A Study of Tests in Social Studies Education (I) : On the basic model of creating test items

Abstract

Tests as well as Instruction are of importance in social studies classrooms. There has been no study of tests in social studies education. Almost all social studies researchers ignored this aspect. We set about this study to develop tests in history at the secondary school level. For this purpose, we have completed three sets of articles. The first article is to explain the necessary conditions of creating items for history tests and of building a strategic model of creating them. The second is to establish the structure of understanding history from the viewpoint of evaluation and to analyse current tests. The third, the last one, is to attempt to clarify what the most desirable tests are in a very concrete way from the standpoint of creating test items.