Battle of Quebec

This was a module I designed to help teach Albertan social studies curricular outcomes in my own Social Studies 7 classroom. I felt inspired by the point-and-click adventures of my youth to create a learning experience with some of those elements.

The Who: Specifically for Social Studies 7, though it can be used for any age

The What: Designed to teach about the Battle of Quebec in a more entertaining fashion

The How: Articulate Storyline 360, GIMP, Camtasia

The Problem

Social studies often has a reputation for being the most boring of the four core subjects. While I certainly don't feel this way (usually), I knew a lot of my students did and so I wanted to plan and create something a little more unique and memorable for them.

The Battle of Quebec is one of my favourite events in Canadian history, and I knew that my eagerness to teach it would likely result in getting carried away with all the intricacies and details that aren't necessarily important, and then fifty minutes later the bell would ring and I wouldn't have actually done anything productive. So, I decided to put the learning directly in the hands of my students.

The Process

First and foremost, I had to create an assessment to go along with this project of mine. Designing learning by first creating a summative assessment is an important part of educational theory, and its a process known as backwards design. My goals in designing this assessment were to help my students be able to answer the "5 W's" of the Battle of Quebec: who, what, where, when and why. So I created a worksheet that students would fill in as they progressed through the module, and then hand in to me when they were finished. The worksheet was essentially just a chart with the "5 W's" sectioned off and space beside them for students to write their answers, and then a few extra questions for other details that I determined were particularly important.

Once I had my assessment finished, I began my work on the module itself. I found an image of an old map of Quebec and used that as a starting point where students could choose how they wanted to take part in the battle. I made use of triggers and variables to ensure objects moved around and appeared when they were supposed to.

Everything in this project was done on my own; I wrote it, tested it, edited the audio and video files that were used, and used it for my own personal classes.