Internal Assessment GuideFrom Question Creation to Final Submission

SL = 25%, HL = 20%

Format: *Total of 1500-2000 words*

A. Plan of Investigation: – 100-150 words

• 3 marks

B. Summary of Evidence: – 500-600 words

• 6 marks

C. Source Evaluations:– 250-400 words

• 5 marks

D. Analysis: – 500-650 words

• 6 marks

E. Conclusion: – 150-200 words

• 2 marks

F. Bibliography: – not part of word count– 6-12 reputable sources– 3 marks

Final Product Format

• 1 inch margins

• Times New Roman, size 12

• Double spaced

• Word count at the end of

each section

• U Chicago Footnotes

• Appendix = optional

Examples of Types of Investigations:

• A historical topic or theme using written sources or a variety of sources

• A historical topic based on fieldwork; for example a museum,

archeological site, battlefields, churches

• A historical problem using documents (this could include newspapers)

• A local history project

• A history project based on oral interviews

• A historical investigation based on interpreting a novel, film, piece of art

Topic Selection & Title CreationSteps Example

1. Start by identifying a general area of interest

Development and Impact of the Cold War Brinksmanship

2. Narrow it down to a specific area of investigation

Development and Impact of the Cold War Brinksmanship Cuban Missile Crisis

3. Read about your specific area of investigation. Search for key words, dates, people, events, quotes, statistics, historians…

Fidel (and Raul) Castro, JFK, RFK, Nikita KhrushchevICBM, MAD, U2 spy plane1962, OctoberUnited NationsHistorian: John Lewis Gaddis

4. Choose a working title that may be changed or refined at a later stage

Brothers in Arms: An investigation into the roles Raul Castro and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in the Cuban Missile Crisis When Khrushchev blinked (or Did Khrushchev blink?)An investigation into the close of the Cuban Missile Crisis

5. Create a specific Question that reflects your chosen topic

To what extent were Fidel Castro and JFK influenced by their brothers during the Cuban Missile Crisis? What was the role of Nikita Khrushchev in preventing nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis?

Narrowing your focus• The title should relate to the question

that you are going to create– No, it doesn’t have to rhyme or be catchy

and clever, but you should capture the reader’s attention/interest

– It should include the phrase “An Investigation…”

• You can change your title– In doing so, you may also have to change

your question

• The topic, title, and question should represent a narrowing of focus or scope– The investigation should be specific– You have to PROVE something

• It should be something that you are interested in researching

Pop Culture Dissent Persecution Propaganda / Indoctrination

Other

-Modern Art-Silver Age of Marvel Comics-Cold War Fashion-Rock Music in Berlin-Olympics boycotts

-Protest movements -Prague Spring-Radio Free Europe-Solidarity-Velvet Revolution

-Hollywood Ten-KGB

-Komsomol Youth Organization-Soviet Film Industry & Political Education-Socialist Realism (art)

-Space race-Tito in Yugoslavia

Previous IA Topics

Refining Your Topic

• Narrow it down by:– Region(s)– Time Period– Key Players– Interesting/debatable

• When in doubt:– Relate it to a topic that

crosses over between Papers 1-3• Paper 1: Crisis in communism

– China– USSR– Eastern Europe

• Paper2: Topic 3: Single Party States– Mao– Stalin– Nasser– Castro

• Paper 2: Topic 5: Cold War• Paper 3: HOA

Choose a Question of Controversy• Try to find a topic/title/question

that has at least two sides (ex. to what extent…) to allow you to include differing interpretations– It is only controversial if historians

disagree as to the answer

• Focus on the issues that historians debate, such as:– Which is more important– The main causes– To what extent someone’s reasons

for doing something were justifiable

– Whether one person is more blameworthy or praiseworthy for something than another person, etc.

• Avoid questions that lend themselves to a descriptive answer (upon which historians would agree) such as:– The causes of the Cold

War, Stalin’s reasons for punishing the Kulaks, etc

Question Creation• Step 1: Create a question:

– Using your Topic & Title Create a question will lead to an appropriate investigation

– Use a command term (To what extent, compare/contrast, analyze, assess)

– Create an overarching question (Consider Compare/Contrast or Changes and Continuities Over Time)

– Narrow the scope of the question• Be specific, consider a question that

requires Evaluation and/or Justification

1. 1It must be resolvable with measurable (empirical) evidence

2. It must be open-ended

3. It must be flexible and open to endless refinement

4. It must be explicit and precise

5. It must be tested

A:An investigation into African warfare:

Why did the British Army struggle Southern Africa during the 1870s?

B:An investigation into African colonial warfare: To what extent was the defeat of the British by

the Zulu at Isandlwna in 1879 due to the mistakes made by Lord Chelmsford?

Examples• To what extent were the Moscow

Olympic Games of 1980 affected by Cold War tensions?

• With what justification can it be claimed that it was the leadership of Trotsky that promoted Red victory in the Russian Civil War?

• With what justification can it be claimed that the Chinese Great Famine 1959-1962 was a man-made famine resulting from Mao’s policies?

• How significant was the role of industrial workers in creating the environment for the Bolshevik seizure of power in 1917?