Generating questions - See Think Wonder

Learning intention

Students generate different types of questions to guide their research, using an image or object as a starting point.

Students will:

• Identify and select different kinds of questions about the past to inform historical inquiry 

Pathway

This activity is part of the Define the task stage of the research process. 

Resources

• Selection of images from ergo, the SLV catalogue or other archive like Trove to use as provocations
• See Think Wonder template (eg. sample See Think Wonder template)
• For student information, go to the Generating questions page in the Define the task section of this site.

Activity

Display a selection of images in the class. Explain how the See Think Wonder chart works and hand out to students in pairs or small groups. Model the process and give students time to respond to each section:

• What do you see? Record only what's visible - try not to make judgements or predictions
• What do you think about that? What do you already know about this image? Can this give you any clues? Based on this knowledge, what assumptions can you make?
• What does it make you wonder? What questions do you have now? Think about what came before and what came after, what is outside of this image.

Ask students to share their responses.