life in Victorian Britain Political prisoners in the Cold War

N4Migration and Empire

North America

The Slave Trade Free at Last

N5

Treaty of Union

People and Power

The War of the 3 Kingdoms Germany 1919-39

HWars of Independence

Revolution and Resistance

Britain and Ireland Russia

Document read-throughDocument read-through

• Overview of Assessment – Contains an outline of the example task

– Also includes advice on how to adapt the task

– Evidence in one form may be supplemented with evidence in other forms

Document read-throughDocument read-through

• Assessment Conditions– Level of teacher/lecturer support should be

appropriate but evidence must be the candidate's own work

– When group work is used, evidence of individual achievement is required

– Centres responsibility to ensure that all evidence is the individual candidate’s work

Document read-throughDocument read-through• Assessment Conditions (continued)– SQA has left the conditions of assessment at Unit

level open and flexible– Candidates should have sufficient time to

complete the task– Candidates should have access to appropriate

resources to undertake the assessment– Do not inflate the standard by applying conditions

not required by the Assessment Standards – Consistency in the application of these conditions

National 3 – Higher

Document read-throughDocument read-through

• Evidence to be gathered– A range of possible forms of evidence may be

appropriate– Keep accurate records of the evidence gathered

and the assessment decisions made– Only need sufficient evidence to show

achievement of the Assessment Standards once

Document read-throughDocument read-through• Judging Evidence– Table tells you how to judge evidence against the

Assessment Standards– Illustrations of possible candidate responses– Approach used can change, Assessment Standards

do not change– Columns 1 – 2 are fixed, column 4 will vary with

the task

Document read-throughDocument read-through

• Re-assessment arrangements – Assessment should be carried out when the

individual candidate is ready – If a candidate fails to provide evidence for all the

Assessment Standards, it is only necessary to re-assess the individual Assessment Standard that they have yet to achieve

Document read-throughDocument read-through

• Examples of recording documentation– Exemplar tables for recording candidate’s/group’s

achievement of Assessment Standards– These can be adapted as required

Document read-throughDocument read-through

• Assessment Task– Aligns with the prompts in the Overview of

Assessment section– Exemplifies one context in which Unit assessment

may take place

Workshop 1Workshop 1• Use the materials provided:• In groups of 2-3 discuss:– The assessment task in the Unit Assessment

Support provided– How to generate evidence for the UAS provided– How to make assessment judgements for the

UAS provided

Workshop 1Workshop 1Use the materials provided:•read the UASP (10 mins) focus on the candidate task and the judging the evidence tableIn groups of 2-3 discuss:•how you would use or adapt the task provided (20 minutes)•how column 4 illustrates the standard defined in column 3 (15 minutes)•the ways in which Unit assessment fits in with your overall assessment strategy (15 minutes)•what will you take back to your centre to support others?

History Higher Course Assessment

Robert Doig QDC

History Higher Course Assessment

Robert Doig QDC

Context and Rationale for development Context and Rationale for development of Higher Historyof Higher History

• Level of demand benchmarked against SCQF level 6 as in current Higher

• Progression and articulation from National 5 and on to Advanced Higher

• CfE principles e.g. personalisation and choice, importance of skills

• Opportunity to refresh and update content and contexts

• Consistency with other Highers as appropriate• FIOCA provides further detail

Process of DevelopmentProcess of Development• Course Specification – aims and rationale of the

Higher History Course• Unit Specifications – skills developed across all

Units and assessed within specified contexts• Course Assessment Specification – requirements

for Question Paper and Assignment – application of skills to mandatory content

Added ValueAdded Value• Makes the Course more than the sum of its parts• Builds on current Course assessment and Group

Award approaches • Defined as breadth, challenge and application as

outlined in Building the Curriculum 5• May involve accumulation, assimilation, integration

and/or application of skills, knowledge and understanding

• Uses one or two of 7 defined assessment methods

Adding Value – National 4, Adding Value – National 4, National 5, HigherNational 5, Higher

• For National 4, the added value is assessed in the Added Value Unit - not graded

• For National 5 and Higher (and Advanced Higher) the added value is assessed in the Course Assessment - graded A - D (as at present)

Higher – Course AssessmentHigher – Course Assessment• Two components

– Question Paper: 60 marks - 66% (75% at National 5)

– Assignment 30: marks - 33% (25% at National 5)

• Skills and knowledge and understanding will have equal importance across course assessment as a whole

• Both components will be externally marked

Higher – Question PaperHigher – Question Paper• Three sections each worth 20 marks: Scottish, British and European and

World

• There will be a choice of contexts in each section.

• There will be a choice of questions in the British and European and World sections, each worth 20 marks.

• Mandatory content will be sampled

• Will assess the skills of analysing and evaluating, and draw on detailed knowledge and understanding of complex issues as well as applying source handling skills

• Greater emphasis on knowledge and understanding than skills

Higher – Question PaperHigher – Question PaperIn the Scottish section there will be 3 questions:

1.Evaluate the usefulness of source A on … (6 marks)2.How fully does source B explain … (9 marks)3.Compare the views of sources A and B on … (5 marks)

All questions will relate to the issues in the Course Assessment Specification. There are no sub-issues.

Higher – Question PaperHigher – Question PaperEvaluate the usefulness of source A on … (6 marks)

Marks will be awarded for comments relating to:•Author•Purpose•Timing•Content•Context

Higher – Question PaperHigher – Question PaperHow fully does source B explain … (9 marks)

Marks will be awarded for: •interpretation of points from the source•points from recall which expand or contextualise the points in the source•points must relate to the issue in the question

Higher – Question PaperHigher – Question PaperCompare the views of sources A and B on … (5 marks)

Marks will be awarded for :•developed comparisons of points of detail from the sources•overall comparison of viewpoints of the sources

Higher – Question PaperHigher – Question PaperA limited range of command words/question stems will be used in the paper for extended response questions:

•To what extent …

•How important …

•How significant ..

•Statement or quote

How valid is this view of …

Greater clarity and support for centres in general marking principles and detailed marking instructions as to how these questions will be marked

Higher – Question PaperHigher – Question PaperExtended Response Questions

Marks will be awarded for:•Introduction (2 marks)•Conclusion (2 marks)•Analysis (6 marks)•Evaluation (4 marks)•Use of knowledge (6 marks)

Higher – Question PaperHigher – Question PaperIntroduction

Place the issue in context, identify factors which will be used for analysis and connect these to the line of argument

Conclusion

Makes an overall judgement on the issue

Higher – Question PaperHigher – Question Paper“Analysis” requires candidates to…

Identify parts, the relationship between them, and their relationships with the whole. Draw out and relate implications.

SQA Guidance

Analysis will derive from a body of knowledge and understanding

Higher – Question PaperHigher – Question Paper• Establishing contradiction or inconsistencies within factors E.g. While they were successful in that way, they were limited in this

way • Establishing contradiction or inconsistencies between factorsE.g. While there were political motives for doing this, the economic

factors were against doing this • Establishing links between factorsE.g. This factor led to that factor. Or At the same time there was also..

• Exploring different interpretations of these factors E.g. While some people have viewed the evidence as showing this,

others have seen as showing .. OR While we used to think that this was the case, we now think that it was really ..

Higher – Question PaperHigher – Question Paper“Evaluation” requires candidates to…

Make a judgement based on criteria.

SQA Guidance

Evaluation will derive from a body of knowledge and understanding. Candidates will make a judgment(s) by making evaluative comments and linking these to form a line of argument.

Higher – Question PaperHigher – Question PaperEvaluative comments may include:•The extent to which the factor is supported by the evidenceE.g. This evidence shows that X was a very significant area of impact. •The relative importance of factorsE.g This evidence shows that X was a more significant area of impact than Y.

•Counter arguments including possible alternative interpretations. E.g. One factor was ….. However, this may not be the case because … Or However, more recent research tends to show that ….

•The overall impact/ significance of the factors when taken together.E.g. While each factor may have had little effect on their own, when we take them together they became hugely important. •The importance of factors in relation to the contextE.g. Given the situation which they inherited, these actions were more successful than they might appear.

Controlled AssessmentControlled Assessment• Where the assessment method is not a question paper,

SQA has introduced the concept of controlled assessment to ensure fairness and reliability

• Three stages of assessment: Setting, Conducting, Marking the assessment

• Each will have a defined level of control: SQA-led activity, Shared responsibility between SQA and centres, Centre-led

• Subject-specific decisions, but mostly SQA-led activity in initial years

Higher – AssignmentHigher – Assignment• Opportunity for learner personalisation and choice

• Candidates will have an open choice of Historical Issue

• Marked out of 30

• Externally marked

• Evidence produced in controlled conditions in up to one hour 30 minutes

• Assesses the results of their research

Higher – AssignmentHigher – Assignment• Greater emphasis on skills than knowledge and

understanding

• SQA will provide General Assessment Information and the Assessment Task

• Task does not change from year to year

• Detailed marking instructions available and can be shared with candidates

• Guide to candidates will be provided as at National 5

Workshop 2Workshop 2• Use the materials provided:• In groups of 2-3 discuss:– the requirements of the Higher Course assessment– How these requirements build on the Higher Units– How these requirements build on National 5

• Materials provided:– Further Information on Course Assessment– Assignment read across document

Workshop 2Workshop 2Use the materials provided:•read the FIOCA (10 mins)In groups of 2-3 discuss:•the relationship between assessment at Unit level and Course level (10 minutes)• aspects of your current practice which you plan to

continue (15 minutes)• aspects of your current practice which you plan to

change (15 minutes)•what will you take back to your centre to support others?