LC History: research study project

Dionysus

Anybody have any ideas or questions about the Leaving Cert History study topic that is worth 20% of the final LC grade?


I'm getting my class started on it straight away and it's a bit chaotic as there are @ 30 LC students in the class. Great, enthusiatic kids but just struggling a bit to talk to each one individually at the moment. Spent hours online last night searching each of their proposals to see if there was enough material.

Any hints etc?

Dionysus

My first question, is it possible to do the LC history project on any area of history?

The teacher that I'm replacing authorised students to do projects on things as diverse as Genghis Khan, Greek mythology and the Roman Empire. Now, the course covers events since 1800 so anybody know if it is possible to do a project on a period before it?

delta_bravo

I cant give you a definitive answer but I presume you are doing the later modern course? This deals from 1815-1993. I think the research topic has to be within this timeframe. The early modern course is 1492-1815, although I dont know if many schools do it.

Dionysus

delta_bravo wrote: »

I cant give you a definitive answer but I presume you are doing the later modern course? This deals from 1815-1993. I think the research topic has to be within this timeframe.

Yeah, doing this. It seems odd that the former teacher authorised topics such as ancient Greece and Rome if this is the reality.

delta_bravo wrote: »

The early modern course is 1492-1815, although I dont know if many schools do it.

I think there are five schools in all of Ireland, one of which is apparently St Wolstan's in Celbridge.

spurious

Small, specific (and ideally locally based) topics will always score better than 'Hitler and the Jews' and the like. They're also WAY more interesting for the student to do.

'Greek mythology' sounds like a terribly woolly one to me.

delta_bravo

Dionysus wrote: »

Yeah, doing this. It seems odd that the former teacher authorised topics such as ancient Greece and Rome if this is the reality.


I think there are five schools in all of Ireland, one of which is apparently St Wolstan's in Celbridge.

Its a shame, because I doubt it more difficult than the later modern course. I always found that period of Irish history very interesting. I dont think theres even a textbook made for the course

spurious wrote: »

Small, specific (and ideally locally based) topics will always score better than 'Hitler and the Jews' and the like. They're also WAY more interesting for the student to do.

'Greek mythology' sounds like a terribly woolly one to me.

You want to make it as narrow as possible, but still have a good few sources. Like when I did mine on 2006 I did it on Sean Lemass as Minister during the Emergency. You need something fairly specific really.

alabandical

If ya haven't already seen it, Hist.ie have a good bit of info on it.

http://www.scoilnet.ie/hist/article_topic.aspx?id=2138&nav=false

Pegasusbridge

You can do the research project on any topic. Doesn't have to be since 1800 only. Can't be later then 1991/1992 though. A good project will score well no matter what the topic is.

niamhallen

Dionysus wrote: »

Yeah, doing this. It seems odd that the former teacher authorised topics such as ancient Greece and Rome if this is the reality.




I think there are five schools in all of Ireland, one of which is apparently St Wolstan's in Celbridge.

One is my school

cahirod

delta_bravo wrote: »

. I dont think theres even a textbook made for the course

Our teacher wrote a book on our course

I think there are five schools in all of Ireland, one of which is apparently St Wolstan's in Celbridge.

I can verify that St.Wolstans in Celbridge does the early modern course from 1492-1609.

Dionysus

Does anybody know what length the extended essay in the Research Study should be?

On this (p.14) it states clearly: 'It is envisaged that neither the outline plan nor the evaluation of the sources will exceed one A4 page. In the case of the extended essay, the length envisaged is c.1000 words for Ordinary level students and c.2000 words for Higher level students.'

However, on this (p.1) it states: 'With regard to the length of the Extended Essay in the RSR, the following ranges will be deemed appropriate:
• Higher Level: 1200-1500 words
• Ordinary Level: 600-800 words.'

I told my class a month ago that it is c. 2000 words, and about 30% of the class has finished their projects now. Anybody know which word limit is correct in 2010?
Thanks.

alabandical

The circular is correct with 1,500 as the limit.
This came up several times at the HTAI conference at the weekend.
Some teachers were giving out that a few schools were going considerably over that and not being penalised - and could in fact be given more marks simply for the amount in it.

Your students won't be penalised but the only thing is they have to declare how many words they've written in the declaration.

Dionysus

alabandical wrote: »

The circular is correct with 1,500 as the limit.
This came up several times at the HTAI conference at the weekend.
Some teachers were giving out that a few schools were going considerably over that and not being penalised - and could in fact be given more marks simply for the amount in it.

Your students won't be penalised but the only thing is they have to declare how many words they've written in the declaration.

Thanks for that. Nevertheless, this is not good. Even the NCCA sponsored Curriculum Online website gives the word limit as c.2000 words. I don't want those kids who've already finished the c.2000 words to be penalised and I'm going to look a bit crap when I tell them that the word limit has now been reduced from 2000 words to 1500 words. Both Scoilnet and Curriculum Online should remove this misinformation from their respective websites.

Anyway, at least I've got some clarification on it now. Thanks again. Why the DOE decided to reduce the number of words required in the LC project while giving the same 20% for them is another matter. Part of the dumbing down of our education system, perhaps.

alabandical

No bother. I think those websites are just repeating the same out of date information from the guide that came out before the course was up and running.

You can always tell them you did it deliberately to test the valuable historian's skill of pruning.

b984jf93h

I'm just wondering if I can include a photo (either taken by me or taken from a source) in my project. Or can I do an illustration (eg. of the house/grave of the person in question)? In the book (Modern Ireland) it says you can include illustrations/charts. Does this mean I can staple a photo/illustration into my booklet when I hand it up?

Also, am I likely to get bonus marks for visiting graves/buildings to do with the study and mention that I did so? (Whether or not I actually learn anything new from it.) If I visit the grave, for example, I'll probably say that I learned the date of birth and death from it.

Finally, if I do an interview (again I don't think I'll learn anything more from this than I know from my other sources, as I've already asked the person about it and they don't have a whole load of information), do I have to record it? Does it have to be any length in particular (it wouldn't be very long)? I just might do an interview as an extra source to say I talked to a relative of the historical figure as I think it would look good.

PS: Yes, my project is local.