EDFD307 ASSESSMENT 1 PART A

Celeste Campagna
S00125483

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION

A year 9 history class is studying the impact of World War I on the Australian
homefront (including propaganda, conscription and the role of women). The skills
in focus were engaging with primary sources (sources directly from the time
period) and utilising information to form an argument.
To assess their attainment of this knowledge and these skills, the outcomes of
the unit, the students are given an exam style task. It requires them to
chronologically order the dates of Australian fought battles, complete short
answer questions about a British enlistment poster and an essay discussing
differing historians views on the causes of the war. However, this assessment
has some issues with its validity.
Of the following, which set of adjustments would ensure the validity of the
assessment?
a) Focusing on the chronology activity using dates of significant homefront
events and changing the source analysis to historians views on the role of
women on the homefront.
b) Focusing solely on an essay discussing historians perspectives on the role
of Australians on the battlefront and their lasting impact on Australian
identity.
c) Focusing on the poster analysis of an Australian conscription poster, using
it as the basis of an extended response question looking at its
consequences on life on the homefront.
d) Focusing on battle chronology and an analysis of historians views on the
role of Australians in those battles to complete an extended response.
The answer is C.

RATIONALE
This question is directed at someone who is well versed in history curriculum but
is being tested on their understanding of the concept of validity in assessment.
The person doing the test is presented with a two part question, the first
outlining the outcome being assessed which includes both content and skills, the
second is the assessment in question which has intentional issues with its
validity. The scenario tests their understanding of validity; that is a tasks ability
to assess set learning outcomes. In the scenario the outcome is composed of
the knowledge and skills taught in the unit. Specifically, the knowledge being
tested is the impact of World War I on the Australian homefront particularly
concerning conscription, propaganda and the role of women. Whereas the skills
being tested are primary source analysis (that is sources directly from the time
period) and the use of information to form an argument. If the person answering
the question keeps these factors in mind they will be able to answer the
question. The assessment task fails to assess the knowledge and skills taught in

EDFD307 ASSESSMENT 1 PART A

Celeste Campagna
S00125483

the unit both through its structure and topics in question and is therefore invalid.
The four options present adaptations to the assessment that would transform it
into a valid task.
Distractor A is the most challenging of the three, as it requires close reading and
analysis to separate it from the correct answer, C. The content in the answer is
consistent with the taught content, however, the skills required in the adapted
activities have not been taught and should not be assessed. The challenge in
separating answers A and C comes in the attention paid to the skills component
of the assessed material. The students have been taught primary source analysis
(that is, sources from the time) and creating arguments based on information.
They have not focused on chronology or analysis of historians perspectives
(which would be secondary sources) here. Therefore, whilst both answers focus
on appropriate content, A does not assess for achievement of the skills in the
outcome. This therefore makes the question challenging in the evaluation it
requires but clear if the individual has established what content and skills are
being assessed.
Distractor B is not as difficult to rule out as it does not focus on the taught
content rather it looks at Australian involvement on the battlefront and the
impact it has on Australian identity in the long term. The focus on Australia as
opposed to Britain, as suggested in the invalid assessment, may make this
answer seem plausible. Similarly, as one of the skills listed in the outcome is
utilising information to form an argument, this option may be seen as an
appropriate answer on initial reading. The cohesiveness of B may also make it an
attractive choice. However, once this answer is evaluated it is clear that it
neither assesses for appropriate content nor does it test the skills in focus.
Distractor D may be the least plausible both in the content and skills it assesses.
Its plausibility lies in its form, an essay that would require students to form an
argument and use given information to create a response. However, the
information provided to them comes in the form of the chronology and historian
analysis components of the task. As they have not been taught these skills they
would not be able to utilise this information effectively.
C is therefore the adapted task which would ensure validity of the assessment. It
makes use of both the primary source analysis and formation of an argument
skills as outlined in the first half of the question. It also asks students to engage
with content that they have been taught; both Australian conscription and its
impact on life on the homefront provide a basis for students show a range of
knowledge on the topic as outlined in the outcome. In its ability to assess set
outcomes, C is a valid assessment option.
Peer feedback had an impact on the question in each of its stages. Initially, the
decision to write a question using a concrete example as its basis was reached
through discussion with other students. The consensus was that in order to
encourage higher order thinking the question needed to move away from simply
defining validity to seeing it in practice. In deciding the layout of the question,
many people suggested steering away from longer answers and giving more
weight to the scenario, which worked well given the nature of the question.
Finally, as the question came to its final form, testing it on fellow history
curriculum students helped with minor tweaking and ensured that the answer,
after some careful thinking, was clear. Only one of the three people asked could

EDFD307 ASSESSMENT 1 PART A

Celeste Campagna
S00125483

not choose between A and C and so the skills being assessed were made clearer
at the beginning of the question.