HSC Science Guide -
How to write a Band 6 Inquiry Question?
The following steps will guide you through the process in writing up a Band 6 inquiry question as required for your HSC Chemistry, Biology or Physics depth study.
1. Identify the core concepts that you wish to examine, discuss, analyse, evaluate, etc.
2. Think about how the core concepts are similar and different to each other.
By doing this, you can identify the specific points where you can dive into detail for your core concepts. This will allow you to deliver a comprehensive depth study piece.
You should also identify the ways that your core concepts are related to each other together to write a coherent report.
3. Map out one or multiple angle of approaches in which the core concepts can be used to answer the inquiry question.
What do we mean by concepts? Concepts can be theories, laws, applications, principles (e.g. moral ethical principles), real life situations/events, etc that are relevant and can be used to address your inquiry question.
Your core concepts should complement each other to help build a coherent piece.
Practical Checklist
Below are the general criteria that you should use to gauge whether the inquiry question that you developed is good enough:
1. Your inquiry question should be open-ended.
That being said, the inquiry question should be one that you can address with a solution. If not, then you can’t answer it! However, the solution you provide will not be one that is clear-cut as there is no definitive right or wrong answer to your inquiry question. That’s the beauty of a well-written open-ended inquiry question.
2. Your inquiry question is able to inspire the reader’s opinions and discussion of the topic raised.
It is indeed common to see that your inquiry question may be associated with multiple topics or fields.
However, it is best to frame your inquiry question and response to focus on only one of your HSC modules unless otherwise stated explicitly in the marking guidelines of your depth study.
3. At the end, your inquiry question should result in further questions in your audience.
4. In order for your response to the inquiry question to be sufficiently comprehensive, your response to the inquiry question must incorporate secondary data. If you have gathered any primary data, add them in your response too!
These data sources will support your thesis and key points aimed at addressing the inquiry question comprehensively.
5. Does your inquiry question and response to the inquiry question help shape the original perspective of your audience?
Does your audience go “Hmm, interesting…!” after they read your inquiry question?
If yes, then you are on the right track!
6. By challenging or helping to shape your audience’s initial perspective, your inquiry question and response should cause in your audience to ponder about the point raised and evoke their emotions.
7. Your inquiry question addresses a point that is persistent across time, not one that is already expired (i.e. the inquiry question is no longer relevant to us, humans).
This last checkpoint will help boost the relevancy of your inquiry question.
FINAL NOTE FOR YOU
Your inquiry question should NOT be one that is able to be answered by your audience by them merely recalling facts that they have learnt in the past.
If your audience can draft a comprehensive response immediately after reading the inquiry question simply by recalling and stating facts, then mostly likely, your inquiry question:
Is not sufficiently open-ended to inspire and encourage the input of your audience’s opinion.
Does not result in further questions being raised by audience.
Does not challenge or shape the audience’s original perspective as there is already an existing answer to the inquiry question that is ‘unanimously’ agreed to be true or accurate almost everyone in the world.
Or a combination of the above.
Remember: You don’t want your audience to be recalling facts when they attempt to formulate an answer to your inquiry question. You want the reaction to be “Hmm, interesting..!” after reading your inquiry question.