Action Research Report 5: Improving Oral Assesment

by Sheryl Bremner

The issue

As oral assessment is a compulsory part of Assessment programs, especially in the new HSC, I believe it is an important skill to develop in Stage 4 and 5. One problem that the Mandatory Australian History course in Stage 5 poses is that of time and content coverage.

Our School and History Curriculum

In 2002 at Brigidine College we have 5 Mandatory classes in Year 9 and 5 in Year 10 as well as an Elective History class in both Years 9 and 10. I teach one of the Mandatory classes in Year 10 and the Elective Class in Year 10. I taught both of these classes in 2001 when they were in year 9. The Elective Class in 2001 had 18 students. Only 5 girls opted to do another elective in Year 10, but 15 girls joined the class, making the Elective class in year 10 for 2002 28 students.

Oral Assessment

We have not really pushed oral assessment in Stage 4 and nor are we really sure what to do about the issue for Mandatory Stage 5 (the reality is that oral assessment needs class time, which is extremely precious in Stage 5). In Stage 6 we have a number of tasks that we use: an oral discussion group, group presentations and, alas due to time issues, students presenting their ideas on an audio-tape in which they discuss one or two sources that they have found about a topic eg Bismark and his role in German unification.

The target group

In second semester of 2001 I tried with the Year 9 Elective class a round table discussion which went like this:

Students were doing research on George Washington or Thomas Jefferson.

They had to find 2 primary sources to include with their research and to discuss the importance of the sources.

For an oral component they had to provide 1 primary source (which could be one of the sources used in the written assignment).

The class was divided into 2 groups and over a double period each group did their orals. One group sat in the classroom which was arranged in a "round table" formation. The other was next door doing a worksheet to hand in at the end of the lesson.

During the oral assessment each girl presented her source, described it. They could speak for up to 2 minutes. (This took about 20 minutes). For the remaining 20 minutes we discussed issues like bias, authorship, time of publication, reliability and usefulness.

The time we were doing this oral assessment happened to correspond with the English Department doing Public Speaking across all of Years 7 - 11.

What did the students think?

In 2001 the Year 9 girls responded well to the task and informally told me later that they enjoyed the format.

In 2002 with 28 girls in the class I did not see it could be feasible to have the oral assessment in quite the same format. In particular I was concerned that to have a group of 9 girls I would need at least 4 lessons (which would basically take place in the one week).

I surveyed the Year 10 class at the beginning of the year to find out what they thought of oral assessment.
The results were basically:

Formal speeches like public speaking got a big thumbs-down Some girls reported that they hated standing up in front of their classmates. Lecturettes were considered boring. The girls who had done the task in year 9 endorsed the round table discussion.

How was the process implemented in 2002?

The girls nominated themselves into 4 groups of 7 students.

I nominated 4 dates in first semester where 1 group would do their orals. The idea was that they would be assessed on a topic that we were studying in class, ie not a topic associated with a research task.

The 2 topics that I used were Robin Hood and Joan of Arc (for the first 2 groups) and Richard III and the Missing Princes (for the second 2 groups) I produced an A3 sheet of sources which was distributed to the relevant girls one week before the assessment task for their group. (see source sheet)

Each girl had the question sheet to prepare from. (see question sheet). On the day of the assessment, we did not have a spare classroom next door so the assessment girls and I sat outside the classroom on a porch where I could keep a listen out for any overt sign that no work was being done in the classroom. (It certainly looked informal) ¨ I took a small tape recorder to tape the discussion.

The girls discussed the issues on the sheet while I ticked columns on a marking sheet and made brief notes on the quality of what they were saying.  

What I found

The girls prepared well. They enjoyed the more relaxed atmosphere. Most of the girls got between 17 and 20 out of 20. It was quite tiring for me as the teacher as I was leading the discussion, making notes on what the girls were saying, putting ticks beside their names to indicate the level of involvement in the discussion.

Only 1 girl did not do the assessment task: she was overseas on exchange for 6 weeks. The girls are getting better at analysing sources for reliability, usefulness and bias etc and that this skill is apparent at other times. For example we were looking at some paintings made of Elizabeth I over the course of her reign (paintings were taken from Alison Weir's book on Elizabeth) and the students were competent at being able to ascertain whether there were elements of propaganda in the paintings

The future

I will encourage other staff to use the task, where possible. I will use the task again in other courses, especially at year 10 level. The Year 9 Elective History teacher for 2002 is going to use the round table discussion with her class this coming semester. The problem is how can this be applied to Australian History, given that time is so limited. This task uses several lessons. The task can be used in Stage 6 courses. Unfortunately time issues prevented us from using it this year in either year 11 or 12.

Year 10 Elective History

Source sheet for Orals Groups 1 and 2

SOURCE A:

When one has been outlawed, properly and according to the law of the land, we must see that he loses by the outlawry. It is clear that he first loses the country and the realm and is made an exile, such as the English call an "outlaw".. he used to be called by another name, that is "friendless man" from which it is apparent that he loses his friends. Hence if anyone knowingly feeds him after his outlawry….or gives him lodgings or communicates with him in some way or hides or keeps him, he ought to receive the same punishment as the outlaw, and thus may be deprived of all his goods and his life, unless the king spares him of his grace. From the time he is outlawed he bears the wolf's head, so that he may be killed by anyone without fear of punishment,

The goods of an outlaw will belong to the lord king. If those outlawed have land it is to be taken into the lord king's hand at once.

(from On the laws and customs of England by Henry Bracken about 1250)

SOURCE B:

SOURCE C:

SOURCE D:

Q: Does God hate the English?

Joan: Of the love or hate which God has for the English I know nothing; but well I know that they will be driven out of France, excepting those who will die there, and that God will send victory to the French over the English.

Q: Did God favour the English when they were winning in France?

Joan: I do not know if God hated the French, but I believe that it was His will to let them be punished for their sins…

[and later-]

Joan: Before seven years have passed, the English will suffer a greater loss than they did at Orleans, and they will lose all in France. And the English will even suffer a greater loss than they ever had in France and this will be by a great victory which God will send to the French.

From the records of the trial of Joan of Arc

Year 10 Elective History

Source sheet for Orals Groups 3 and 4

SOURCE A:

Painting produced 300 years after Richard's death

SOURCE B:

Evidence from Professor Wright and Dr Northcott who examined the bones in 1933

1. The bones were those of two children and were of different sizes- showing that one was younger than the other. They also showed signs that the children were related.

2. The elder child was between 11 and 13 years old when he died.

3. The skull of the elder child had a red satin on it. This may have been a blood stain caused by a violent death from suffocation.

4. The youngest child was between 9 and 11 when he died.

5. If these were the bones of the Princes- since they were 12 and 10 in 1483, they must have died that year Archaeologia 1933

SOURCE C:

A report from a group of doctors and dentists who examined the report written in 1933. They were not allowed to see the actual bones.

1. There was no evidence to prove that the skeletons were of 2 boys. Since it is difficult to know whether skeletons are male or female before the age of 13 it is possible that the skeletons were those of two girls or a boy and a girl.

2. The bones and teeth of the elder child suggest that he was less than 12 years old and most probably between 9 and 11 ½ years old. (Not as Professor Wright suggested between 11 and 13 years old.

3. It would be impossible to give a definite age to the skeletons based on up-to-date knowledge, until the urn is opened up again and the actual bones are examined.

4. The stain on the skull of the elder child was not a blood stain resulting from suffocation. 5. We cannot say how long the bones had been buried. They could have been buried a long time before Richard III's reign.

Quoted in Richard III by P.M. Kendall pages 496-7

SOURCE D:

Polydore Vergil: historian to Henry VIII

In 1517 he said of Richard: "Richard decided to try all he could to make his peace with Queen Elizabeth Woodville- and so he sent messages to her in Sanctuary. After a time she forgot her injuries and sent her daughters to stay with Richard at Court. After this she wrote secretly to the Marquis of Dorset (her son by another marriage), advising him to forget Henry Tudor and return quickly to England where he would be sure to be treated well by King Richard."

(History of England)

SOURCE E:

Domenico Mancini Italian scholar travelling in England, 1483:

"After June 1483 all the young Prince Edward's servants were kept from him. He and his brother Richard were taken to rooms further inside the Tower. They were seen less and less often, behind bars and windows, until finally they were seen no more. Dr Argentine, the last of Edward's servants, reported that young Edward like a victim prepared for sacrifice was forever asking for forgiveness of his sins. I have seen men burst into tears are the mention of his name- for already some people suspected that he had been done away with. So far I have nor discovered if he has been killed, nor how he might have died. "

(How Richard made himself king, 1483