The October Revolution - Year 11 Modern History

Introduction

Today’s lesson will focus on the October Revolution as part of the coming unit on the Russian Revolution.

As discussed in last lesson, The Russian Revolution was ignited by the growing communist movement in Russia following the ongoing failures of Tsar Nicholas II in World War I. This movement was fuelled by civic unrest, poverty, militarist leanings and the overwhelming gap between the upper classes (Bourgeoisie) and the lower classes (Proleteriat).

During 1917, there were two major revolutions which took over Russia and established a government which was unlike anything ever seen before.

As established in last weeks lesson, The March Revolution (February 23, 1917) dismantled the Imperial Government in Russia and caused Tsar Nicholas II to abdicate from the throne and go under house arrest. This revolution lead to the rise of elected officials (Soviets) and continued civic dissent towards the Provisional government in Russia concerning the war effort.

Today’s lesson will focus on the October Revolution (October 25, 1917) and how a variety of causes contributed to the Revolution.

Task

Today’s task will be for you to work in groups of four – five to analyse a pre-chosen cause and identify how that cause contributed to the October Revolution and the success of the Bolsheviks.

Imagine you have possession of a time machine. You have the power to return to any point in time and change things without any fear of retribution or consequence. Remembering your study into the Russian Revolution, you, along with your team members, decide to return to the past and solve one of the causes of the October Revolution. You use your knowledge and historical analysis to figure out the best plan of attack.

Together in your groups of four – five today, you will be given a cause for the October Revolution. You will then use the resources made available to you in the Credits tab of this WebQuest to analysis the cause and determine how that cause contributed to the October Revolution.

You will be assigned a cause from the following list:

Civic Unrest
The War Effort
The Provisional Government
The Soviets
Poverty

After partaking in significant historical analysis as a group, you will create a presentation on your findings and present this as a group to the class, outlined how your assigned cause contributed to the October Revolution and how this cause could have been prevented.

This presentation will be presented using ICT.

ICT options include:

Prezi
Powerpoint
PowToon
Popplet
Student suggestion - MUST BE APPROVED BY TEACHER

Process

After arranging yourselves into groups of four – five, you will be given your assigned cause.

You will then use the resources made available to you in this WebQuest to further research and critically analyse your cause and how it contributed to the October Revolution.

You should carefully consider the key players in the October Revolution (Lenin, Trotsky, etc) within your analysis and contemplate the role that they played in the October Revolution and their contribution to its success.

After utilizing the resources made available to you (of which you must cite at least three) and discussing your findings and historically backed opinion with your group members, you will work as a team to compile a presentation on your assigned cause using one of the ICT resources mentioned in prior tab.

This presentation should include the following:

What your cause was
How it contributed to the October Revolution
Who contributed towards this cause
How the February Revolution affected this cause
How this cause was changed following the October Revolution
How it could have been prevented.

You will then present your presentation to the class, during which each group member will discuss at least one of the bullet points mentioned above.

Evaluation

Students will be assessed on the following criteria:

Students ability to discern the credibility and reliability of resources provided and select relevant information
Students ability to learn and work collaboratively to produce a relevant presentation that addresses the task
Appropriate use of ICT to communicate findings
Student solution to assigned cause is appropriate and supported by relevant information
Historical writing is clear and concise.
Correct punctuation and grammar is properly exhibited throughout presentation
Students are able to demonstrate critical thinking and historical analysis

Conclusion

This task was designed today to develop your historical analysis, critical thinking abilities and understanding of both the causes and effects of the October Revolution. This task was also designed as a basis for this term's unit on the Russian Revolution.

It was the endeavour of this WebQuest to provide you, as students, with an adequate foundational knowledge of the October Revolution, as well as the causes and effects that contributed to its success.

But I would also like to reflect upon and evaluate the success of this activity through the following questions.

Did you find this activity to be personally useful to your learning?
What would you like to change about it?
What did you learn in this activity?
Do you think the activity is more beneficial in a group or individual setting?
Did this activity enhance your historical understanding?
Do you feel you could adequately explain the five main causes of the October Revolution without referring to notes?
What do you feel worked and didn't work in this activity?
Do you feel more or less secure in your historical knowledge after this activity?
Would you enjoy similar activities in the future?
Do you feel that the ICT enhanced the activity and presentations?

Credits

Teacher Page

Rationale

The inquiry-based activity which I have outlined in this WebQuest is one that I feel strongly aligns with not only the Senior Syllabus for Modern History, but also with the ICT Capability Learning Continuum outlined by ACARA. This lesson has been designed to develop students historical analysis abilities with special reference to utilizing ICT through this. The topic that I chose to discuss in my lesson was the Russian Revolution (Specifically the October Revolution of 1917). I chose this topic because I feel that it is a topic which would be useful in developing students historical analysis and critical thinking abilities and furthermore demonstrate the ways in which ICT can be used as a tool in this. The activity that I designed involved students using a variety of sources in the pursuit of discerning relevant information. Students were then to utilize an ICT resource of their choice, either Prezi, Popplet or PowToon to create a presentation that would inform the class of their findings. In terms of the ICT Capability Learning Continuum, this WebQuest ticks off quite a few boxes. Firstly, “select and use ICT to articulate ideas and concepts, and plan the development of complex solutions.” This capability is assessed through the students ability to take the information which they are provided with and discern the relevant information, followed by their use of ICT to produce an adequate presentation that clearly communicates their findings and addresses the task. The second capability to be achieved is “select and use a range

of ICT tools efficiently and safely to share and exchange information, and to collaboratively and purposefully construct knowledge.” This capability is assessed through the students ability to use their chosen ICT resource to communicate their findings in a collaborative manner with their whole group. Thirdly is the capability “develop and use criteria systematically to evaluate the quality, suitability and credibility of located data or information and sources.” This capability is achieved through the students collaborative investigative ability. By working collaboratively to investigate the data that is provided through the resources, students are able to demonstrate their ability to assess relevant information in accordance with the provided criteria. Pedagogically speaking, the task aligns with two core educational theories. The first being Bruner’s theory on discovery-based learning. This theory is an inquiry based learning that involves learners discovering facts and relationships for themselves. This is demonstrated in the WebQuest by the students using the resources available to discover the facts that surround the October Revolution for themselves. The second theory which is most closely aligned in this task is Piaget’s constructivism theory, which is centred around the students building their own understandings through experience. This is demonstrated in the task by the students using both their own understanding of the October Revolution as well as the collaborative understanding of their group members to form opinions and solutions to their assigned cause of the October Revolution. All in all, I believe that this task uses ICT in a way which enhances and develops students historical abilities and skills.

The October Revolution - Year 11 Modern History

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assignment Task

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fact_check Evaluation

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