Goal
This page aims to show how assessment and reflection can make students learn by inquiring about history. It also shows the importance of the formative and summative assessment activities that evaluate the level of mastering the major historical concepts, the compassion to the historical experiences, and the capacity of the students to relate site-based learning to the classroom results.
Audience
This page assists teachers in understanding how assessment and reflection plan can be used to facilitate inquiry learning. It offers methods that are in line with the NSW History K-6 syllabus of gauging student interest, creativity and critical thinking and demonstrates how reflection relates learning to real-life situations.
Key Message
The evaluation and reflection at Elizabeth Farm stimulates students to think, feel deeply, and show that they learn the past of Australia through meaningful and inquiry-based learning.
Assessment Strategies
The Elizabeth Farm Site Study has assessment strategies, such as formative assessment, which can be observed and discussed, summative assessment, which consists of reflective activities such as journals or presentations, and peer/self-reflection to promote responsibility and critical thinking.
Reflection Activities
Reflection assists in summarising the learning process and enables students to have an emotional and intellectual attachment with the historical material.
The questions asked to the students include:
• What did I get to know about the life of the early settlers and the Aboriginal people at Elizabeth Farm?
• What is the effect of the past experiences on our lives today?
• So, what is the rationale behind the need to conserve historical sites?
Final Reflection
The Elizabeth Farm Site Study promotes critical thinking and significant involvement in the history of Australia by means of evaluation and reflection. Students no longer memorise facts, but grow up to empathise, wonder, and identify themselves. Tying their thoughts to the syllabus outcomes, learners will be able to think critically and be aware of the way the past influences the present. This reflective practice will ensure that each trip to Elizabeth Farm will lead to academic as well as personal knowledge.