Is it a good task?
(Modified from “Focus on Inquiry”, Chapter 2, www.galileo.org)
TASK 1: If students are writing a book review, would this be a good task?
Yes : If students are writing a publishable review for the purpose of sharing with others, this is a good
task. The teacher would work with students to examine the elements of effective reviews written by
professionals so as to establish clear criteria for the task. The teacher would create opportunities for
students to receive and respond to feedback on their review prior to its publication. Reviews would be
shared with an authentic audience. This could look like students sharing their recommendations on a
website or school blog, bulletin board within the school or community library. Students might be asked to
engage in discussion around the merit of a particular review, expressing agreement or disagreement with
the points made by a critic.
Maybe: If students are asked to write a publishable review that will not be shared with a larger audience,
this task might require some tweaking. People write reviews to tell others what’s good, and what deserves
rotten tomatoes. If nobody reads a book review except the teacher, then it isn’t a real review; it’s mainly a
writing assignment.
No: If students are only given the opportunity to produce a single draft of their book review and spend
most of their time designing a convincing cover to accompany the work, this task needs to be tweaked.
TASK 2: If students are solving an open-ended geometry problem in mathematics, would
this be a good task?
Yes: If students are spending the bulk of their time exploring key ideas central to developing an
understanding of geometry, this is a good task. This could look like students exploring what variations of
properties preserve the shape and what variations might lead to the creation of a new shape. This could
involve students using Geometers Sketchpad to explore those variations. The teacher would be circulating
while the students work, interrupting the class to draw attention to new insights and make key ideas
visible on the SmartBoard, then provide mini-investigations so that all students are asked to investigate
and understand key properties.
Maybe: If students are assigned lots of homework questions about shapes without actually moving into
the space where students have to systematically consider variations of geometrical properties, then this
design might need some slight tweaking. If the problem solving is done in isolation without room for inthe-moment feedback, the students are not working in a mathematical community. The problem might
even be taken up as an extension activity that the teacher might get around to if they have enough time,
but it is not the basis of the teaching.
No: If students are spending the bulk of their time coloring an art piece, and little time exploring the
properties of shapes and the variations of those properties that preserve the shapes, this task needs some
tweaking. If the focus of the task is only superficially addressing geometric understandings, the design
needs some work.
Task 3: If students were making a historical documentary,
is that a good task?
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Yes: If students are deepening their understanding of how to portray a historical event through the
production of a documentary, this is a good task. The teacher designing this task understands that there
are two components to an effective historical documentary. Students must have a complete
understanding of the events underpinning this significant moment in history and must also understand
the basic elements and techniques of documentary filmmaking. The teacher would view a number of
historical documentaries with students as a means identifying how various filmmaking techniques can
be used to tell a story. This could be an opportunity for students to learn various techniques from a
documentary filmmaker. Students would plan and receive feedback on several storyboard drafts prior to
filming their documentary. Throughout the filmmaking process, the teacher would create opportunities
for students to give and respond to feedback on their historical documentaries. Finished films would be
shared publicly. This could include inviting parents and community members to attend a film festival
where the finished documentaries would be viewed. Films are a classic example of a performance-based
task. If the film bombs, the audience lets you know! And if you have done a great job, the audience is
enchanted.
Maybe: If students spend considerable time planning their historical documentary on paper without
exploring the wide range of skills and technical expertise required to produce a strong film, then this
task may need some slight tweaking. If the teacher builds in opportunities for the students to acquire
the knowledge they need in order to be truly creative with the medium—then the task can be a great
vehicle for learning.
No: If students are left on their own to complete much of the assignment at home, this task needs
tweaking. A student whose mother is a documentary filmmaker may hand in an exceptional video while
others could struggle with little to no support.
Task 4: If students were asked to tell an oral story, would this be a good task?
Yes: If students are asked to consider, “what makes a powerful storyteller?” then this might be a good
task. Students work with videos or a professional storyteller to tease out the characteristics of an
engaging story. The teacher follows up with mini lessons to make sure everyone has understood what
these characteristics are and how to use them effectively when telling a story. Students then ask their
parents for a funny story about when they were young. They come back to school, and tell the story to
their classmate, trying to use some of the characteristics they have learned in telling their story. The
classmate then gives them feedback on ways they could make their story more engaging and humorous
using the target rubric. The students tweak their story and try telling it again to someone else. Then
they video tape it, and send it to the professional storyteller for feedback. Finally, another class is
invited in to the classes “story café” and the students know if they were successful by the laughs they
receive from the crowd!
Maybe: If students only have one time to practice their story and receive feedback, this task might need
some tweaking. Ensuring that students have multiple opportunities to receive feedback back on their
work is key to ensuring success, especially in performance-based tasks.
No: If students are asked to bring in a story from home and tell it to the class without identifying what
makes an oral story effective or without receiving any feedback before they tell their story, then this is
not a good task.
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Task 5: If students were to do a lab to investigate the properties of fluids (flow rate,
viscosity and temperature), would this be a good task?
Yes: If students were asked to determine “How does the temperature of a liquid related to its flow
rate?”, then this would be a good task. The teacher begins by asking the class “What would flow down a
ramp more quickly: hot or cold syrup?” and “Why?” Students were invited into the space of
hypothesizing, data collection and analysis of data. Prior to the lab day the teacher provides a range of
exemplars of data tables and graphs to clearly establish success criteria an effective lab report. On the
lab day, the class is provided samples of five liquids to be investigated by manipulating their
temperatures. The teacher then provides a mini lesson of how to safely set up an apparatus that would
allow the students to change the temperature of a liquid. The teacher circulates to provide feedback
about proper set up and to listen to what the students are finding. Upon completion of the lab the
students are then asked represent their data using a line graph for each of the five different liquids. The
teacher encourages the students to use their co-created rubric to review their data collection and
graphs. The teacher debriefs the data and together the class crafts a concluding statement about the
relationship between flow rate of a liquid and temperature. The teacher then collects the labs to provide
feedback on the students written work.
Maybe: If students were asked to determine a relationship between flow rate and temperature, without
hypothesizing or analyzing data, then this task may need a slight tweak. Students are provided
materials that they will use to investigate this relationship along with five liquids with different
viscosities. Using water baths the teacher allows the students to heat the liquids to varying
temperatures. Students record the amount of time it takes 10 mL of the liquid to run through a narrow
funnel at 5 different temperatures. The teacher has provided a lab sheet with a prepared data table.
Students are asked to record the steps in their procedure and the times of the different liquids on the lab
sheet. Upon completion of the lab, students hand in their data tables and written procedure for
evaluation.
No: If students were provided with a selection of five liquids and asked to determine the relationship
between viscosity and flow rate (without considering temperature), then this task needs to be tweaked.
Students are asked to follow a step-by-step procedure and given a data table on a lab sheet to record
their observations (how viscous the liquid is and how much time it takes for 10 mL of the liquid to flow
through a narrow funnel). The lab sheet has four questions at the end, which the students are required
to complete. Students then hand in the lab report and the teacher marks the lab.
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Inquiry Design Process: Defining What Matters About a Topic
Topic:
Subject Discipline:
Critical Understandings: (Look to your Program of Studies. Consider, “Is there something so fundamental
that students who haven’t grasped this are likely to experience significant difficulty when they attempt to take
their next learning step?” and/or “What do people often misunderstand about this topic?” “What ideas do you
think students have the most difficulty getting their heads around?”
Lasting Understandings: (Consider, “If students were to forget all but one thing about this topic, what
would you want that one thing to be?”)
Getting hooked on a topic: Student engagement
(From “Focus on Inquiry”, Chapter 2, galileo.org)
There’s value in connecting your topic to students’ experiences. Hook your students by
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asking the following questions:
What’s weird about the topic?
Your goal is to build on your students’ natural curiosity. Life Sciences lends itself wonderfully to
weird topics. New technologies let us see creatures that are stranger than fiction, living in
hostile environments. What lives at the extreme edges of the planet? What happens when one
living thing leaves an ecosystem? What gross or intriguing defense mechanisms let living
things adapt to their environment?
Are there life and death issues involved?
Talk to your students and uncover the human side of the story. Who has suffered defending the
idea you are studying? What makes a hero, villain or underdog? Find people who have
challenged huge odds or overcome insurmountable obstacles. How are elements of today’s
lifestyle harming us?
What challenges our sense of justice or fair play? Questioning what’s right and wrong.
Present questions that force students to take a stand. Important thinking skills are developed as
students go beyond the facts to research and defend their point of view. Questions of what’s
right and wrong help students decide how society determines the difference, while helping
articulate their own vision and values. Look for the following within the topic you have chosen:
• Contradictory reports about the same event
• Historical injustices
• Current debates raging in the media
• Reports that challenge cultural assumptions.
Is there more here than meets the eye?
Issues may seem simple on the surface, but once you start digging, all sorts of possibilities
emerge. Questions such as ‘how can we help the poor?’ and ‘how do we stop bullying?’, may
seem simplistic, but they also prompt huge differences of opinion and opportunities to grapple
with various solutions.
What is secret, hidden or puzzling?
Too often, school subjects are presented as cut and dried matters of facts and figures to be
memorized. There are many things in the world, however, the experts are still uncovering, and
new answers are emerging every day. These are areas where students can be easily engaged.
Consider the following:
• What is space really like? Recent space probes have overturned many things we thought we
knew about our solar system.
• Why can we predict some environmental phenomena but tornadoes and earthquakes still
surprise us?
Exploring Topic Possibilities For Designing Worthwhile Work
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Example of Designing Worthwhile Work Using Discipline Processes
Topic: Wetlands
Learning Intentions: (what do you want students to understand and/or be able to do?)
From Programs of Study:
 Student will conduct a study of life in a local pond
 Students will learn about organisms that live in, on and around wetlands and about adaptations that
suit pond organisms to their environment
 Student will research and make observations
 Students will learn about the interactions among wetland organisms and about the role of each
organism as part of a food web
 Students will understand the role of human action in affecting wetland habitats
Discipline Connection: (Briefly describe the discipline and ways of knowing inherent in this discipline):
Task:
Students will design and conduct a field study at a local pond
to determine how humans may or may not be impacting the
habitat.
Hook:
A newspaper article about how run-off from adjacent
properties into water systems will be used as a hook
into the topic. Aerial photos of a local wetland will be
shown to students with surrounding properties shown
on the map. Students will be asked, “Do you think our
local wetland could be impacted by run off as the
article suggests? How could we find out? Where might
there be potential contamination?” Students’ initial
ideas will be recorded on chart paper.
Assessment Plan
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Sub task
Preliminary
Research
What are the students doing?
After initial problem has been
pitched, students will conduct
baseline research to inform their
investigation.
Students will give and receive
feedback re: quality of research
What is the teacher doing?
Co-create criteria/rubric for effective research
Teacher identifies potential resources for students.
Teacher provides necessary mini-lessons:
- Jot notes
- Reliability of sources
- Referencing, etc.
Expert on wetlands might be invited in to present to
students about “wetland basics”
Design
Experiment
Refine
Experimental
Methods
Gather
Materials
Data
Organization
Students collaboratively design an
experiment connected to the
problem.
Students share initial design with
peers.
Scientific critique: peers and teacher
provide specific feedback re:
designs.
Students will make necessary
refinements
Students will generate list of
necessary materials specific to their
study
Students will receive feedback on
their lists and make necessary
refinements
Students will prepare tables, charts
etc… for organizing their data in
the field.
Co-create rubric for design of experiment.
Teacher provides mini-lessons and possible
templates to support students
Teachers will provide time for students to act on
feedback.
Teacher will hold students accountable for making
improvements.
Teacher will help with access to materials
Teacher will provide guidelines for how data could
be recorded and documented
Co-create assessment criteria re: proper and effective
data organization
Teacher will provide mini-lessons as needed:
appropriate use of charts, tables, graphs, etc.
technology, proper organization
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Field Test
Analyze Data
Report
Findings
Students will conduct tests and
collect data
Students will digitally document
their test in process
Co-create rubric for effective field study and
accurate data collection
Teacher will organize off-site trip to field study
location
Teacher will circulate and provide necessary
feedback
Students will analyze their group’s
data and create appropriate
representations to be included in
final report
Receive feedback on data analysis
from teacher
Students will finalize their findings
and create a report that adheres to
criteria outlined
Students will present findings to an
audience (peers, expert, community,
etc.)
Groups will identify new problems
related to findings
Teacher will provide mini-lessons related to data
analysis, technology, etc.
Co-create rubric focusing on accurate data analysis
Co-create rubric for final report
Teacher provides necessary supports/feedback to
individual groups
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Designing Worthwhile Work: Template
Topic: _______________________________
Learning Intentions:
What do you want students to understand and/or be able to do?
What do students often misunderstand about this topic that becomes problematic in taking their next learning step?
What will the lasting understandings you want students to remember?
Discipline Connection:
Briefly describe the discipline ways of knowing or ways of creating:
Task:
Hook:
Assessment Plan
Sub task
What are the students doing?
What is the teacher doing?
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Add more rows as needed…
Teacher #1:
What questions/suggestions might you ask this teacher
in relation to Worthwhile Work?
Authenticity
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

Mirrors the kinds work and/or ways of knowing an expert in the discipline or field would perform?
Problems, challenges, issues, questions or ideas for a purpose and/or audience?
Fosters Deep Understanding


Requires significant intellectual investment (contemplation, interpretation, meaning-making,
critique) & innovative thinking?
Demonstrates understanding of important concepts?
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Teacher #2:
What questions/suggestions might you ask this teacher
in relation to assessment for learning?
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Designing Worthwhile Work
Think About…
1. Which discipline helps to inform this topic? Am I engaging students in junior versions of these
same ways of knowing? Would a person in this field take on a task similar to this? (E.g. If the
topic is informed by a field of chemistry, how does a chemist work? Does this task ask students to
behave as a chemist would, but in a junior version of these same ways of knowing?) If not, how
might I mirror the work in this field more authentically?
2. How might I involve experts or expertise in informing students’ work as it progresses?
3. How can I make expectations clear for students so the learning intentions are transparent? How
will I invite students to understand what high quality work looks like before they begin the task?
4. At what points will I deliver mini-lessons throughout the process to address particular skills that
students will need in order to accomplish the task?
5. How will students get feedback on their work before the final performance of understanding?
Who will provide the feedback?
6. Before the final submission, how and when will I build in time for students to act on the
feedback?
7. How will students work together to deepen understanding (students may be required to submit
individual work, but how will they collaborate so they are not working in isolation)?
8. When in a group setting, how will I ensure individual and group accountability?
9. How might I scaffold this task so that all students can complete high quality work? How will I
structure the task so that it is manageable for students and I am not abandoning them?
10. How will I gather information throughout the process about what students are
understanding/misunderstanding and in what way will I use that information to be responsive
to student learning needs?
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