Secondary School Students' Perception of the Development of Historical Thinking in the Assessment Process

Middle school students' perception of the assessment of the history courses they take allows us to analyze the relationship between the way history is taught and competent learning that develops historical thinking. This quantitative exploratory study presents the results of a survey conducted among 1,117 students in the 3rd and 4th levels of Obligatory Secondary Education in the Region of Murcia (Spain), who expressed their opinion of the instruments and criteria of evaluation by responding to a questionnaire. The results showed the need to change the cognitive model used for teaching history and to find a form of assessment that will promote and evaluate historical thinking, since the current approach consists basically of memorizing facts and answering repetitive questions, instead of learning how to identify the significance of historical events, explain their causes and consequences, and form reasoned judgments about the past independently.