Prov och bedömning i samhällskunskap En analys av gymnasielärares skriftliga prov

Sammanfattning: This study focuses on tests and assessment in social science in the upper secondary school in Sweden. Testing has an effect on how students learn and on the information and knowledge they retain. Different forms of examination encourage different styles of learning and the type of test used also influence the perception students have on a subject.From a didactical perspective, based on a curriculum theory, the aim of this study is to examine teacher constructed tests and to analyze the construction and different reflections on the school subject social science. The tests analyzed are compared with the content of the formal curriculum. The findings indicate that the tests contain only a few of the goals in the formal curriculum. The curriculum does not seem to have a major influence on the setting of the test and its content. It is rather some kind of subject tradition that appears in the examinations. The dominant subject fields are political science and economics. Three subject profiles were found in the tests. The students are expected to orientate themselves with the subject and learn some basic facts. However, there are also questions which give the students opportunities to analyze different phenomenon and discuss several issues. The tests vary, for example in theoretical programs the content requires students to use the factual knowledge rather than rote learning. The questions are more theoretical and advanced compared with the tests that have been used within vocational programs.