Ancient History
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View the general glossary of assessment terms that apply to all HSC subjects.
Glossary for Ancient History stage 6 syllabus
©Board of Studies NSW (1999), Stage 6 syllabus Ancient History.
The glossary is designed to assist teachers in interpreting the
syllabus and to aid student learning.
| areas of study | define the specific aspects to be studied within each topic, eg significant political events, developments and issues; military events and issues. |
| chronology | the arrangement of events and dates according to their occurrence in a linear sequence of time. |
| content | the substance or subject matter to be studied by students in Stage 6 Ancient History, eg 'Overview of significant events from Dynasty I to the death of Pepy II'. Knowledge and understanding, skills and values and attitudes are to be integrated into the syllabus content. |
| core study | the compulsory study undertaken by all students in Stage 6, by which Higher School Certificate performance scales are measured. In the case of Ancient History, Part 1, Personalities in their Times, has been designated as the Core Study. |
| empathy | an understanding of events, beliefs, values and attitudes from the perspective of others. |
| evidence | the information that tends to prove or disprove a conclusion. It can be used to establish the fact or point in question. |
| historiography | the study of how history is constructed. It involves the critical analysis and evaluation of the reliability of evidence, as well as the way history has been written in the past. |
| interpretation | a way of understanding and explaining what has happened in the past. The discipline of History acknowledges that there is often more than one view of what has happened in the past. |
| perspective | a point of view or standpoint from which historical events, problems and issues can be analysed, eg a gender perspective (either masculine or feminine) on the past. |
| principal focus | a broad description of the subject matter to be studied in Stage 6 Ancient History, eg' Through a study of an Ancient Personality, students will gain an understanding of the personality in the context of their time'. |
| primary source | anything archaeological or written which comes from the same time as the person or event being studied. If it is an artefact, it is an object that was made or constructed in the period being studied. If it is a written source, it is something that was written or reported by a person in the time being studied. |
| source | anything that has survived from the past. It can be either written or archaeological. The source is the raw material that the historian uses to ask questions of the past. A source should not be confused with' evidence' (see above); it does not become evidence until it is used. |
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