Investigating an Australian Issue

300.76 STO Stowell Investigating society - inquiries in social education (Bk 1 & Bk 2)

Collect several (3-6) newspaper or magazine articles about the issue. Read them carefully or highlight the main points and sources of information in them. Explain what the issue is and describe the various opinions and solutions offered by opposing voices according to the media you have collected.

HANDY HINTS: Finding articles:

Books – there are various series published that also contain collections of newspaper and magazine articles on major topics of interest e.g. The Age reprints; Issues...Issues...Issues; Australian Issues; Points of vie; Issues in society ; Viewpoints
Look for these using the Amlib catalogue.
NOTE: Bear in mind that books take longer to publish than newspapers or magazines, so the info will be older, and only on significant topics.
Newstext - We have a password protected subscription to this database that includes the Advertiser, The Australian and other Australian newspapers. Make an appointment with one of the Teacher Librarians. NOTE: Bring a disk to save the downloaded articles. Check the in-school intranet for previous downloads.
Vertical File - Clippings may be less up to date than other sources, but these files also include pamphlets.
A subject search on Amlib will produce results that include Vertical File, Videos and websites, as well as books. Remember this can be done on any computer in the school.
Internet - Many newspapers and magazines are now available online. Go to Current Issues Index -> Strategies and scroll down for a list of links. Not all have searchable archives and some require a paid subscription. Try using www.findarticles.com
The State Library has a wonderful free service where you can search for newspaper and magazine articles using their online periodical indexes - Ebscohost and Infotrac (which index many more periodicals that Guidelines). You cannot do this from school or home, but you can email the full text articles you locate, to yourself - all for free!

Analyse the sources of information you have collected ; are they informed or emotive? Does the media give a substantiated or distorted picture of the issue? Explain your assessment.

HANDY HINTS: Recording your analysis

For print articles: highlight important words and phrases and annotate in the margins.
For digital articles taken from word documents (e.g. Newstext download): Use the Microsoft Word ‘Insert’ –> ‘Comment’ function to annotate the article; select important points and change text colour.
For digital articles taken from word documents or web sites: Copy’n’paste the important points (not whole sentences or paragraphs) into the note-taking template available on the intranet (see research templates link on intranet index page) or create a new Word document.

Complete the Australian Studies’ issue study page by organizing the opinions under the headings : ‘yes’, ‘yes, but’, ‘no’ and no, but’.

Conduct at least 5 interviews with 5 different age groups and/or different experiential groups. Your 20 interview questions must be open (not ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers) and submitted for assessment. Include the results you get.

HANDY HINTS: Selecting interviewees

Contact local branches of organizations related to your issue e.g. Australian Conservation Council for environmental issues. Check under ‘Organisations’ in the Yellow Pages.
Choose people for their capacity to articulate an opinion, not just because they are relatives or friends.

HANDY HINTS: Organising and presenting your opinion

Use Inspiration to brainstorm your issue and arrange your ideas into logical order. There is a quick way to convert your concept map into an essay outline in Microsoft Word. See your friendly teacher librarian for help in using this software tool if needed.
See also the Organising and Presenting pages under reSearch on the intranet.
Go to reSearch -> Selecting -> Electronic note-taking for help on inserting graphics in a document.

This is for you to reflect personally and honestly about how your investigative study went.

Adelaide High School Intranet

~ Investigating an Australian Issue ~
Stage 1 Australian Studies - Issue study Your task is to research a current Australian social or environmental issue. HANDY HINTS : Which issue? Consider events and issues currently in the news Use an issue you feel strongly about Go to the Current Issues Index on the Intranet and browse through the list of issues covered by previous Newstext downloads. [NOTE: these downloads are not accessible outside the school network] Brainstorm and discuss ideas with other students and teacher. Browse through topics and issues in general books such as 170 JEN Jenkins Contemporary moral issues 300 COU Coupe The Question is... 300 CON Condon Issues in General Studies 300 NEW New Perspectives in social education (Bks 1, 2 & 3) 300.76 STO Stowell Investigating society - inquiries in social education (Bk 1 & Bk 2) 428 EDW Edwards Issues and responses 1. Collect articles (1-2 pages): Collect several (3-6) newspaper or magazine articles about the issue. Read them carefully or highlight the main points and sources of information in them. Explain what the issue is and describe the various opinions and solutions offered by opposing voices according to the media you have collected. [10 marks] HANDY HINTS: Finding articles: Books – there are various series published that also contain collections of newspaper and magazine articles on major topics of interest e.g. The Age reprints; Issues...Issues...Issues; Australian Issues; Points of vie; Issues in society ; Viewpoints Look for these using the *Amlib* catalogue. NOTE: Bear in mind that books take longer to publish than newspapers or magazines, so the info will be older, and only on significant topics. Newstext - We have a password protected subscription to this database that includes the Advertiser, The Australian and other Australian newspapers. Make an appointment with one of the Teacher Librarians. NOTE: Bring a disk to save the downloaded articles. Check the in-school intranet for previous downloads. Vertical File - Clippings may be less up to date than other sources, but these files also include pamphlets. A subject search on Amlib will produce results that include Vertical File, Videos and websites, as well as books. Remember this can be done on any computer in the school. Internet - Many newspapers and magazines are now available online. Go to *Current Issues Index* -> Strategies and scroll down for a list of links. Not all have searchable archives and some require a paid subscription. Try using www.findarticles.com The State Library has a wonderful free service where you can search for newspaper and magazine articles using their online periodical indexes - Ebscohost and Infotrac (which index many more periodicals that Guidelines). You cannot do this from school or home, but you can email the full text articles you locate, to yourself - all for free! 2. Analysis (1-2 pages): Analyse the sources of information you have collected ; are they informed or emotive? Does the media give a substantiated or distorted picture of the issue? Explain your assessment. [10 marks] HANDY HINTS: Recording your analysis For print articles: highlight important words and phrases and annotate in the margins. For digital articles taken from word documents (e.g. Newstext download): Use the Microsoft Word ‘Insert’ –> ‘Comment’ function to annotate the article; select important points and change text colour. For digital articles taken from word documents or web sites: Copy’n’paste the important points (not whole sentences or paragraphs) into the note-taking template available on the intranet (see research templates link on intranet index page) or create a new Word document. 3. Opinion chart (1 page - A3 size may be an easier format.): Complete the Australian Studies’ issue study page by organizing the opinions under the headings : ‘yes’, ‘yes, but’, ‘no’ and no, but’. [10 marks] 4. Interviews: Conduct at least 5 interviews with 5 different age groups and/or different experiential groups. Your 20 interview questions must be open (not ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers) and submitted for assessment. Include the results you get. [10 marks] HANDY HINTS: Selecting interviewees Contact local branches of organizations related to your issue e.g. Australian Conservation Council for environmental issues. Check under ‘Organisations’ in the Yellow Pages. Choose people for their capacity to articulate an opinion, not just because they are relatives or friends. 5. Your informed opinion (1-2 pages): Write a page explaining your own opinions of this issue AFTER you have researched at least two opposing views on the subject. What actions or changes in attitude will need to occur, in your opinion, to resolve the issue? Explain how and why you have reached your own conclusions, e.g. who/what has influenced you? How did you go about informing yourself on this issue? How have your values and culture shaped your opinion? Explain why you have reached this conclusion, and how this issue study has helped your understanding of one of the aspects of ‘unfinished business’ in Australian society today Add any pictures, statistics, maps or charts to your research project that help to clarify the issue [15 marks] HANDY HINTS: Organising and presenting your opinion Use Inspiration to brainstorm your issue and arrange your ideas into logical order. There is a quick way to convert your concept map into an essay outline in Microsoft Word. See your friendly teacher librarian for help in using this software tool if needed. See also the Organising and Presenting pages under reSearch on the intranet. Go to reSearch -> Selecting -> Electronic note-taking for help on inserting graphics in a document. 6. Evaluation (1 page): This is for you to reflect personally and honestly about how your investigative study went. Has it been as detailed and comprehensive as it could have been? Why/Why not? How could it have been improved? (Choice of topic? Resources? Time spent? Organization? Motivation?). What would you have differently and why? How has this study helped and prepared you to understand other issues? What have you learned about yourself and how you react to an issue? What have you learned that would help you to investigate any other issues in the future?

Adelaide High School © 2000, revised 2001, 2002, 2003, revised 2004, revised 2008
Last updated 17 June, 2008

~ Investigating an Australian Issue ~