This work presents the results of research whose main objective was to analyze the sources present in Geography and History textbooks used in Spain and Italy in secondary education, as well as how they were designed for use by the teaching staff of this subject. This research was carried out for the benefit of teachers and for the improvement of the teaching-learning process. The sample was configured on the basis of a rigorous analysis of textbooks belonging to relevant publishers in Spain and Italy, whose selection was made using a quantitative and descriptive research method based on the interpretative paradigm, with the help of an SPSS statistical program. As for the main results obtained, the data indicated that the tasks requested from students (based on the use or analysis of sources) are of a low cognitive level, which makes it difficult to learn critical and reflective historical thinking. Finally, it was concluded that for students to strengthen the development and acquisition of critical thinking, the use of textbooks must be integrated with other, more active resources and more participatory teaching strategies, putting both competency-based teaching and its assessment in quarantine.

The purpose of this work is to find out the students’ perception of the level of development of competences in the area of Social Sciences, Geography, and History. It has been developed taking into account what has been learned in the area, the level of difficulty for its acquisition, the assessment tools, and the transfer to a real situation. The development of a scale—original and unprecedented—called Evaluation of the Perception of Competences from the Social Sciences (EPECOSICO) has allowed, through a descriptive and quantitative study of validation of the instrument with an intentional sampling, to know the opinion of more than 1400 students of 4th year of secondary education (Spain). The instrument used presents good psychometric attributes, emphasizing the balanced characterization, considering that the number of students is similar (51%, 49%), the confidentiality and the validity. Finally, a KMO higher than 0.9 indicates high reliability in the consistency of the instrument used.

The aim of this work is to find out the perception that students in 4th year compulsory secondary education have of the teaching of key competences, as well as the possibility these have of being transferred to a real, everyday situation, according to what they have learned in the subject of Geography and History. For this, an intentional sample was configured in which more than 1400 subjects from 4th year of secondary education (in Spain) have participated, with a level of significance of 0.05 using a scale—original and unpublished—called (EPECOCISO—Evaluation of the Perception of Social Science Competences). It is a quantitative descriptive study in which—through an exploratory factorial analysis—factors 1, 2, and 3 have been selected for the realization of a descriptive study. Subsequently, correlation between factors has been established through the Pearson test and between the different variables that make up each one of them with the socio-demographic variables (distinguishing between ordinal and nominal variables), through the chi-square independence test and Cramer’s V test (nominal) and the linearity test and Goodman’s and Kruskal’s Gamma test (ordinal). Finally, it can be concluded that a methodology based and organized around the development of critical thinking facilitates the acquisition of contents and competences, as well as allowing students to detect the possibility of transferring them and putting them into practice in a real situation that can be presented.

The aim of this paper is to identify the most suitable activities and exercises for the development of historical knowledge and skills and their subsequent evaluation. On this basis, a quantitative study has been carried out among primary and secondary school teachers in several Spanish regions in which their perception of what types of exercises and activities (of those proposed in their History or Social Science classes) are most suitable for assessing the historical knowledge and skills that students are expected to acquire has been extracted. The results show that exercises involving the interpretation of texts and images which require students to think about and apply the historical knowledge acquired are very useful, as are questions which seek historical explanation and causal reasoning; however, objective tests (multiple-choice tests, linking dates with events, etc.) or short questions about historical events or characters are not considered to be very suitable for the adequate development of historical knowledge and, therefore, of historical competences. Broadly speaking, it is recommended that this line of research be continued so that other authors can replicate these findings, deepening their knowledge of these instruments, whose didactic commitment could serve as an argument in the face of the excessive time pressure faced by today’s teachers.

The aim of this study is to find out the relevance of the competences worked on in the area of social science, specifically in the subjects of geography and history, through the perceptions of pupils in the 4th year of compulsory secondary education (ESO). In order to carry out the survey, a purposive sampling was carried out in which more than 1400 4th year ESO students (in Spain) participated. In addition, using a Likert-type scale of our own creation called Evaluation of the Perception of Social Science Competences (EPECOCISO) and following a design of quantitative methodology, an exploratory factor analysis was carried out with the analysis software SPSS through the descriptive process, which allowed us to select the three factors that make up the study. Subsequently, correlations were established between factors through Pearson’s test, and between the different variables that make up each one of them with the socio-demographic variables (distinguishing between ordinal and nominal variables) through the chi-square test of independence and Cramer’s V test (nominal), as well as the linearity test, Goodman’s gamma test, and the Kruskal (ordinal) test. Finally, one of the most important conclusions of this study is that the difficulties encountered by students in the acquisition of competences is conditioned by the development of the assessment processes that are carried out.

Middle school students’ perception of the assessment of the history courses they take allows us to analyze the relationship between the way history is taught and competent learning that develops historical thinking. This quantitative exploratory study presents the results of a survey conducted among 1,117 students in the 3rd and 4th levels of Obligatory Secondary Education in the Region of Murcia (Spain), who expressed their opinion of the instruments and criteria of evaluation by responding to a questionnaire. The results showed the need to change the cognitive model used for teaching history and to find a form of assessment that will promote and evaluate historical thinking, since the current approach consists basically of memorizing facts and answering repetitive questions, instead of learning how to identify the significance of historical events, explain their causes and consequences, and form reasoned judgments about the past independently.