SKILLS DEVELOPMENT

ACTIVITIESAICE Global Perspectives and Research

Breaking down the topic

◦When you are breaking down a big topic, you can use three strategies:◦Ask all the questions you can think of in a class or group discussion and write down as many ideas as possible.◦Ask yourself what are the really important, key issues◦For each idea or key issue, consider the personal, national and global perspectives

Breaking down the topic

Activity 1◦ Identify three questions in Figure 1 that need different kinds of answer – one that

needs a fact, one that needs a prediction, and one that needs an opinion or value judgment.

◦Which of the questions in Figure 1 is most interesting to you? Give your reasons.

◦What sort of answers to this question do you need - facts, predictions, opinions, or value judgments?

◦What search terms would you use to find information and ideas to help you answer this question? Think of three or four different ways of searching. See which one produces the most useful results.

◦What other questions would you like to ask about the topic “Water, food, and agriculture”?

◦Working in groups, discuss either “Biodiversity and eco-systems” or “Climate change”. Ask plenty of questions in your group to break the topic down into smaller issues.

What is an issue and what is a fact?◦ An issue is a topic or problem that can be debated or discussed. Issues are usually

matters of opinion, value judgment, or prediction. Facts are useful to make sure that the debate is realistic but, on their own, they are not issues. After all, how do you debate or discuss a fact?

◦ For example, let’s look at some questions about “Water, food and agriculture”.◦ “Is my region wet or dry?” This question does not raise an issue – it’s not a problem for

discussion or debate. How wet or dry your region is can be established by looking at weather records.

◦ “What will happen if drought or flooding means there is not enough food in my region?” This question does raise an issue. It’s a real problem that needs to be discussed so that solutions can be found.

◦ “How can we avoid water wars in dry regions?” This question does raise an issue. It’s a real problem that can’t be answered with facts. There isn’t an easy answer, so there is a need for discussion and debate to find a solution.

◦ Activity 2

Moving from facts to issues◦ There are times when the

questions you can think of are factual, and not about issues. If you ask further questions, you can move from the facts to the issues:◦ Why do I need to know this

information?◦ What consequences could come

from this fact?

◦ Activity 3

Identifying key issues◦ Key issues are the really important problems

that need to be discussed. Some of the things that determine the importance of a problem include:◦ Consequences◦ Urgency◦ Severity◦ Perspectives

◦How important is a severe drought that leads to starvation in another country?

◦ Activity 4

Looking at different perspectives◦ Looking at personal, national, and global

perspectives can help you organize your ideas and your research.

◦ Sometimes perspectives aren’t clearly personal, national, or global, but a mixture◦ “Should I donate to a charity to help people

who are starving?” (global)

◦Make sure you consider all three perspectives – personal, local/national, and global – for each key issue, using Internet searches and diagrams.

◦ Activity 5

Finding the gaps in your knowledge◦ Identify what you need to know to fill any small gaps in your knowledge

◦ Activity 6

Making notes◦When you are researching information and ideas on the Internet, it is a good idea to

make brief notes, and keep a list of which source these ideas came from◦ Skim read when looking for relevant and important ideas

◦ Identify short passages to read carefully

◦ Write key words and phrases

◦ Use diagrams to show causes, consequences, perspectives, etc.

◦ Write your own questions – about things you don’t understand, about things you need to know, about differences of opinion…

◦ Use different colors – if your own questions are in different colors, you’ll be able to find them, and if causes and consequences are in different colors, you might be able to spot a patter

◦ Copy one or two significant sentences that you might want to quote

◦ Cut and past the website URL into your notes, with the date

◦ Write down the title and author of a book, with the page number(s) by each idea

◦ Activity 7

Providing references◦When you present your work, it is important to provide references for ideas you

have taken from your sources. Remember to make a note of them while you are researching! There are a number of styles of reference (or citation). You can use any, but be consistent

Evaluating sources◦When you find information and ideas in a source – a website, a book, a newspaper,

or a journal – you can question what you find by asking◦ How reliable is the source?◦ How good is the reasoning?◦ How likely are the causes and consequences they suggest?

How reliable is the source?◦ Ask questions about the source of information and check up on the source to find

out if it’s reliable◦ How serious is this newspaper/journal/website, or how sensationalist? Is it a social media

site?◦ Could this be true – in other words, is it plausible – or is it too unlikely or unrealistic –

implausible?◦ Is the author an expert? Has the author researched properly or is he or she a teenager just

writing opinions on a social media site?◦ Does the author have a reason to lie or only tell part of the truth?◦ Does the author have a reputation for being untruthful? If so, how much does this matter?◦ Are there opinions pretending to be facts?

◦ Activity 8

How good is the quality of reasoning in the sources?◦When an author is expressing an opinion or persuading the audience to accept a

proposal, you can also ask if their reasoning works well

◦ Activity 9

Evaluating causes and consequences◦ Two most important ways of evaluating reasoning about causes and consequences

◦ Considering possible alternative causes and consequences◦ Considering how likely a consequence is

Considering possible alternatives◦Whenever a cause or consequence is suggested, think about whether there might

be alternatives◦ “If we invest in nuclear power stations, we will significantly reduce our carbon emissions.”

◦ The predicted consequences is that we will reduce our carbon emissions, but other consequences are possible◦ We might actually produce more carbon emissions because we are using more power in the

belief that it is “clean”, and we might also produce significant quantities of radioactive waste.

◦ Activity 10

How likely is it?◦When considering causes and consequences, you need to think about how likely a

consequence is by taking lots of circumstances into consideration.

◦ Activity 11

Reflect and plan◦Now is the time to think about all the research and the questioning and evaluation

you have done so far

◦ Activity 12

Packet assessment◦ Activity 14

◦ Activity 15