Assessment 2 Instructions: Historical Analysis
• PRINT
• Complete the Historical Analysis Worksheet, working through a five-step critical thinking process for analyzing and synthesizing the evidence you collected related to your topic.
Introduction
Note: The first three assessments in this course build on each other; therefore, it is essential that you complete them in the order presented.
In the first assessment, you located and analyzed primary and secondary sources about a historical event, issue, or movement. This second assessment focuses on evaluating and synthesizing the information you have collected from your sources. During this process, you will apply your critical thinking skills, which is an essential part of problem solving.
Historians use problem solving to better understand the past, but they also use it to understand key historical figures—from the suffragettes to members of the #MeToo movement and from the Knights of Labor to today’s labor and business leaders—continue to use it today to change the course of history. Using critical thinking to solve problems outside of this course could help you, for example, propose a solution to address nursing mothers’ rights at work, decide how to put a positive spin on an employment gap at a job interview, or even consider how skills you’ve learned in past Capella courses have impacted your current success. Understanding how to apply critical thinking to solve problems in any personal or professional situation you encounter will help you take control of your own life to achieve the future you want.
Note: The first three assessments in this course build on each other; therefore, it is essential that you complete them in the order presented.
Overview
Now that you’ve evaluated the credibility of your sources (Assessment 1), you are ready to use innovative thinking and problem solving to analyze the content of your sources. For this assessment, you will complete the Historical Analysis Worksheet [DOCX], using a critical thinking process to evaluate evidence as you explore the causes and long-term impacts related to your issue. Analyze how those in the past have successfully and unsuccessfully tackled the same issues while also considering how these same issues might now be addressed by your organization.
Preparation
Review the evidence you compiled and compared for Assessment 1, Evaluating Historical Sources. Then begin to formulate your explanation or main arguments about your chosen issue. Consider the historical context of the issue, its challenges, and the strategies and approaches people used to deal with those challenges.
Instructions
For this assessment, use the Historical Analysis Worksheet [DOCX] to complete the following steps. You will use this worksheet to further examine the sources you’ve collected for your topic (facing economic change or engaging civil rights).
Step 1: Identify questions that need to be answered to understand a historical event and its long-term impact.
Step 2: Describe information learned from historical sources that can be used to inform a current understanding of a historical issue.
Step 3: Explain similarities and differences in sources of historical information.
Step 4: Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of historical evidence, including the challenges of using such evidence to make an argument about a historical issue.
Step 5: Use critical thinking to relate past challenges and strategies to a current organizational issue.
Step 6: Write in a well-organized and concise manner that adheres to the rules of grammar, usage, and mechanics.
Additional Requirements
Your submission should meet the following requirements:
• Written communication: Written communication should be free of errors that detract from the overall message.
• Citations: Include a complete citation for each source. When you refer to evidence (in Step 2 of the worksheet), be sure to include in-text references to your sources. Review Evidence and APA for more information on how to cite your sources.
• Number of references: Your assessment should include a reference page with at least four sources cited: two primary and two secondary sources, with up to two sources selected from the History Presentation Resource List [DOCX].
• Font and font-size: Times New Roman, 12 point.
Competencies Measured
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:
• Competency 2: Determine the causes and long-term impacts of a historical event.
o Identify questions that need to be answered to understand a historical event and its long-term impact.
o Explain similarities and differences in sources of historical information.
• Competency 3: Explain lessons learned from U.S. historical events and their potential influence on a current problem or situation.
o Describe information learned from historical sources that can be used to inform a current understanding of a historical issue.
o Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of historical evidence, including the challenges of using such evidence to make an argument about a historical issue.
o Use critical thinking to relate past challenges and strategies to a current organizational issue.
• Competency 4: Address assessment purpose in a well-organized manner, incorporating appropriate evidence and tone in grammatically sound sentences.
o Write in a well-organized and concise manner that adheres to the rules of grammar, usage, and mechanics.
• SCORING GUIDE
Use the scoring guide to understand how your assessment will be evaluated.
VIEW SCORING GUIDE
Historical Analysis Scoring Guide
CRITERIA NON-PERFORMANCE BASIC PROFICIENT DISTINGUISHED
Identify questions that need to be answered to understand a historical event and its long-term impact. Does not identify questions that need to be answered to understand a historical event and its long-term impact. Identifies one or more questions that need to be answered to understand a historical event and its long-term impact, but questions need further refinement. Identifies questions that need to be answered to understand a historical event and its long-term impact. Identifies clear, specific questions that need to be answered to understand a historical event and its long-term impact.
Describe information learned from historical sources that can be used to inform a current understanding of a historical issue. Does not describe information learned from historical sources that can be used to inform a current understanding of a historical issue. Describes information learned from historical sources that can be used to inform a current understanding of a historical issue, but this information is incomplete. Describes information learned from historical sources that can be used to inform a current understanding of a historical issue. Describes information learned from historical sources that can be used to inform a current understanding of a historical issue, with supporting examples.
Explain similarities and differences in sources of historical information. Does not explain similarities and differences in sources of historical information. Identifies similarities and differences in sources of historical information. Explains similarities and differences in sources of historical information. Explains similarities and differences in sources of historical information, with supporting examples.
Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of historical evidence, including the challenges of using such evidence to make an argument about a historical issue. Does not analyze the strengths and weaknesses of historical evidence. Attempts to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of historical evidence but does not include the challenges of using such evidence to make an argument about a historical issue. Analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of historical evidence, including the challenges of using such evidence to make an argument about a historical issue. Analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of historical evidence, including the challenges of using such evidence to make an argument about a historical issue, using supporting examples and specific details.
Use critical thinking to relate past challenges and strategies to a current organizational issue. Does not use critical thinking to relate past challenges and strategies to a current organizational issue. Uses critical thinking to relate past challenges and strategies to a current organizational issue, but the analysis is incomplete. Uses critical thinking to relate past challenges and strategies to a current organizational issue. Uses critical thinking to relate past challenges and strategies to a current organizational issue, using specific evidence.
Write in a well-organized and concise manner that adheres to the rules of grammar, usage, and mechanics. Does not write in a well-organized and concise manner. Writing is unclear, wordy, or disconnected, with errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics. Writes in a well-organized and concise manner that adheres to the rules of grammar, usage, and mechanics. Organizes content so clarity is enhanced and all ideas flow logically and smoothly. Writes concisely, precisely, and directly, with nearly flawless adherence to the rules of grammar, usage, and mechanics.
Resources: Essential Outcomes
• PRINT
• You are planning a special dinner and want to add the perfect seasonings. But your spice drawer is a jumbled mess. You comb through the jars of spices, getting increasingly more annoyed. Where’s the salt? The cilantro? That container of garlic? Frustrating, right? But if you line up the spices neatly on the counter in front of you, you can suddenly see all your options…and calmly choose the best flavoring for your meal.
That’s what critical thinking is—the ability to step back from a problem, assess what you have to work with, and rationally decide the best way forward toward a solution. It’s a key component of practicing problem solving in this course and beyond. By improving your critical thinking so you can solve problems in the present and future, you’ll take a positive step toward achieving both your personal and professional goals.
Application of Essential Outcomes
One aspect of analyzing historical information is good note-taking. Taking notes effectively helps you organize the information from your sources and make connections, something you will be doing in the Historical Analysis assessment and in your Lessons from History presentation later in the course. The following resource discusses the elements of effective note-taking.
• DeShano, C., & Schroeder, E. (n.d.). Learning to do historical research: A primer the pleasures of note-taking. Learning Historical Research. https://www.williamcronon.net/researching/notetaking.htm
In the following Capella Stories, you’ll learn how decorated Thunderbird pilot Nicole Malachowski used critical thinking to achieve her long-held dream: the conferment of the Congressional Medal of Honor on WWII’s Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP).
• Capella Stories: Bringing the WASP to New Heights.
Have you ever been confronted with two versions of the same story? It can be hard to know which to believe, right? Historians and students of history (like you!) often face the same challenge. In the following Capella Stories, biographer and historian Kate Clifford Larson walks us through important moments in Harriet Tubman’s life and reveals the critical thinking steps she took to determine their historical accuracy. How will these same steps strengthen your problem-solving skill and help you think critically in your own life? Learn how Harriet Tubman’s biographer used the six steps of critical thinking to discover the real story of this fascinating American hero.
• Capella Stories: History and Mystery with Harriet Tubman.
Resources: History of the United States
• PRINT
• For the first three assessments in this course, you will investigate how economic change affects certain populations or the fight for civil rights for a specific group. The following chapters provide multiple examples of economic change and civil rights from 1790 to today. For this assessment, read more about the events for your chosen topic. Watch the film to learn more about the women’s suffrage movement and the struggle to obtain voting rights for women.
• Montoya, M., Belmonte, L. A., Guarneri, C. J., Hackel, S., Hartigan-O’Connor, E., & Kurashige, L. (2018). Global Americans: A history of the United States. Cengage Learning. Available in the courseroom via the VitalSource Bookshelf link.
o Chapter 9, “Markets and Democracy, 1790–1840,” pages 248–277 in your textbook.
o Chapter 12, “Expansion, Slavery, and the Coming of the Civil War, 1848–1861,” pages 340–369.
o Chapter 13, “The American Civil War, 1861–1865,” pages 370–401.
o Chapter 14, “Reunion and Retreat: Reconstruction, 1865–1877,” pages 402–431.
o Chapter 15, “Incorporation of the U.S. West, 1862–1917,” pages 432–461.
o Chapter 16, “The Making of Industrial America, 1877–1917,” pages 462–491.
o Chapter 17, “Politics of Reforms, 1877–1917,” pages 502–519.
o Chapter 19, “Managing Modernity, 1919–1929,” pages 554–585.
o Chapter 20, “Great Depression, New Deal, and Impending War, 1929–1939,” pages 586–617.
o Chapter 21, “The World at War, 1939–1945,” pages 618–649.
o Chapter 22, “The Cold War, 1945–1965,” pages 650–679.
o Chapter 23, “Prosperity and the Cold War Economy, 1945–1965,” pages 680–709.
o Chapter 24, “Civil Rights and Human Rights, 1945-1965,” pages 710-739
o Chapter 25, “The Vietnam War Era, 1965-1975,” pages 740-771.
o Chapter 26, “The Global Conservative Shift, 1975–1988,” pages 772–803.
o Chapter 27, “Closer Together, Further Apart, 1988–2000,” pages 803–837.
o Chapter 28, “Global Americans Today, 2000–2016,” pages 838–868.
• PBS. (2020, July 7). The vote. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/vote/#part01
o Watch this film to learn more about the women’s suffrage movement and the struggle to obtain voting rights for women.