The Independent Study is the beginning of a long and exciting inquiry process and one which underpins the whole philosophy of this class.

 

BACKGROUND – Along with all other regular classroom work expectations, all boys in 7/8T will undertake an in-depth study of one topic of their choice.  This will be a year-long project.  The aim is for each boy to become an expert in a field of personal interest.  All boys will choose their topic after working through a ‘Topic Selection Matrix’.  Some will need more guidance to ensure that their topic is relevant given the timeframe, is able to spark their imagination, will allow them to access a range of resources, and is one which encourages the boys to develop an engaging and thought-provoking ‘product’.  By following a clear process the boys will be encouraged to avoid what I call the ‘dumptruck’ approach to research and projects.  There is no point in asking the boys to find out as much about a thing, person, place etc and to report back what they find.  There will still be plenty of time for collecting information. The difference will be that the collecting will take place with a purpose.  My intention is to highlight research skills and practices which are likely to become habit and contribute to the development of some sort of insight.  They will need to be open-minded, curious and focus on answering the questions that they have.

 

PROCESS – I will ask the boys to follow a research model developed by Jamie McKenzie, an Internationally renowned Information Literacy specialist, whose passion is effective questioning and research for school children.  His model is very similar to many used in schools and universities.  Its essential difference lies in its emphasis on quality questioning early in the process.  I have also made some adjustments to suit this class.  Here is the process for 7/8T: 

 

1.  Selection – By creating a ‘Topic Selection Matrix’, each pupil will settle on a field of interest and identify a focus.  It is broken down into Category-Topic-Focus and clear criteria is used to settle on one topic.

 

2.  Peer questioning – All pupils will become aware of each other’s fields of interest to enable boys to keep ‘ears to the ground’ for relevant information, anticipate regular updates by the class expert and develop a growing list of key questions for each pupil to possibly have answered in the fourth term.

 

3.  Questioning – The most important stage.  Each boy will begin a list using a software package called ‘Inspiration’ (or any other which does the same thing) which will allow the creation of a framework of key questions( The Big So What?, Essential, Subsidiary, Telling) so that only pertinent information is collected and stored.  A lot of time and energy is spent teaching the value of and technicalities of effective questions.

 

4.  Activity List – Every boy will, with assistance, use Solo’s Taxonomy to determine exactly what activities they will pursue during the course of the year.  The idea is to provide a challenging and thought-provoking set of tasks which will form the basis of their booklet, presentation and prepared speech.

 

5. Storage –  Each boy will be asked to design an info storage and retrieval system to aid sorting/sifting/interpreting after collecting a decent-sized collection of articles, pictures, quotes, passages, letters, surveys, statistics, links etc. 

 

6. Prospecting – Boys will be asked to survey the information landscape and identify reliable, relevant sources, whether it is people, organisations, companies, books, magazines, periodicals, blogs or websites.  Some time is spent creating 'news aggregators' to provide up to date, accurate and relevant material.

 

7.  Monitoring – All boys will be asked to keep their ear to the ground and concentrate on updating sources as new ones emerge and old ones are deemed unsuitable.

 

8.  Responding to inquiries – All boys will be encouraged to seek some sort of insight into the other topics generated in the classroom and demonstrate expertise by responding to questions from their peers as the year progresses.

 

9. Creating a product – Each boy will be asked to devise a number of activities which follow Solo’s Taxonomy of thinking.  They will be encouraged to choose what suits their topic best.  They may choose questionnaires, surveys, scientific experiments, readings, emails, interviews, editorials, models, tables, diagrams, a visit to a ‘place’, use DeBono’s six thinking hats or letters as their means to getting what they want.  Options will be discussed in detail as a class.

 

10.  Producing a product – All boys will be asked to share their insight by developing a 'product'.  There will be a written, electronic and oral component  – a booklet, an electronic presentation (Google Slides, Powerpoint or similar), possibly a web page, and a prepared talk to go with that.  Specific and explicit criteria will be made available to the boys and made available online later on in the year.   As a class we will be discussing time and task management.  This will be critical for the mental health of all concerned.

 

 

2013 topics: Albert Einstein, The Ancient Celts, Sir Don Bradman, The Dambusters, Le Tour de France, The fall of the Aztec Empire, The Clans of Scotland, GPS, Wind Power, World Trade Centre, Nuclear Power, The Supermarine Spitfire, Herge, The Violin, Hunting in NZ, Antibiotics, The Viking Conquest, NZ Trucks, Rise of the Roman Empire, Captain Cook, The Story of Money, Photography, The Titanic, Drugs in Sport

 

2012 topics: Man on the Moon, Leonardo da Vinci, Farming Technology, Tuataras, Amazonia, Caspian Oil, Star Constellations, Robotics, Sir Ernest Rutherford, Meteorology, Commercial Airlines, Cheese, Genghis Khan, Mao Zedong, The Ancient Maya, Easter Island, Ancient Greek Warfare, The Cold War, The Tudors, The Jet Engine, Peter Snell, M16, Napoleon Bonaparte, The Disney Corporation

 

2011 topics: The Conquistadors, Sir Winston Churcill, Apple Inc., Chimpanzees, Castles, Alexander the Great, The French Resistance, Pearl Harbour, The History of Banking, The Manhatten Project, The Galapagos Islands, Human Evolution, Buddhism, The Battle of Trafalgar, Jacques Cousteau, The All Blacks, Gold, Cartography, Sir Ernest Shackleton, The Wahine, Ornithology, African Slavery, The Roman Empire, Nelson Mandela

 

2010 topics:  Cloning, The Brain, The US Civil War, GM Food, Charles Darwin, The Heart, Surf Life Saving, Toy Making, Animation, Flight, The Space Race, Seismology, Medical Milestones, NASA, Maritime Piracy, The Treaty of Waitangi, The Large Hadron Collider, Nikola Tesla, The Computer, The Panama Canal, The London Blitz, Coffee, The Seven Ancient Wonders of the World, Entrepreneurs, Artificial Intelligence

 

2009 topics:  Albert Einstein, D-Day, J.R.R. Tolkien, The Nile river, Mao Tse Tung, Henry Ford, Recycling, Wind Power, The Cold War, The Sahara Desert, The NZ Stock Exchange, Solar Power, Forensic Science, The Berlin Wall, The Nazis, Elvis Presley, Tutankhamen, Titanic, Arab/Israeli conflict, US demand for oil(conflict and control), Gandhi, City of London, US Civil rights movement, Iraq

 

2008 topics:  The French revolution, The Birth of the U.S., The History of Eastbourne, Polar Bears, The Crusades, Sir Ed Hillary, Mt Everest, Bubonic Plague, Medievel and Ancient ships, Leonardo da Vinci, Stem Cell Research, The Russian Revolution, Chocolate, Elephants, The Great Wall of China, JFK, Whaling, Greco-Persian Conflict,  Nth Ireland Conflict, The Manhatten Project, NZ Birds of Prey, Wine, Bullfighting,  Robotics

 

2007 topics: Space, NZ Maritime History, Volcanoes, Venice, Microsoft, Genetic Engineering, Chernobyl, Islam, Alternative Fuel Sources, Somes/Matiu Island, Submarines, Magnetism, Reptiles, Asthma, NZ Hydro-Electric Power, Auschwitz, Antarctic Explorers, US Elections 2008, South African Apartheid, 9/11, Nuclear Power, Israel, Sharks, The Colosseum