Middle Ages Quiz
Middle Ages Quiz
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I gave this fifty-point quiz at the end of our six-day unit on the Middle Ages. The quiz covered material from all six of the following lessons:
Day 1: “Feudal Society”
Day 2: “The Invaders: The Germanic Peoples”
Day 3: “The Invaders: The Vikings”
Day 4: “The Code of Chivalry: Now and Then”
Day 5: “The Medieval Church”
Day 6: “Dirty Jobs of the Middle Ages”
The quiz contained six multiple choice questions, one diagraming question, six identifications, and four short-answer questions from which students chose three to answer. The Friday before the quiz I reviewed the material on the quiz as well as the quiz format. On Friday afternoon I also posted a study guide on Edline (Bookman’s online student porthole). Additionally, every Friday I also post all of the week’s PowerPoint presentations to Edline to supplement students’ notes and to help students who were absent catch back up with the class. My classroom mentor was staunchly against this practice because she felt that it disincentivized students’ note taking in class. However, I found this not to be the case. Students’ note taking, and more importantly attention, in class was correlated to their level of engagement in the lesson, not the PowerPoint presentations availability on Edline. Moreover, many students try earnestly to take notes, however have note yet mastered the multitasking trifecta of listening, participating, and writing. And of course, posting the PowerPoint presentations on Edline is incredibly helpful to those students who have missed class.
While student performances on this quiz ranged from As-Fs, with the majority of students earning scores in the B-range, I was particularly interested in which short answer questions students chose to answer. The fourth short-answer question required students to interpret a quote by Betty Friedan about the construction of masculinities, and relate it to chivalry and feminism in Medieval and modern times. The question read as follows:
4. Betty Friedan is the author of The Feminine Mystique (1963), the seminal work of feminist literature that
inspired that inspired the Second Wave Feminist Movement. In a 1971 interview she said the following:
“Men weren't really the enemy — they were fellow victims suffering from an outmoded masculine mystique that made
them feel unnecessarily inadequate when there were no bears to kill.”
Explain this quote as it relates to chivalry and feminism in both Medieval and modern societies.
This question relied heavily on the material covered and nature of our class conversations during the lesson “The Code of Chivalry: Now and Then.” I evaluated students’ decision to answer this question as an indication of some level of engagement in the chivalry lesson or interest in gender. I purposefully ordered this question fourth and last on the list of short answer questions because if students answered the question I know that they read all of the other options and chose to answer this one. The bar graph below shows the number of students who chose to answer each of the four questions:
Day 1: “Feudal Society”
Day 2: “The Invaders: The Germanic Peoples”
Day 3: “The Invaders: The Vikings”
Day 4: “The Code of Chivalry: Now and Then”
Day 5: “The Medieval Church”
Day 6: “Dirty Jobs of the Middle Ages”
The quiz contained six multiple choice questions, one diagraming question, six identifications, and four short-answer questions from which students chose three to answer. The Friday before the quiz I reviewed the material on the quiz as well as the quiz format. On Friday afternoon I also posted a study guide on Edline (Bookman’s online student porthole). Additionally, every Friday I also post all of the week’s PowerPoint presentations to Edline to supplement students’ notes and to help students who were absent catch back up with the class. My classroom mentor was staunchly against this practice because she felt that it disincentivized students’ note taking in class. However, I found this not to be the case. Students’ note taking, and more importantly attention, in class was correlated to their level of engagement in the lesson, not the PowerPoint presentations availability on Edline. Moreover, many students try earnestly to take notes, however have note yet mastered the multitasking trifecta of listening, participating, and writing. And of course, posting the PowerPoint presentations on Edline is incredibly helpful to those students who have missed class.
While student performances on this quiz ranged from As-Fs, with the majority of students earning scores in the B-range, I was particularly interested in which short answer questions students chose to answer. The fourth short-answer question required students to interpret a quote by Betty Friedan about the construction of masculinities, and relate it to chivalry and feminism in Medieval and modern times. The question read as follows:
4. Betty Friedan is the author of The Feminine Mystique (1963), the seminal work of feminist literature that
inspired that inspired the Second Wave Feminist Movement. In a 1971 interview she said the following:
“Men weren't really the enemy — they were fellow victims suffering from an outmoded masculine mystique that made
them feel unnecessarily inadequate when there were no bears to kill.”
Explain this quote as it relates to chivalry and feminism in both Medieval and modern societies.
This question relied heavily on the material covered and nature of our class conversations during the lesson “The Code of Chivalry: Now and Then.” I evaluated students’ decision to answer this question as an indication of some level of engagement in the chivalry lesson or interest in gender. I purposefully ordered this question fourth and last on the list of short answer questions because if students answered the question I know that they read all of the other options and chose to answer this one. The bar graph below shows the number of students who chose to answer each of the four questions:
There are some numerical discrepancies in this graph that require addressing. I have 80 ninth grade students in my three World History classes. If each student answered three questions, I should have 240 answers, however my tally adds up only to 231. The reason for this discrepancy is because a few of my students only answered one or two short-answer questions. I assume this is because some students either ran out of time or did not feel able to attempt three questions.
Unsurprisingly, the most students chose to answer the first question. This is unsurprising because it was the first questions that students read, and because the answer stems directly from a primary source analysis activity conducted in class. Despite my students’ ready desire to express opinions, on tests they view as “high stakes,” most prefer questions that have clear “right” answers recorded in their notes. However, with 63 answers, the fourth question only received one less answer than the first question, nine more answers than the second question, and thirteen more answers than the third question. Though this question was the last on this list, required students to interpret an unfamiliar text, and take a risk on a question with a less tangible “right” answer, students still chose it at a comparatively right rate – thereby demonstrating some level of engagement in the chivalry lesson or interest in gender.
The bar graph below shows the number and percentage of male and female students who chose to answer the fourth question:
Unsurprisingly, the most students chose to answer the first question. This is unsurprising because it was the first questions that students read, and because the answer stems directly from a primary source analysis activity conducted in class. Despite my students’ ready desire to express opinions, on tests they view as “high stakes,” most prefer questions that have clear “right” answers recorded in their notes. However, with 63 answers, the fourth question only received one less answer than the first question, nine more answers than the second question, and thirteen more answers than the third question. Though this question was the last on this list, required students to interpret an unfamiliar text, and take a risk on a question with a less tangible “right” answer, students still chose it at a comparatively right rate – thereby demonstrating some level of engagement in the chivalry lesson or interest in gender.
The bar graph below shows the number and percentage of male and female students who chose to answer the fourth question:
Though significant proportions of both male and female students chose to answer the fourth question, female students chose it at a far higher rate than male students. While sixty-six percent of male students chose to answer the fourth question (nine percentage points less than random occurrence), and eighty-eight percent of female student chose to answer the fourth question (thirteen percentage points higher than random occurrence). Looking at this data, I was surprised to see the gender gap so wide. Throughout the chivalry lesson, male students were very engaged and vocal, perhaps even more so than female students. Reflecting upon this large margin, I can think of a few reasons why male students answered the fourth question at a lower rate. First, I have observed over the course of the year that my male students tend to be more hasty test takers than my female students, so this may have lead them to answer the first three questions. Second, upon further reflection on the chivalry lesson, most of the “male voices” I recall hearing came from the same few males in every class. Each class had about four or five males who were very expressive and engaged, though this was not representative of the entire male cohort. That being said, well over half of male students chose to answer the fourth question, so even beyond those who were vocal, other male students were still engaged. A final take-away from this data is that female students’ responses to the lesson on chivalry were resoundingly positive, and many were interested in gender, even if they were not vocal in class discussions.