A Glimpse in the Unseen: Interpreting Multiple-Choice History Test Performance, Jul 3

The Centre for the Study of Historical Consciousness
Visiting Scholars Program

Dr. Gabriel A. Reich
Secondary History Education, Virginia Commonwealth University, USA

"A Glimpse in the Unseen:
Interpreting Multiple-Choice History Test Performance"

Wednesday 3 July 2013, 4:30-6:00 p.m.
UBC, Scarfe building, room 310
(refreshments will be served)

In this talk Dr. Reich will discuss the results of a study of the cognitive skills and content knowledge employed by a group of adolescents when answering multiple-choice history questions from a high-stakes history exam that they were preparing to take. The purpose of assessment is to make student learning visible for a variety of purposes including comparison, program improvement, and accountability.

Tremendous energy has been expended on enumerating the concepts, content, and intellectual skills that students must master in order to earn credentials. Standardized exams have emerged as the technology for judging the extent to which content has been mastered. Ironically, these exams rely heavily on multiple-choice questions that hide rather than expose student reasoning. The talk will center on the extent to which evidence from student "think-alouds" support popular assumptions about what multiple-choice exams measure.

Dr. Reich’s doctoral dissertation, Measuring Achievement in History: Multiple Choice, High Stakes and Unsure Outcomes (New York University, 2007) established a research trajectory that he has continued to follow since its completion.  He has published results in the Journal of Curriculum Studies, The Social Studies, Theory and Research in Social Education, and other major journals in the field. He is the recipient of the VCU School of Education’s Distinguished Junior Faculty Award.

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No RSVP necessary.