Mini-Essay in the Tasks of State Unified Exam (SUE) in Social Studies: Concept and the Problem of Criteria
The aim of the article is to trace the evolution of requirements for one of the most difficult tasks of the Unified State Exam (USE) in Social Studies - the mini-essay, show the influence of an approach to it as a creative task on the possibility of formalizing its criteria. Methods. Content analysis of proceedings from the Federal Institute for Pedagogical Measurements (FIPM) related to the USE in Social Studies. Result. There is a contradiction between the understanding of a mini-essay of USE in Social Studies as a creative task and the need to technologize the procedure for its assessment. The lack of proper unification of the procedure for evaluating a mini-essay can be overcome by conceptualizing it as an argument essay. Conclusion. The genre of argument essay is more consistent with the skills and methods of action being tested, which are provided for task 29 in the Specification of Control Measuring Proceedings of the USE in Social Studies. An argument essay by its genre assumes a certain order of actions and allows formulating criteria that can be operationalized, which makes it possible to unify and simplify the procedure for evaluating a given task.