Somebody Call 9-1-1

Do you have all the facts?  Conducting an investigation with partial information is difficult.  Using the backdrop of a tragedy, this example pieces together parts of an event to show how misinformation or lack of information changes our perception of an event.  The tragedy is the 1920 fire that burned the University’s signature building to the ground, incidentally for the second time.

Audience:

General example that is used for undergraduate students and can be used for graduate students to remind them about research skills.

Has been done for a group of Grade 7 students.

Objectives:

• To be guided through the research process with access to original sources.
• To introduce primary and secondary sources.
• To demonstrate how primary and secondary sources work together.
• To allow for discovery time with original sources.
• To recognize bias in historical sources.

Ingredients:

ü  Prints (2 sets of 6, some with information and some without)

ü  Negatives of the prints

ü  Photocopies of the prints, very poor quality

ü  Digital copies of some prints, without any information

ü  Published histories

ü  Music can be used at some point, perhaps “Somebody Call 9-1-1” by Sean Kingston

ü  Activity questions

Examine the documents provided and answer the following questions:

1.     What type of source is it?

2.     What is the date of the document?

3.     Who created the document?

4.     Why was the document created?

5.     Any distinguishing marks or features on the document?

Consider the following:

                What does the existence of this document tell you about its creator?

                What does this document tell you about this part of local history?

                Is this an accurate representation of what is happening?

                Why do you believe that this is or is not an accurate representation?

                What questions are left unanswered by the document?

Consider if there are there differences between the physical and digital versions of a document?  If so, in what way are they different?

Method:

Prep time about 10 minutes

1.       Pull all of the sources.

2.       Distribute the sources, one each to a table.  So, one table has the published histories, one has a set of prints, etc.

3.       Print off and distribute a copy of the questions to be completed.

Exercise time between 15 and 20 minutes

1.       Divide the students in four or five groups, one group at each table with a source and questions.

2.       Ask each group to examine the source and answer the questions as best as possible.  You know that many of the groups have insufficient information to answer most of the questions.  Only one group has all of the answers.

3.       Allow 10 minutes for the groups to answer the questions.

OPTIONAL, allow the groups to switch sources part way through the exercise so that they can continue examining sources.

4.       Bring the students’ attention back to a larger discussion about the challenges of answering the questions.  Explain that each group was given some facts but not all.

5.       Ask each group to talk about the source they were given and whether or not they could answer all of the questions.  Start with the worst source (the poor photocopies); save the best source for last (the published history).

6.       Explain the limitations, challenges, and rewards of doing research.

7.       Discuss how primary and secondary sources help with the process of research.

Outcomes:

·         Examining original and digital primary and secondary sources for research purposes.

·         Learn about a part of the University’s history.

·         Gain skills in doing research with primary and secondary sources.

·         Learn that research requires asking the right questions and examining sources.

·         Understand the limitations of using sources in isolation of each other, especially digital sources.

Assignment:

There is no assignment attached to this exercise.  This is done as a quick introduction only and not meant to have much depth.

Notes:

A tragedy gets students talking and thinking about their common past.  Students often want to see all of the sources related to this event, especially the pictures, and talk about how the campus changed after the fire.  They are also interested in the building itself and the contents that were lost.

Another modification that could be brought into this example is to include a print of and artefact from another fire, which burned that same building about 40 years earlier.  This would be a deliberate inclusion to present misinformation and generate a discussion about verification of sources.