MIDTERM UNTEST
This is an open note/material/resource assignment. You may discuss all you want about the Units through Piazza, but this assignment is to be your own original work.
PART I. MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS – 20 points total
In this section, you must create FOUR quality multiple choice questions over the basic facts of units 1 and 2. Create questions over key pieces of historical fact that are the most important for the overall understanding of unit materials. Questions can be over concepts, ideas, people, places, events, etc. The question should be meaningful and not a “gotcha” question. Your correct and incorrect answers should be clearly identified (you should have a minimum of 4 answers per question) and a test taker should have to stop and consider the answers carefully.
Once you have crafted your four question and provided four answers to choose from (identify your correct answer), you must then explain the question. Why did you think this question was important enough to be on your imaginary exam? Why is the correct answer correct and the incorrect answers wrong? Why did you choose the answers that you did? Do this for each of the four questions.
II. KEY IDS – 30 points total
In this section, you must create THREE IDs for a test. IDs are key people, places, events, or concepts (so “George Washington” or “trickle-down economics” for example).
For each ID you will provide a sample answer (explaining the who/what, where, when, and why it is important). After providing your ID and sample answer, you will then need to explain why you chose this ID for the list, what makes it so key that it should appear on your imaginary test? Do this for each of the three required IDs. (so two parts – sample answer and then explanation – for each of the three IDs)
III. CONNECTIONS – 40 points
A connection is just that, an explanation of how two or more historical facts fit together.
Here is a non-history example that will give you an idea of what is expected:
Fact 1: Men’s College football teams at the NCAA I FBS level can award a maximum of 85 scholarships to players
Fact 2: The US Women’s National Team has just won the World Cup for the 4th time and has played in 5 of the 8 Women’s World Cup finals and US National Women’s Teams dominate Olympic competitions (Soccer, Softball, Ice Hockey, Volleyball, Rowing, Water Polo).
Connection: Title IX (of the Educational Amendments of 1972) legislation requires gender equity in both the classroom and school related activities at both the K-12 and collegiate level. At the time Title IX became law, women’s sports in schools and colleges was often underfunded or non-existent while men’s college football (and high school football in states like Texas) had money thrown at them. The law requires that men and women have proportional access to athletic scholarships at the collegiate level. Since most NCAA I level universities field large men’s football teams, they needed to field teams in women’s sports to remain in proportional compliance (you have to offset those 85 male players somehow). Therefore, high schools and colleges began fielding teams in quite a few different sports to be in compliance with Title IX and more American women began playing team sports. Today, the national averages are 1 in every 2.5 women play a sport in high school. The best of these female athletes now go on to play college sports, and national teams are pulled from the best of college athletes. Women have come to dominate Olympic Team Sports because American women have gender equity in team sports in high schools and colleges thanks to Title IX; few other countries have gender equity in sporting opportunities, particularly at the team level, for girls through schools and fewer girls play team sports in other parts of the world.
For this part of the Untest, I want you to make 4 connections from the time periods covered in Units 1 and 2. The facts should be different facts (not two sides of an issue, battle, debate, etc.) that may not seemingly be connected, but are. List the two historical facts and then explain the connection.
IV. Geographic Connections – 20 points
A geographic connection is similar to the connections above, except that one of the facts is related to geography, climate, or environment. (Remember the discussion of how geography and history are related). You need to make 2 geographic connections
V. Overall Takeaway – 40 points
This is an “unessay.” Instead of giving you a prompt and having you write a full-length essay, I want you to sit back and think about Units 1 and 2 as a whole. What are your key takeaways (these are the most important overall themes of the units)? How would you explain these most important “big picture” concepts of American history? How would you explain this in a paragraph (think of this as a two-minute elevator speech on US History to someone who knows nothing about the subject).
Note that your paragraph (which should be no longer than one page) should follow rule of three formatting and contain a thesis statement and supporting evidence.
