The aim of this activity is to deepen your understanding of an issue from Unit 1. It will also provide you with an opportunity to practice the skill of providing constructive feedback to a peer.
You will choose a question from a list and create a short video presentation answering your chosen question. This is an opportunity for you to be creative and to use visual aids in order to help you answer an historical question.
You will receive feedback on the presentation from your peers on the module. This affords you the chance to learn from each other and to familiarise yourselves with the criteria against which your assessments are marked over the duration of the course. Improving your understanding of the marking process can aid you in producing future assignments, and in thinking constructively about ways to improve your own work.
The task
Research and create your presentation
Select one of the questions below, which relate to the content of the first unit of the module.
Questions
- Can the concept of a ‘western way of warfare’ assist us in interpreting the history of conflict?
- Assess the idea of a ‘global’ approach to conflict history.
- Appraise the utility of the ‘revolution in warfare’ thesis.
- Assess the extent to which military historical debates have evolved since the end of the Second World War?
- To what extent does technology determine how war is fought?
- Assess whether the history of warfare is written in Eurocentric terms.
Additional readings to support your research can be found in the Unit 1 section of the Reading list, which can be accessed from the Module resources block.
After researching your response, prepare and record a video presentation of no more than five-minutes duration. You can present this as a piece to camera, or use a screencasting service such as Camtasia/PowerPoint to talk over a presentation if you wish.
Complete the peer review
You will receive feedback on your video presentation from your peers. Interaction with peers is a key means through which learning occurs in all contexts. Our aim in formalising it here is twofold:
- To encourage you to apply and better understand the criteria through which your own work will be assessed.
- To enable students to share ideas and approaches with one another in a structured and systematic fashion.
You will be divided into groups. Within your group, agree who will to provide peer feedback to each group member. It is important that everyone gets the opportunity to give and receive feedback so it should be evenly distributed so each member will review one student’s presentation and have their presentation reviewed a different student in the group. Please note that you may be reviewing the same or a different question from which you based your presentation.
It is recommended that you create a thread on the ‘Formative assessment: submission and peer review’ forum to coordinate the allocation of peer review within your group.
Each group member will upload their presentation using a discussion thread with their name in the title. They should advise their allocated reviewer when their presentation is uploaded and ready for review. Note: your module tutor must be able to view both the presentation and peer feedback.
Undertake the review of your allocated group member's presentation. When creating your feedback, please use the ‘Formal assessment (video presentation) marking criteria’ (link below). These contain detailed descriptions of various levels of performance, and you can use these to assist you in framing your comments. When writing the feedback, please present it using the format below. There is no need to assign a grade, but try to be fulsome and to provide suggestions for how to improve future performance. Share your feedback with your allocated peer (and module tutor) by pasting your review into the original discussion forum thread created by the presenter. reading list: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/kcl/reader.action?docID=4642994&ppg=6
https://warontherocks.com/2018/02/historians-policymaking-new-chorus-singing-old-ballad/ https://defenceindepth.co/2014/09/30/the-instrumentalisation-of-history/