In semester 2 of 2022-23 when AI use was increasing, I decided to totally revamp my grade 12 World History course culminating activity. I made it mostly in class; this was accomplished because it had less of a research focus and more of a reflection/analysis focus. The project centered on the identification of course themes interwoven throughout the units, such as racism, decolonization, global trade, conflict and cooperation. Like my previous CCAs, the final product was still a lengthy essay complete with all the tips about essay writing.

I made a few revisions for this year (2025) but still kept the focus on in-class work using the course materials (which, to be frank, are pretty detailed and contain a good selection of primary sources).

The new CCA is called The Evidence Project. It focuses on how the course deals with evidence, both secondary and primary. It challenges students to think of history in a complex, deep way.

Whereas my previous CCAs were very research-oriented, this new CCA approach emphasizes annotation and tracking of course materials rather than note-taking from outside sources. I thought very long and hard about making this switch; outside of AI usage, my motivating factors were time (students tend to take a lot longer to do things these days as their productivity is limited by phone usage), reading levels (generally declining, in my opinion), awareness of world events (generally declining in my opinion), and the increase in my own responsibilities in my job outside of classroom teaching (being ACL of Student Success and Instructional Support at my school).

Because the new project worked so well with my fantastic CHY4U class in semester 2 of 2022-23 school year, I decided to try it again, with some revamps, for the current semester (introduced late April, 2025).

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