This document provides an overview of guided inquiry stages, potential instructional interventions, and evidence/assessment strategies for a history assignment. It summarizes each stage of inquiry for students researching topics in modern history. At each stage, it outlines lessons, activities, and interventions to support students' research processes. Formative and summative assessments are noted, including reflection sheets, notetaking grids, and the final essay. The document reflects on what worked well and challenges at different points, and strategies for improvement.

1. Guided Potential Instructional Interventions Evidence Strategies / How did it go?
Inquiry (Including IT ) Assessment (Formative / What did we have to change?
Stage Summative; informal, formal) What interventions did we do?
INITIATION Introduction: Before Term 1 Holidays This was brief, and deliberately
Introduction to task – Chris and Lee brief overview of task – the not in detail. Meant to inspire
essence of it – Choose an area of debate in Modern History. Some them, without frightening them.
guidance in which areas, and which topics have worked in the Went well.
past. Chris shows Powerpoint, Lee gives out overview searching
help. Students to go think for the holidays.
Lesson 1/2/3 May 5, 6 and 7 Introductory lesson May 5:
In depth introduction to task, via the wiki, critical dates - Chris Informal discussions – general Talked about process and wiki, got students joined up.
Learning outcomes – Chris. and individual Showed wrong version of The Research River.
The Research River - Lee Student learning log. Did not get across strongly enough the different kinds of searching.
Wiki introduction – Lee –
Download the bits of it – Save rather than open. May 6: Absent, colleague’s funeral
Show critical dates.
Make sure they understand that the process is marked as well. May 7:
Show them that they all have an individual page, that it is private. Summative – first item of process Show them different kinds of searching, from Resource list.
Show them the other bits – not all of it as might be overwhelming. – Choosing the topic that Get them to join up State Library and Questia.
Introductory searching – Lee and Chris – have a copy of interests you. www.questia.com/qac.do - come to me one by one and I’ll join you up.
introductory sources, as well as the books (add in the new ones) Go to http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/system/forms/selfreg.html and register
DO NOT GO TOO DEEP YET!!!!!! for a State Library card.
Demonstrate with Choosing the topic that interests you, how to Informal discussion Show them how last year, students did a learning log each day – we
upload to the wiki. Formative comments on the wiki. might just do it once a week – each Friday.
Rest of lessons, Chis and Lee circulate and talk to students about This class didn’t work because of school photos – will re run next
their developing topics. week.
Students fill in the first learning log on the wiki. Chris and I discussed the fact that students are finding it difficult to
Friday May 6, submit Choosing the topic that interests you. choose an area of investigation because they don’t have a sense of
the scope of modern history, or the nature of history. Will design over
Lesson 5/6/7/8: May 9, 11, 12, 13: All in library computers, the weekend an overview tool, using Chris’
except for May 12, C8. Geography/Time/Person/Group/Event/Issue and History Study Centre
Choosing a way to take notes, out of a Word notetaking grid, or overview of study units to illustrate.
choosing Noodlebib. Demonstrate how to use Noodlebib – Lee
Important housekeeping: Summative – second item of May 9: Lesson went well – all joined State library, and all now
Subscribe to Questia process – Reflection sheet 1. subscribed to Questia. Have not yet introduced notetaking, as they are
Fill out the page on State Library taking long time with their choosing of topic. Intervention of showing
http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/system/forms/selfreg.html them how to track down a topic, using Chris’ tool, went well.
to get a library card, so they can use the databases when it is Two issues: Choosing of topics that don’t have any debate, and
needed (soon). choosing topics that overlap or take over completely another subject
Why it is important to keep details of quotes and summaries, for area – i.e. are not historical. How to deal with this?
future footnoting requirements – Lee Am seeing with this stage, where they’re still choosing between a few
Introductory searching – Don’t go deep now, or you’ll drown in the topics how hard that is, how little they know, how not having an
river – Lee. overview knowledge of modern history is so difficult. They either
Important task to do this week: Get them all subscribed to Questia choose unwittingly very complex topics, or topics with no argument. It

2. and to the State Library databases. is the lack of background knowledge that makes this choice so hard.
Chris and Lee to circulate, talking to students about their topics. Will teach notetaking later in week.
Students fill in learning log on wiki, begin some overview May 11: Give them user names and pws for Questia. Individual help in
searching. this lesson. Too early for notetaking.
Lee/Chris to have a look on the wiki between lessons and get a list May 12: Notetaking and Noodlebib – This lesson went very well.
of topics, give some initial feedback via the individual student Students choosing between using Word document and Noodlebib.
pages. Kate Chiswell will have a play with Noodlebib over weekend and feed
Friday May 13: Submit Reflection sheet 1 back to group. Feedback from Ross about the nature of Historical
Chris interventions on topic level – Lee and Chris to talk to each Inquiry in articles by Carol Gordon on synergy. Excellent re nature of
other about the topics chosen and their feasibility. historical investigation.
May 13: Good lesson today – topics firming – there are two or so
students doing nothing.
SELECTION/ Lesson 9/10/11/12: May 17, 18, 19, 20: All in library computers, . May 17: Prior to this lesson a close look at the wiki revealed that many
EXPLORATI except for May 17, C8. are not following the process steps. Today, need to make them clear,
ON Searching deeper for relevant information: Lee just run through quickly:
• Google The dates of submission of reflection sheets
• Library catalogue The notetaking grid and the bibliography grid.
Not that happy with their progress. What is it?
Helping students on individual basis with notetaking techniques in
their chosen format – Lee. May 18: Double period today – kids worked very well. Nearly all now
Helping students on individual basis with their topics – Chris have a topic area, and are beginning to get an idea of a focus. We
Chris and Lee to read and provide feedback via the comment spoke to them succinctly about how process counts, how to access
facility on each student’s page – Lee on their research needs, State Library databases, and Mr. T interviewed each student. This was
Chris on the topics. very useful, and he shared it with me afterwards.
If there are enough similar difficulties, Chris and Lee to provide
feedback on the Tidy/Fitz Help page. May 19: Single period. Good work, kids very focused now. Freaking a
Friday May 20: Students to submit Notetaking grid 1. Formative comments on the wiki, bit about the notetaking. Some using Noodblebib. About two. It is not
Emphasise that the notetaking grid is a work in progress, and will and in discussions. that hard to use, I think, but it is just too much on top of the GI process.
be one document only that is edited and refined throughout the Summative – third item of
process. process – First notetaking grid. Next week, late – teach them how to footnote, and do peer evaluation.
Lee to begin to track the process marks.
Students to complete learning log
FORMULATI Lesson 13/14/15: May 23, 25, 26: All in library computers, May 23 – ok sort of class
ON except May 25, C8 May 25: good class – kids getting on well. Feeling inundated with the
Deep searching for pertinent information – Lee Formative – continuing feedback amount of work involved in responding to all. It took me nearly all day
• Online databases – Questia, History Study Centre and State using comment function and to respond to Reflection sheet 2 and notetaking grid. Think I need to
Library NSW. discussion. do a better job at teaching them to search the databases, as they are
• Deep research on topic of choice just not finding the good stuff on Questia, History Study Centre, History
Concentrated notetaking, and editing of notes. Reference Centre and on State library databases. On the whole,
Formal intervention: Developing an enquiry question – Chris they’re doing very well now, with some exceptions. I’ve made sure I’ve
and Lee told Mr. T about all the strugglers. The problem is the amount of time it
Identifying the area of debate, and moving from that to an enquiry takes, and the even less time the class teacher has. His interviews are
question. Summative – third element of very valuable to the kids. I’m starting to sit in on them, as it helps to
Individual research and completion of learning log. process – Reflection sheet 2 have the resourcing point of view as well.
On Thursday May 26, submit Reflection sheet 2.

3. It worked well interviewing the kids with difficulties. The difficulties
focus on:
• Topic being too broad: e.g. Jessica C and Michael Collins and
IRA; Kate O and Easter Uprising and effect – need to narrow.
Georgia S doing too much with Mussolini and Hitler. Needs to drop
one of them.
• Difficulty identifying area of debate:
Melissa F and Sun Yat Sen
Amelia H and Causes of Civil War.
• Kids changing course and choosing entirely new topic
Adrienne C wanted to change, but we persuaded her not to.
Emily M moving from Coco Chanel to Fall of Berlin Wall. We helped
her with some resources from last year’s Faith Richa essay.
• Kids not doing much work:
Kate S and Lindy Chamberlain
Samantha T – Wikipedia resources
Sally H – Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Maddie J and Munich Olympics – she has lost the plot – just not doing
the process steps at all – not much work of any kind.
Emma L – Black Panther Party – she is v bright, but unless she is
stashing away notes somewhere else she needs to get a wriggle on.
Note to self: Noodlebib needs to be introduced only to those who
express interest in it.
They still need to get a paper copy of the assignment, or else they
don’t take the dates seriously.
COLLECTIO Lesson 16/17/18/19: May 31, June 1, June 2 and June 3: All in Formative – continuing feedback This week was full on –
N library computers, except June 1, C8 and June 2, Library using comment function and There was no time for a proper peer reflection session, and the one
research. (Check this) discussion. they did earlier was not much good. Sprung on them, they didn’t get
Peer evaluation and consequent self reflection enougn time. Did not take seriously.
Using footnotes – Lee
Final comments on bibliographies - Lee Taught footnotes fairly badly, as was tired!
Structuring an outline for an essay – Chris Did it again the next day
Reformulating enquiry question in the light of new information
– Chris Tiredness is a factor in these long term inquiries, as it takes so much
Individual interventions on topic and resources – Chris and Lee time, and other things (esp for teachers) intervene. It is reporting time
Individual research, notetaking, consolidating, editing, getting at school and Mr. T is overloaded. I’m overloaded too because the
notetaking grid into its final form. Ancient Historical Investigation preparation had taken a long time, and
Choosing quotes to use, necessity of also citing summaries, I’m busy too with doing the All My Own Work stuff with classes. And
common knowledge exception – Lee marking CSU papers.
Reading and suggesting improvements on drafts – Chris
Final comments on process, on the wiki – Lee

4. On Friday June 3, submit Reflection sheet 3 Summative – fourth element of
process – Reflection sheet 3.
PRESENTAT Lesson 20/21/22/23: June 6, June 8, June 9 and June 10: All in This week Mr. T and I had interviews with the kids one by one to
ION/ library computers. finalise their questions, and offer support for footnoting, finding quotes
ASSESSME Finalising research and writing of essay Summative – etc. I’ve found Mr. T’s expertise is very crucial at this stage, with his
NT Friday June 10: Submit essay and final notetaking grid. Peer evaluation, self reflection, subject knowledge, and that perhaps at this stage of the task, I would
Copy of essay to Mr. Tidyman, as well as to the wiki. Final elements of process – final be better occupied going from kid to kid on my own, helping with their
In class: Reflection sheet 4 to the wiki notetaking grid, reflection sheet 4 referencing etc.
And evaluation of the assignment Essay – double marking – Chris
and Lee. They are writing their essays now, and have a range of questions of
Feedback on essay and on wiki. great interest to each of them.
• The factors in the defeat of the Arabs in The Six Day War – Olivia
B
• Who killed Lumumba? Kate Ch*
• How far is too far in the name of independence? Discuss in
relation to Michael Collin’s involvement in the IRA – Jessica C
• 'To what extent does the Treaty of Nanjing illuminate the real
reasons of the first Opium War (1839-1842)' Phoebe C*
• "[I]f He Be A Colured Man . . . He Is Not Lawfully Entitled To The
Reputation Of Being A White Man."- Original Constitution Of
America (1843) With reference to this statement, asses the Juries
role in the OJ Simpson criminal case. Adrienne C
• A comparison of Malcolm X and MLK’s methods in civil rights
movement. Jess D
• Jim Jones: Spiritual visionary or simple murderer? Amelia D
• Assess the role of Sun Yat Sen in the 1911 revolution – Melissa F*
• Was Napoleon solely responsible for the failure of the Russian
Campaign? Antonia F*
• To what extent was Wallis Simpson the only cause for the
abdication of Edward VIII? Evelyn F*
• Evaluate the reaons America dropped the atomic bomb on
Hiroshima/Nagasaki. Sally H
• To what extent is slavery the sole cause for the American Civil
War – Amelia H
• Munich Olympics – Maddie J – don’t think we have her question.
• Assess the role of the BPP in the civil rights movement – Emma L
• Critically analyse and assess the reasons behind the treatment of
Australian’s Vietnamese Veterans upon arrival home after the
Vietnam War of 1962-1975 - Charlotte L

5. • Assess the role of Blood Diamonds in causing conflict in Sierra
Leone between the years 1991 to 2002. Jane M
• Was the decision to unify Germany a good one? Emily M
• The role of the 1916 Easter Uprising in the establishment of the
he establishme
Irish Free State. Kate O *
• Falklands – Thatcher’s role. Georgina P – not quite sure of
question. – don’t think she’s done very much.
• Rwandan genocide – The rest of the world let Rwanda down –
which nation has the greatest blame? Something like that. Libby
S*
• Lindy Chamberlain and media - Kate S not good at process. Will
essay be affected?
• “I am finished. My star has fallen… I do not feel any more an actor.
I feel am last of the spectators.” Mussolini. Assess the accuracy of
Asse
Mussolini’s self-analysis with reference to his policies, domestic
analysis
and foreign, and determine if he was really an “actor” or a
“spectator”. Georgie S. Don’t think she’s done much.
• Evaluate the influence of HIV/AIDS on the Gay Rights Movement
Mov
Sam T – expecting this one to be good. *
On Friday they will submit their essays, do the reflection and submit all
parts to the wiki, and Jenny and Sue are going to film Mr. T, And a
,
range of students to get them talking about their experience – Kate O,
Adrienne C, Kate Chiswell and Amelia D. These students chosen
because we had one who hated it at first, one who wanted to change
her topic late on, one who is very academic, and one who stuck to her
topic against our advice, and did well with it.
The wiki was not as straightforward as usual this time, and I nearly
went crazy with documents not opening directly, but going through a
two step process slowly then sometimes not working at all. PBWorks
could not fix it.
GUIDED INQUIRY AT WORKWORK:
Year 11 Modern Historical Investigation
Teacher planning document
Loreto KIrribilli
What declarative knowledge are we seeking to develop in students?
Stages of Information 1. Initiation 2. Selection 3. Exploration Learning outcomes
Search Process Task introduced You choose your area of You seek a broad P2.1 Identify historical factors and explain their significance in contributing
interest understanding of to change and continuity.
the topic.
P3.4 Identify and account for differing perspectives and interpretations of
the past.

6. Feelings Uncertainty Optimism Confusion P3.5 Plan and presents the findings of historical investigations, analyzing
(Affective) Frustration and synthesizing information from different types of sources
Doubt P4.2 Communicates a knowledge and understanding of historical features
THE DIP!
and issues using appropriate and well structured written forms..
forms.
Thoughts Vague Vague Confused
(Cognitive) What skills and competencies do we want students to develop?
Actions Seeking relevant information
Awareness of Information Search Process as framework for research in any
(Physical) context.
Exploring Initation/exploration: Understanding components of the task, and the workings of
:
the wiki, which will contain its process.
Exploration: Searching for/listening to/viewing broad information, using
encyclopedic sources. Choosing the best topic and sticking with it.
Selection: Searching broadly for relevant information, using Google, books and
:
Stages of 4. Formulation 5. Collection 6. Presentation 7. Assessment other sources synthesizing growing understanding in Reflection Sheet 1
Information You develop your You collect in depth You synthesise your Teacher/peer/ self. Formulation: Formulating an area of debate within that topic and developing own
Search line of enquiry and information and information and plan enquiry question, synthesizing this into Reflection Sheet 2. Beginning to
n,
Process area of debate take notes essay
notetake, using Noodlebib or Word notetaking grid. Keeping bibliographic
information.
Collection: Deeper searching for pertinent information, using online databases
Feelings Clarity Sense of direction / Satisfaction or Sense of and specific books. Continuing to use Noodlebib or Word notetaking grid.
o
(Affective) Confidence Disappointment accomplishment
Keeping bibliographic information and quotes. Synthesing into an outline for the
essay in Reflection Sheet 3.
Thoughts Focused Increased interest Increased interest Increased self- Presentation: Writing the essay
(Cognitive) awareness Assessment: Peer/self and teacher. Peer evaluation session. Throughout t the
process, teacher and teacher librarian carry out continuing assessment for
Actions pertinent learning via the comment function of the wiki, as well as in person, then
Seeking information
(Physical) assessment of learning in double marking the essays. Self reflection in
Documenting
Reflection Sheet 4.
Student Expectations / Task / Outcomes
Outcomes listed above.
Students gain overview understanding of an area of history, identify an
area of debate, formulate an enquiry question, and answer it in an essay.
Student will skim several areas of interest to them in Modern History, then
Key Learning Area / Specifics / Years or Phases of choose one which appeals the most and is most accessible, identify an area of
t
debate within this topic, then formulate an enquiry question. They will learn
Learning strategies of searching appropriate to the stage of the Information Search
process, namely:
• At Initiation and Selection: Encyclopedia and topic over
overview sources
• At Exploration and Formulation: Broad general sources, such as those
Modern History available through Google, and books, seeking relevant information.
• At Collection: Searching online databases and specific books and journal

7. articles, seeking pertinent information.
While they are collecting their information, they will learn notetaking/synthesing
Historical Investigation techniques using Noodlebib or a Word notetaking scaffold. They will learn why
they need to keep track of quotes and summaries as they go, as well as creating
bibliographies and adding footnotes.
Guided Inquiry During the process of the task, they will submit four reflection sheets, which
essentially ask them to synthesise their growing understanding of the topic, as
well as giving feedback to teacher and teacher librarian of any difficulties
encountered. This is the mechanism (apart from discussion) for students to
receive feedback from teacher and teacher librarian via the comment function on
the wiki. If difficulties encountered are similar in many student reflection sheets,
this is a reason for a whole class intervention from teacher/teacher librarian.
Students will have opportunity to create an outline and write drafts of their final
essay, with comments from teacher and/or teacher librarian. The essay has a
word limit of 1500 words and must include a bibliography as well as footnotes.
The final essay will be double marked by teacher and teacher-librarian.
There are 25 marks for the essay, and 10 for the process.
Expected difficulties:
• Choosing a topic
• Choosing an area of debate
• Formulating an enquiry question
• Getting into information overload early on in the process. It is very
important to get as simple an overview grasp of the topic as possible.
• Encountering difficult and conflicting information
• Having uneven information for two sides of a debate
• Notetaking
• Footnoting
• Synthesising into essay.