Problem-Based Assessments in HUMANITIES

During my experiences as a student, projects typically included researching an important figure or event with little critical analysis for it. During World History, I researched Hades and did not go further than surface level information and during an American History course so I researched Joan Jett and found basic information. The only problem I was trying to solve was that I needed to get the best grade possible. It is with hindsight where I realized my missed opportunities for these projects. I have nothing but respect for my teachers that I had during my time as a student (in fact, still see them from time to time!) but there was little real-world application and skills. Problem-based and project-based assessments for inquiry-education have undeniable benefits, one which being preparing students for their future careers and civic engagement to protect democratic institutions. Crucial components for implementing problem-based projects in inquiry include student ownership, evidence and explanation, and communicating their conclusions.

Implementing Problem-Based/Projected-Based mirrors the National Council for the Social Studies C3 framework. While it is was created towards Social Studies content and skills, it can be applied towards any content area. The first arc of the C3 framework demands the project revolves around questions developed by the students. Freire states that student-driven questions and considerations are vital for project-based learning and should be the foundation for the C3 framework (Behizadeh, 2014). Depending on the students experience with problem-based learning and creating their own questions, problem framing can be helpful in scaffolding to support students (Svihla & Reeve, 2016). A compelling question could be provided to frame the problem, such as "Is justice blind in America?". Students will be able to pursue the content with their own personal interests in the topic. Students could research problems such as how race affects the criminal justice system, the implications of restorative vs. punitive approach to the criminal justice system, and so on. This allows the students to retain ownership of their project, which improves the students motivation and overall goal of developing mastery in the topic (Milner-Bolotin, 2002). Alternatively, completing the first arc and the problem framing can be an excellent opportunity to develop students' questioning skills that teachers must guide (Miciano, 2004). Question stems, explanations of the benefits of high-quality questions, and modeling higher-order questions can help scaffold question creation for students when working on their projects.

The second and third arcs of the C3 framework is to apply interdisciplinary concepts/tools and evaluating the sources/evidence. To apply these arcs to the previous problem framing of justice system in america, the students will need to gather information for their problem-based project learning. Podcasts, such as Justice in America, provide a wide range of topics that the students can listen. Podcasts are great because it they usually supply their own problems, possible solutions, and different aspects/perspectives. The Podcast Justice in America provides topics like "Episode 15: Crime, Justice, and the Media", Episode 19: Restorative Justice , Episode 12: The Criminalization of Poverty", and etc. The students can use these for identifying their problem or for research once they have found their problem. Once the students have chosen their topic and gathered the information, the teacher can further scaffold and have mini-lessons to support the students. Using the C3 'applying interdisciplinary concepts' can be provided in a supporting question way to encourage students to pursue interdisciplinary research in tools. The teacher can provide questions and mini-lessons to support the students during their gathering information. For civics application, the supporting question "What rights are Americans afforded for criminal justice system?" would be beneficial for nearly every topic. The students need to know their civic and criminal rights before they can determine if their is an issue in the justice system. Providing expository texts such as http://www.ushistory.org/gov/10c.asp or https://billofrightsinstitute.org/founding-documents/bill-of-rights/ with appropriate expository text instruction will support the students find relevant civics information for their specific questions. The economics question 2) How does economic status affect the criminal justice system? is an important topic for debating if the justice system is blind. Opinion and cause/effect texts provide support for the students while they independently pursue their topics and also provide a mini-lesson for evaluating sources.

• https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/06/21/us-criminal-justice-system-fuels-poverty-cycle
• https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2018/08/21/millions-are-caught-up-in-americas-criminal-justice-system-because-theyre-poor/?utm_term=.ef811ae34b8a
• https://www.brookings.edu/research/ten-economic-facts-about-crime-and-incarceration-in-the-united-states/
• https://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-bail-reform-20170816-story.html

Each article represents different aspects of the justice system and economic factors, the students can identify the claims, evaluate the evidence provided, identify if they are sufficient, and see if applicable for the question. Once the students have gathered the information and evaluated their evidence, the students must

A crucial part of the National Council for the Social Studies framework is the fourth and final arc of the framework ends with communicating conclusions and taking informed action. The National Council for the Social Studies justifies it as “ Individual mastery of content often no longer suffices; students should also develop the capacity to work together to apply knowledge to real problems. Thus, a rich social studies education is an education”. This final arc sets up the perfect environment for students to combine their questions and knowledge for a project-based summative assessment. While pursuing their independent projects, the students will be utilizing the skills and content that are necessary for engaged citizens and future workers. This project will have engage students in taking action on an issue that they feel passionate about and will hopefully encourage them to take action once they reach the voting age. Local elections in the United States have shockingly low voter turnout, especially for young and disenfranchised voters (Khalid, Gonyea & Fadel, 2018). To involve students in local issues, an example that the National Council for the Social Studies provides students produced video investigating a public issue about the public trolley and the finance appointing it (National Council for the Social Studies, 2015). The students took steps that included meeting with Director of Finance of their local city to explain the budgeting issues. These are issues that voters should be taking once they vote to approve or disapprove of local elections. To apply this concept for the compelling question, "Is justice blind?" students could communicate their conclusions and take informed action in a myriad of ways. They could write a letter to their elected representatives about issues they have encountered, they could create an informative website about their issue to educate others, and so on. It is the students' choice which medium they think is the best for their interests and for their specific project.

While typically envisioned for science classrooms, Problem-Based assessments and project-based assessments are greatly beneficial to students in humanities classes. Students will develop their higher-order questioning skills. Once the students develop the questions, the gathering information and evaluating evidence are skills and habits that should be developed to encourage civic engagement. With these habits, the goal of creating engaged and informed citizens to protect democratic institutions becomes closer.