03 MARCH 2020

10 Tips for Planning a Cambridge Lower Secondary Global Perspectives™ Checkpoint Research Report

You’ve spent some time developing your learners’ Global Perspectives skills, and you now think they’re ready to plan and write their Checkpoint Research Report for assessment.

How do you start?

Here are 10 top tips you can share with your learners to help them successfully plan and write their Checkpoint Research Report.

Ask learners to look back at their previous Global Perspectives work and create a list of all the topics they have explored. Encourage learners to choose one of these topics for their Checkpoint Research Report, rather than a previously unstudied topic. Learners can choose the same topic, but issues must be different.

Advise learners that an issue in Global Perspectives is something that can be debated, and often needs a course of action to help make a positive difference or help resolve it. Encourage learners to choose an issue they already know something about and have explored in Global Perspectives lessons, e.g. the issue of water shortages.

Remind learners that a good research question in Global Perspectives is relevant to the issue, is clear, can be argued and allows for the development of different perspectives and a realistic course of action. It should not be leading or contain bias or be too broad, too narrow or too vague. Learners might already have a question from previous work they want to use for their Checkpoint Research Report, or you can support them in formulating a suitable research question.

Learners need to make notes from information sources so that they can write their research report in their own words. Advise them that their report should not exceed 1,000 words in total, excluding the reference list. A research report should include paragraphs, each with claims, reasoning to justify them and evidence to support them.

Learners make notes from information sources and you can encourage them to use a wide range such as newspaper and magazine articles, government websites, blogs, videos and podcasts. Learners also need to evaluate individual sources of information, saying what they think the strengths and weaknesses of each one are.

Check that learners know what a perspective is and the difference between a national and global perspective, and that they compare these in their Checkpoint Research Report. For example, a national perspective (explained by the laws and policies and/or speeches by politicians and other groups within a country) about water shortages might be different or similar to a more global perspective (explained by an institution like the World Wildlife Fund, and supported by other organisations or countries). Remind learners to use transition words like, ‘according to ’, ‘think that’ and ‘is of the opinion that’ to introduce perspectives, as well as words and phrases such as ‘on the other hand’; ‘in contrast to’ and ‘however’ to compare.

Support learners in understanding that in Global Perspectives, analysis means to explain the causes and consequences of their issue. Remind them to use words and phrases that signal causes, such as  ‘because’, ‘due to’ and ‘since’ alongside phrases that signal consequences like ‘as a result’, ‘therefore’, and ‘consequently’.

Learners must look at their issue and think about how they might make a positive difference to it, or help resolve it at a local or national level. An example of this could be raising awareness about their chosen issue by giving a presentation in their local community. It’s much better if learners develop one course of action than list a series of different actions.

Advise learners to sum up their learning by answering their question, using some of the evidence already presented and not to bring in any new information. In Global Perspectives, learners should also include their personal perspective in their conclusion as they reflect on how this has developed or changed referring to the research conducted, and the national or global perspective analysed. A useful guide for developing a personal perspective is asking questions: ‘What did I used to think?’; ‘What do I think now?’; and ‘How and why has my thinking developed or changed?’

Remind learners to check they have given credit to all information sources in a reference list, which includes the author, date published, title, and publication or website address. If they include a website address, they also have to include the date they accessed it.

 

For more guidance on the Research Report for Cambridge Lower Secondary Global Perspectives, look at our Stage 9 learner’s skills books and teachers books, authored by Keely Laycock. Inside, you’ll find an entire unit dedicated to planning, writing and reviewing the report.

 

Keely Laycock is an experienced trainer for all levels of Cambridge Global Perspectives and is also the author of our Cambridge Lower Secondary and Cambridge IGCSE™ and O Level Global Perspectives resources. For more teaching and learning guidance, explore our Cambridge Global Perspectives resources today and find the perfect fit for your classroom needs.