INVESTIG8
Source page: Mr. Greaves's Geowesome site
The InveStig8 project is a chance for you to explore a topic of your own choice. You can follow an area of interest and match it to the I&S diploma subject you have chosen for Year 11. Your task is to produce a magazine style article that investigates an issue or situation with relevance to the 21st century world in which we live. You have a free range to chose what you wish to do and how you present it. It is your article, your choice and your own I&S unit. Because this is a very busy term with lot's of breaks for holiday and other events, the timeline is fairly flexible, but the image to the right gives you a rough idea of the order in which we will be looking at different aspects of the project.
For more information - have a look at the student guid to the right - this should give you a better overview and understanding of the project |
image source: https://tenor.com/view/share-information-research-gif-10410417
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Objective 1: Formulate, frame and justify your research question
For this assignment, you will need to submit two documents. One will be your finished article, the second will be your journal (you can see this below). This has all of the marking rubric in it and instructions on the steps to take and to fill in. Complete this as a soft copy.
The first stage of the process is relatively easy. You just need to choose your research question based around a matrix made by your diploma teachers for next year. You can find that here..
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Objective 2: Plan your article using the
schedule and the assessment criteria
Proving your expertise in the MYP
schedule and the assessment criteria
Proving your expertise in the MYP
You are nearing the end of your MYP journey, and after 5 years, you guys should be experts. Now it is your time to prove it. For every unit you have ever studied, there have set the key concepts, related concepts and global context for your unit. This time around, you will be doing this instead. This might seem like a challenge but the following resources are here to help you. By thinking through these, you will in fact be able to shape your article and question further. It will make you think through your article and help you to write your first evaluation.
Choosing your key conceptThere are four key concepts in I&S. Read through the information for each and see if you can identify the key concept that best relates to the theme of your article. Your teacher can check or hep you identify this. Or you can look at the example further down the page.
Choosing your key conceptThere are four key concepts in I&S. Read through the information for each and see if you can identify the key concept that best relates to the theme of your article. Your teacher can check or hep you identify this. Or you can look at the example further down the page.
Choosing your related concept: Related concepts are linked to each of your diploma subjects, these should be a little more straightforward to pick and you should be able to link these fairly easily. You can choose just one related concept or up to 3 if they fit in with your article theme. Check the lists and select whichever concepts you think are the best connections for your article. All of the subjects have different lists of words
Selecting the Global Context
To completely frame your article, the last aspect you need to consider is the global context. This is the part that directs your article to give it relevance and meaning. This is quite important for this activity because it can shape how interesting and engaging your article can be. The good news is that now that you have your concepts, this part should be quite a logical selection. There are 6 Global contexts to choose from;
Breaking your article into questions
Your final task for this section is to break your article up in to 3 questions that you should be able to identify and answer during the course of your article (note: these are to guide you in planning and deciding the content of your article, but don't have to appear as questions to be answered in specific sections)
Example: Globalisation
In the first term we looked at globalisation - who could we break this unit down in to the 3 questions above?
To completely frame your article, the last aspect you need to consider is the global context. This is the part that directs your article to give it relevance and meaning. This is quite important for this activity because it can shape how interesting and engaging your article can be. The good news is that now that you have your concepts, this part should be quite a logical selection. There are 6 Global contexts to choose from;
- Identities and relationships
- Orientation in time and space
- Personal and cultural expressionScientific and technical innovation
- Globalisation and sustainability
- Fairness and development
Breaking your article into questions
Your final task for this section is to break your article up in to 3 questions that you should be able to identify and answer during the course of your article (note: these are to guide you in planning and deciding the content of your article, but don't have to appear as questions to be answered in specific sections)
- The Factual question: This question should be designed as something that will help you identify clear and specific facts about the topic of your article
- The Conceptual question: This should be concerned with the main "big" idea of your article. Think about what it actually is that you are investigating.
- The debatable question: This question should aim to bring out the main perspectives or different sides of an argument that may be central to the topic you have chosen. It may be that you are looking in to different perspectives in order to reach a conclusion or better level of understanding about a subject.
Example: Globalisation
In the first term we looked at globalisation - who could we break this unit down in to the 3 questions above?
Factual Question: What is a transnational corporation?
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Conceptual Question: What are the forces that drive a company to start operating in multiple countries?
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Debatable Question: Do transnational corporations always bring benefits to their host destination?
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Objective 3: Researching your topic. Get immersed in your subject matter
Research will become a feature of all of your diploma subjects next year. We all think that we are competent researchers and you have had a lot of practice, but you have to get even better as you move in to diploma. You have to be more sophisticated and you can't now just rely on the first few websites you find. You also have to branch out and consider a lot of different types of sources. The types of questions you need to consider are; What is research? What separates good research from bad? How do I research well?. There are a lot of different aspects to consider in conducting good quality research, but for this task we have produced a quick reference top tips document for you (on the right?)
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Objective 4: Getting to grips with academic honest
Academic honesty is becoming more and more important, particularly as you progress through school. Operating on the wrong side of what is considered academic honesty can land you in severe trouble in Diploma program study. You need to be very aware of what plagiarism actually is and the different forms it can take - some of them will surprise you. In your lessons, your teacher will go through the presentation on the left, which outlines the different types of plagiarism you should be aware of and ways to avoid them.
If you've forgotten the tutorial from your teacher, just need a refresher or need to review your understanding - you can also watch this video - it's got lot's of great information in less than 4 minutes
If you've forgotten the tutorial from your teacher, just need a refresher or need to review your understanding - you can also watch this video - it's got lot's of great information in less than 4 minutes
There are also a number of great sites on the internet that can help further your understanding of plagiarism. This one has the best url though
Finally don't forget this (no, not the word "This" but that file on the right). This is what most or all of you used when you were writing your Personal Projects. It's the VSA Library MLA referencing guide!
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Objective 5: Working out what to say and how to say it
Around about this time you should have a large amount of information from your research. Hopefully, you will have explored a lot of different sources, you have a lot of ideas of what you want to put into your article, but you have no idea of how you might fit all of that content in to 1500 words. This is actually a good place to be!! It is better to have a lot of things to say and have to pick the best ones and present them in the best way, rather than have not enough to say and having to pad this out with less relevant information or repetition. Being concise is an excellent skill for diploma!
In addition to choosing what to say, how you say it and how you present your views is also very important on making a lasting impression on your reader. Whilst we at I&S have plenty of good ideas on structuring essays and longer writing in the MYP and DP, since this is an article, we asked for help and expertise from our friends in the English department. On the right hand side you will see 4 resources to help you. Two are the powerpoints from lessons about persuasive writing, one is the editors notes from our very own in house publication "The Vic" (the whole document is too big to upload here so I've tried to keep in the best snippets of advice on structure and content throughout). There is also a website, highlighted as one of the most comprehensive by our colleagues in the English department for finding advice on writing techniques. This is something to bookmark for the future!
In addition to choosing what to say, how you say it and how you present your views is also very important on making a lasting impression on your reader. Whilst we at I&S have plenty of good ideas on structuring essays and longer writing in the MYP and DP, since this is an article, we asked for help and expertise from our friends in the English department. On the right hand side you will see 4 resources to help you. Two are the powerpoints from lessons about persuasive writing, one is the editors notes from our very own in house publication "The Vic" (the whole document is too big to upload here so I've tried to keep in the best snippets of advice on structure and content throughout). There is also a website, highlighted as one of the most comprehensive by our colleagues in the English department for finding advice on writing techniques. This is something to bookmark for the future!
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