The ISU is an ongoing, overarching unit that students will work during the entire English course. It requires that students complete a number of steps in the process before producing a final presentation that synthesizes their overall inquiry into the topic.

The first steps are straightforward: students will choose a nonfiction novel from the list provided. After reading the novel students will select a topic they are interested in and generate one or more inquiry questions for them to explore through texts and research.

Students must choose two more additional texts based on their research topic. These texts must be credible enough to allow students an opportunity to explore the research topic in depth and consider answers to the inquiry question(s).

The second text is multimedia. It could be a movie, documentary, speech, lecture or talk. It should be a reasonable length so that there is some substance to the text.

The third text is text-based. It could be a fiction novel, nonfiction novel, a textbook, a series of essays or articles, etc.

Research is the most important part of the assignment and should dominate the final product. Research needs to be sufficient in depth and credible as a source.

Students will have an opportunity to gather research at York University and may want to consider search engines such as Google Scholar.

A minimum of five or six credible sources are expected. These must be included in the presentation with explicit, embedded references and an MLA works cited.

The thesis must answer the inquiry question and be specific and arguable.

Students must have a minimum of two conferences with the teacher.

The first one will be in the ongoing ISU online discussion forum using the template provided on the course moodle. The second will involve the triple Venn diagram. Students are also highly recommended to have face to face conferences to discuss how they are progressing with the assignment.

Students will create a slideshow to present their information. Slideshows may be created using Prezi, Google Presentation, PowerPoint, etc.

After completing the ISU online, ongoing discussion with group members students will begin the conferencing process. After students feel comfortable with the topic, inquiry question and working thesis, they will construct an outline that shows the chronological structure of the presentation, including all primary and secondary evidence. Subtitles should be included to help organize the outline. The outline should be primarily in point form, with the exception of evidence that will be used in the presentation.

Students will also have to construct an MLA works cited, in addition to the embedded references of all material in the presentation.

Students will include specific references to all three of their primary texts: the nonfiction novel, the multimedia text and the third text. Secondary, credible research should dominate the arguments and provide support for the thesis, which is an explicit answer to the inquiry question(s).

The MLA works cited must be an annotated bibliography. For each of the resources it must have a short paragraph describing the type of information located there using a formal tone. No judgement of the source is necessary. Describe what information may be learned from the research resource.

One of the most important choices students will have to make is choosing to construct a video or presenting live in front of the class.

Many students initially choose a video and then later change their mind and present live in front of the class. The video does not have to incorporate the slideshow (although it is great when it does). They may be submitted separately.

With either option students will have approximately fifteen minutes to present their talk, which is stylized after TED talks (which are usually eighteen minutes in length).

An emphasis should be placed on images over the amount of text per slide.

An important step in the process is to do a mock presentation of the material in front of a small group of your peers and to receive feedback from them on the strengths and weaknesses of your work.

This usually occurs approximately a week before the final presentation is due. All students should take advantage of this opportunity as presentation in front of a group of your peers is an essential skill.

Feedback should be specific and constructive with a focus on strengths and areas for improvement. By giving feedback to others students become better at critiquing their own work.

Students will have already chosen whether they want to present live or submit a video. Although we have submitted video presentations earlier in the year this may present a challenge for some students because of the use of technology.

Please keep in mind that there is only a limited amount of time allotted to presentations at the end of the course so students must decide and communicate their choice early to allow for an opportunity to present to their peers.

Please consider relevant presentation skills before presenting such as stance, eye contact, volume, pacing, etc. Reading extensively will be heavily penalized.

Students will have an opportunity to reflect on a number of different elements related to the independent study unit, including the process, time management, the product and the assignment itself. Students should seriously consider what they need to do next time to maintain or improve on their desired level of success.

You have now completed the final independent study unit for secondary school. I hope you are excited and feel ready for your next experience, whether that is attending university, going to college, getting a job, or perhaps even travelling a little.

English, as a subject, is not so much about knowledge as it is about skill development. Some of the skills that the ISU explores include reading, analyzing and synthesizing, researching and constructing an argument, discussion and constructive criticism, communicating, designing and presenting, as well as finally reflecting on the process and the product.