MWH Museum Exhibits

The Modern World History team wrapped up the year with a PBL unit focused around the question: How do individuals create and change culture, authority, or governance? Student teams were required to establish a clear connection between an individual and the resulting change by using historical evidence, logical reasoning and persuasion. On the last day of class, they presented their final product in a museum display and answered questions from their peers, as well as teachers and staff who visited. A variety of well-known historical figures were featured, including Che Guevara, Adam Smith, Fidel Castro. Malcolm X, Mao Zedong and Jesse Owens, to name a few.

The centerpiece of each display was the group's collaborative persuasive piece. These included "Crash Course" style videos, documentaries, comics, web sites, and even an issue of Time Magazine that featured economist Adam Smith. Each student also contributed their own individual persuasive piece to the display, such as a propaganda poster or video, letter to the editor,  or photo essay. The final component of the displays were multiple primary source documents and the students' accompanying analysis.

Students talked about the benefits and challenges of working collaboratively, with many groups mentioning negotiating and coming to consensus around their thesis as being one of the significant hurdles they had to overcome. The products were both informative and creative, and the students reported that they enjoyed the learning process, and ultimately came to a deeper understanding of how the individual they studied impacted the world they live in today.