1. Strategies to assess students understanding
HINGE QUESTIONING
Strategies to assess students understanding

2. Hinge questions
Questions that diagnose the depth of a students understanding
Need careful planning
Are ideally used to asses common misconceptions
Can be done at any point during a lesson
Challenging idea that needs careful thinking. Should be used sparingly when really trying to diagnose the depth of understanding. Important that students cannot select the correct answer for the wrong reason. Particularly challenging to use during a lesson as you then have to react to their responses immediately in similar ways perhaps to MCQs.

3. Golden Rules They can be answered in no more than 30 seconds
They are not multi-step as that would make it hard to identify where the misconception lies
You learn something from each incorrect answer
It is not possible to arrive at the correct answer whilst still having key misconceptions

4. What makes a good hinge question?
Which of these was an immediate cause of Hitler becoming Chancellor?
Hyperinflation in Germany
The death of Hindenburg
The Reichstag Fire
The collapse in Schleicher’s authority
Which of these was an immediate cause of Hitler becoming Chancellor?
Nazi violence intimidated many voters and opponents
Schleicher’s authority collapsed
Hindenburg and Von Papen believed they could control Hitler as Chancellor

5. Odd One Out: Industrial Revolution
Factories were significant
A computer was designed
There was lots of pollution and smog which caused poor health
Many kids didn’t live beyond five
There were many coal mines
Trains were invented
There were fewer farms and less open space
London was highly populated due to jobs
Electricity powered the lights
Give reasons for your answer.

6. Industrial Revolution
Factories were significant
A computer was designed
Babbage designed a computer
There was lots of pollution and smog which caused poor health
Many kids didn’t live beyond five
There were many coal mines
Trains were invented
There were fewer farms and less open space
London was highly populated due to jobs
Electricity powered the lights
Only in a handful of places right at the end of the Industrial Revolution – most public lights were gas lamps

7. Hinge questions to test the application of knowledge
Which of these sentences best begins an answer to the question, “How does Shakespeare present Lady Macbeth’s relationship with Macbeth in this scene?”
Lady Macbeth sees Macbeth as cowardly and tells him what to do.
Shakespeare shows that Lady Macbeth is in charge; for example, she tells Macbeth to “Give me the daggers.”
Lady Macbeth is shown as dominating Macbeth and acting decisively for them both.

8. Supernatural and religious explanations of the causes of disease
Which of there sentences best summarises the influence of church on medicine:
The medieval church was very powerful. Ordinary people received most of their teaching from the church
The church owned large amounts of land in England. The land was used to build churches, monasteries and convents
The church used religion to answer the questions people had about illness and disease. The church blamed peoples sins for their illnesses
The church emphasised the importance of God. People learned God controlled every aspect of the world.

9. Supernatural and religious explanations of the causes of disease
Which of there sentences best summarises influence of church on medicine:
The medieval church was very powerful. Ordinary people received most of their teaching from the church
The church owned large amounts of land in England. The land was used to build churches, monasteries and convents
The church used religion to answer the questions people had about illness and disease. The church blamed peoples sins for their illnesses
The church emphasised the importance of God. People learned God controlled every aspect of the world.

10. The two boxes below explain one reason why changes in landownership made resistance to the Normans less likely after Which is the better answer?
8/9: Write a paragraph for the second bullet point.
Changes in landownership made resistance to Norman control less likely after 1071 because the tenant’s in chief had a great deal of power. A tenant in chief were the large landholders of Norman England who held their land directly from the king. There were 190 tenants in chief. They could take land off the thegns. This meant that the tenants could reward their followers making them more powerful and increase their control.
Changes in landownership made resistance to Norman control less likely after 1071 because the tenant’s in chief had a great deal of power. The tenant in chief could reallocate land when a thegn died. Moreover, they could dispossess thegns who acted against them or failed to fulfil their obligations. This was significant as the tenant in chief also had their own followers to reward, therefore, they could make their followers ‘heirs’ to the land resulting in increased control of their area.

11. Summary Use Hinge questions at any point in the lesson
Plan carefully – a hinge question is an analytical tool to assess understanding and identify misconceptions, not test specific knowledge
Can be used as an effective strategy to model examination answers