work. It is recommended that a total of approximately 20 hours (SL and HL) of teaching time should be allocated to the work. Choice of topic Students have a free choice of topic for their historical investigation—the topic need not be related to the syllabus, and students should be encouraged to use their own initiative when deciding on a topic. However, the topic must be historical, and therefore cannot be on an event that has happened in the last 10 years. The activity demands that students search for, select, evaluate and use evidence to reach a relevant conclusion consistent with the evidence and arguments that have been put forward. You should consider the following: It is critical to have access to sufficient evidence to research your essay Remember, this is a problem-solving investigation. Your title should enable you to explore and investigate different views of the historical period you choose. Avoid clichéd topics However choosing a topic from an era you know nothing about may make it difficult to place it in historical context. Examples of Questions Evidence based How useful are declassified documents to historians studying the treatment of the Jewish Population of Vichy France? To what extent are photographic sources of the Vietnam War more useful to the Historian than written accounts? How did the coverage of the Falklands/Malvinas War differ in the British and Argentine press? To what extent did the experiences of Vietnam veterans in Tulsa, Oklahoma mirror the US public’s overall perception of the war? In what ways did the Chinese communists use the traditional art form of opera to promote their ideology during the Cultural Revolution? Event based How representative is the My Lai massacre as evidence of American Experience in Vietnam? What was the Significance of the Gulf of Tonkin Incident in terms of American Involvement in the Vietnam War? To what extent were the Moscow Olympic Games of 1980 affected by Cold War tensions? Why, and with what consequences for its citizens, was Dresden bombed in 1945? People based Why was Fidel Castro able to take power in Cuba? Assess the accuracy with which the life and career of Rosa Parks has been depicted by commentators and historians. How typical were the motives of Count Raymond IV of Toulouse for going on The Crusade? What was the historical significance of the sporting career of Muhammad Ali? What were the contributions of Genghis Khan to the rise of Mongol power? Written Account Section 1: Identification and evaluation of sources This section requires students to analyse in detail two of the sources that they will use in their investigation.
work. It is recommended that a total of approximately 20 hours (SL and HL) of teaching time should be allocated to the work. Choice of topic Students have a free choice of topic for their historical investigation—the topic need not be related to the syllabus, and students should be encouraged to use their own initiative when deciding on a topic. However, the topic must be historical, and therefore cannot be on an event that has happened in the last 10 years. The activity demands that students search for, select, evaluate and use evidence to reach a relevant conclusion consistent with the evidence and arguments that have been put forward. You should consider the following: It is critical to have access to sufficient evidence to research your essay Remember, this is a problem-solving investigation. Your title should enable you to explore and investigate different views of the historical period you choose. Avoid clichéd topics However choosing a topic from an era you know nothing about may make it difficult to place it in historical context. Examples of Questions Evidence based How useful are declassified documents to historians studying the treatment of the Jewish Population of Vichy France? To what extent are photographic sources of the Vietnam War more useful to the Historian than written accounts? How did the coverage of the Falklands/Malvinas War differ in the British and Argentine press? To what extent did the experiences of Vietnam veterans in Tulsa, Oklahoma mirror the US public’s overall perception of the war? In what ways did the Chinese communists use the traditional art form of opera to promote their ideology during the Cultural Revolution? Event based How representative is the My Lai massacre as evidence of American Experience in Vietnam? What was the Significance of the Gulf of Tonkin Incident in terms of American Involvement in the Vietnam War? To what extent were the Moscow Olympic Games of 1980 affected by Cold War tensions? Why, and with what consequences for its citizens, was Dresden bombed in 1945? People based Why was Fidel Castro able to take power in Cuba? Assess the accuracy with which the life and career of Rosa Parks has been depicted by commentators and historians. How typical were the motives of Count Raymond IV of Toulouse for going on The Crusade? What was the historical significance of the sporting career of Muhammad Ali? What were the contributions of Genghis Khan to the rise of Mongol power? Written Account Section 1: Identification and evaluation of sources This section requires students to analyse in detail two of the sources that they will use in their investigation.
ib_ia_history_student_guide_2016-17.docx