Modern History · Year 11

Active learning ideas

The Great Depression: Global Impact

Students struggle to grasp the human cost of Stalin’s policies when they remain abstract. Active learning turns those policies into lived experiences, letting students test choices and feel the consequences. Role plays, discussions, and document analysis make the scale of change and suffering real in ways lectures alone cannot.

• ACARA Content Descriptions
• AC9HI503
• AC9HI504

• 30–60 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 3 activities

Activity 01

• Simulation Game
• 60 min · Small Groups

Simulation Game: The Five-Year Plan Game

Groups are given ambitious production targets for 'steel' and 'coal'. They must decide how to meet them with limited resources. As the game progresses, they face 'purges' if they fail, simulating the pressure and fear of the Stalinist era.

Analyze how the collapse of international trade exacerbated the global depression.

Facilitation Tip

Before starting the Five-Year Plan Game, give each student a role card that specifies a production quota, access to resources, and a hidden personal goal to build tension.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'How did the collapse of international trade, fueled by protectionist policies, worsen the global impact of the Great Depression?' Ask students to share specific examples of countries imposing tariffs and the immediate effects on their trading partners.

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Social Awareness
• Decision-Making

Activity 02

• Think-Pair-Share
• 30 min · Pairs

Think-Pair-Share: The Cult of Personality

Pairs analyze Soviet propaganda posters and 'retouched' photos where former leaders have been removed. They discuss how Stalin used these tools to rewrite history and share their findings with the class.

Evaluate the impact of the Gold Standard on national economic recovery efforts.

Facilitation Tip

During the Cult of Personality Think-Pair-Share, provide a mix of propaganda images and critical cartoons so students compare sources rather than assume all images are neutral.

What to look for

Provide students with a short, declassified government report excerpt from the 1930s detailing unemployment figures or soup kitchen queues in a specific city. Ask them to identify the primary social consequence described and suggest one potential contributing economic factor.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Awareness
• Relationship Skills

Activity 03

• Gallery Walk
• 40 min · Small Groups

Gallery Walk: The Gulag and the Purges

Stations feature maps of the Gulag system, survivor testimonies, and lists of 'enemies of the people'. Students record the different ways the state maintained control through terror and forced labor.

Explain the social consequences of mass unemployment and poverty across different countries.

Facilitation Tip

Have students write down one immediate reaction on a sticky note before moving during the Gulag Gallery Walk to prevent passive observation.

What to look for

Students create a brief infographic comparing the economic recovery strategies of two different countries during the Great Depression. They then exchange infographics and provide feedback on the clarity of the comparison and the accuracy of the historical details presented.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Create
• Relationship Skills
• Social Awareness

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teachers often rush to condemn Stalin’s actions without helping students understand how ideology and bureaucracy enabled them. Start with the bureaucracy—show how Party positions like General Secretary were used to control information and appointments. Avoid framing Stalin as an inevitable tyrant; instead, have students reconstruct how power vacuums and ideological splits made his rise possible. Research shows that when students analyze primary documents in sequence, they notice how language shifts from hope to coercion over time.

By the end of these activities, students should connect Stalin’s economic goals to daily life, explain how power shifted in the USSR, and weigh the benefits against the human cost. They should also practice historical empathy while maintaining critical analysis of sources.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During the Five-Year Plan Game, watch for students assuming that the Plans were designed with clear goals and fair implementation.

  Use the debrief to contrast official goals with student-generated data on quotas missed, resources diverted, and human costs. Ask, 'What incentives did planners ignore when they set these targets?'

• During the Cult of Personality Think-Pair-Share, watch for students accepting all propaganda as truth.

  Have pairs analyze two contrasting sources and identify loaded language or omissions. Ask them to present one claim and one counter-claim from their sources.

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Methods used in this brief

• Simulation Game
• Think-Pair-Share
• Gallery Walk