THE INQUIRY DESIGN MODEL SESSION 2:
Tasks
Tasks in IDM
•
•
•
•
Summative Performance Tasks
Formative Performance Tasks
Summative extensions
Taking informed action
IDM Follows C3 Inquiry Arc
If students are
asked a
COMPELLING
QUESTION…
In the middle are the SUPPORTING
QUESTIONS, FORMATIVE
PERFORMANCE TASKS, and SOURCES
Students answer
in the form of a
SUMMATIVE
ARGUMENT
What is an argument?
An argument is a collection of claims
supported by relevant evidence, which can
be considered an answer to the question
investigated by the research.
As arguments become more sophisticated,
students might include counterclaims.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin:
Can words lead to war?
Argument stems:
• Words can lead to war when words, such as the words
in Uncle Tom’s Cabin,​ help people ​to ​express their
disagreements with others.
• The causes of the Civil War and most other wars are
very complicated and cannot be boiled down ​to​ words
in a book such as Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
• It is difficult to determine the extent to which Uncle
Tom’s Cabin contributed to the Civil War, but the book
did support abolitionism.
Your Task
• Consider the elements of a coherent, evidence-based
argument as outlined in the seventh-grade Uncle
Tom’s Cabin inquiry.
– Can words lead to war? Construct an argument that
discusses the impact of Uncle Tom’s Cabin using specific
claims and relevant evidence from historical sources while
acknowledging competing views.
• Take a minute to write down the key elements that
you would use to evaluate the argument.
Discussion
• What elements make a coherent argument
about Uncle Tom’s Cabin?
• How should we support students in making a
coherent argument?
IDM™ Follows C3 Inquiry Arc
If students are
asked a
COMPELLING
QUESTION…
In the middle are the
FORMATIVE TASKS
(Content and Skills)
Students answer
in the form of a
SUMMATIVE
ARGUMENT
Formative Performance Tasks
• In order to make a coherent and evidenced-based
argument
– students need practice with argumentation skills
– students need a strong content/conceptual foundation
• This is where we get into formative work—there is
no “gotcha” summative assessment.
• These formative tasks are framed by the supporting
questions.
*NOTE: These formative tasks often follow a skill progression
of increasing complexity.
Your Task
Using the excerpted blueprint on the last slide,
examine the formative performance tasks in the
seventh-grade Uncle Tom’s Cabin Inquiry in
relationship to the summative argument.
In small groups, make a list of the ways that the
the formative performance tasks help students
make a coherent, evidenced-based argument.
Additional Performance Tasks
• Summative extensions
• Taking informed action
Summative Extensions
• Additional or alternative ways for students to
express their arguments
• In keeping with C3 Framework:
D4.3.6-8. Present adaptations of arguments and
explanations on topics of interest to others to reach
audiences and venues outside the classroom using print
and oral technologies (e.g., posters, essays, letters,
debates, speeches, reports, and maps) and digital
technologies (e.g., Internet, social media, and digital
documentary).
• Included in all annotated inquiries
Examples of Summative Extensions
Taking Informed Action
• Ways for students to civically engage with the
inquiry
• Sometimes action is embedded in summative
performance task
• In keeping with C3 Framework
– Step 1: Understand the problem
– Step 2: Assess the problem
– Step 3: Take action on the problem
Taking Informed Action
IDM™ Taking Informed Action
Organize a
fundraising event for
an issue/cause
Circulate a petition
School
Publish school
newspaper special
issue
Organize a school
assembly
Upload a PSA to a
website
Classroom
Locus of Activity
Community
Organize a boycott
Research Issue
relevant to
Inquiry
Understand Problem
Identify
problem(s) and
possible civic
action(s)
Assess Options
Complexity of the Effort
Bring stakeholders
together for a
classroom forum.
Write a letter to an
editor
Apply Action
Example of Taking Informed Action
Example of Embedded Action
Summary of Session 2: Tasks
• Evaluating the content and conceptual knowledge as
well as skills that make up the social studies is tricky
business.
• IDM features a variety of performance tasks that are
outlined within the inquiry.
• These tasks include:
– consistent summative argument across all inquiries
– series of formative performance tasks that prepare
students for the summative tasks
– additional performance tasks that allow students to
express their arguments creatively and to engage civically
IDM Conceptual Framework: Tasks
• The purpose of assessment is for learning (#5)
• Students are active learners within an inquiry
(#4)
• Content knowledge and disciplinary skills are
integrated within an investigation (#3)
• Students need opportunities to practice
engaged citizenship (#7)
• Social studies shares in the responsibility for
literacy (#8)
LOOKING AHEAD:
Sources