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ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT
Shopping for Values: Communication and Clarification of Values
in the Classroom
Ron VonBehren
Title V – Spring 2003
U.S. Government I/POS 2041
INTRODUCTION AND PROBLEM
Do the students learn values in my U.S. Government I course? That is the basic question that this Action Research Project set out to answer. According to the Valencia’s Student Core Competencies, students who graduate from the college should be able to “make reasoned value judgments and responsible commitments.” In doing so, students must also be able to recognize, distinguish, employ, evaluate, and articulate values.
How, then, should the professors construct their courses so that students learn values and make them relevant in their lives? One preliminary question that should be addressed is; should professors communicate a common set or values, or guide students in clarifying their own values. The prevailing opinion in educational circles is the latter. But, in discussing the topic with a wide-range of people including a number of educators, most feel that there is a common set of values that should be communicated. It seems that there are two types of values— objective and subjective. There is some disagreement about what the objective values are, but there some clear examples such as, honesty, tolerance, and punctuality. Subjective values; of course, vary widely from individual to individual.
It is the conclusion of this researcher that professors should do both—communicate objective values and help students clarify their own subjective values. By incorporating a pre and post tests into a U.S. Government course, an attempt will be made to determine if students are learning both types of values. The test will include questions designed to assess both objective and subjective values.
The professor will also incorporate a number of classroom activities to communicate values to students and clarify values for students. Those activities will include discussions, debates, confronting moral issues, solving moral dilemmas, and dramas. The method presented in this project will be a discussion of a number social and political issues. The student will be given a checklist of forty current issues, which will be debated in class. The students will, and then are asked to clarify their own positions on each of the subjects and state and defend those positions in an analytical essay.
BACKGROUND AND PREPARATION
Literature:
Angelo, Thomas, and K. Patricia Cross. Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1993.
Bok, D. Beyond the University: Social Responsibility of the Modern University. Cambridge: Harvard University Press,
Brookfield, Stephen D. Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1995.
Hanley, Mary Stone, and Geneva Gay. “Teaching Moral Education and Social Action through Drama.” Talking Points , volume 14, number 1, 2002.
Liseman, C.D. “Integrating the Teaching of Ethics in the Community College Curriculum.” (ED 413 948), 1992.
Meade, E., and S. Weaver. “Ethic Education: Connecting Learning to Socially Responsible Living,” Professional Ethics , 8 (1), 2001.
Palloff, Rena M., and Keith Pratt. Building Learning Communities in Cyberspace: Effective Strategies for the Online Classroom. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1999.
Smith, A., and J.M. Martin. “Developing a Values Curriculum” in Shaping the Curriculum , A. M. Cohen , ed. (pp 81-91). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1979.
Thomas, R.M. “Teaching Values Through General Education Outcomes” in Directing Education Outcomes , N.A. Raisman. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1993.
Walvoord, Barbara E. and Virginia Johnson Anderson. Effective Grading: A Tool for Leaning and Assessment. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1998.
Meetings and Seminars
Introduction to Action Research (11/22/02) Title V Kickoff (12/7/03) Technology Roundtable – Stephen D. Brookfield (1/17/03) Assessment Seminar – Wendi Troxel (1/30/03) Core Competency Seminar (2/21/03) Core Competency Roundtable (2/28/03) Learning Communities Seminar – Ed Dolan (3/7/03) Learning Communities Roundtable (3/14/03) Lifemap and Critical Thinking Seminar – Skip Downing (4/10/03) Lifemap and Critical Thinking Seminar (4/18/03) Diversity Seminar – Margery Ginsburg (4/24/03) Showcase Roundtable (5/23/03)
Critical Thinking Lenses
Outcomes
What learning outcomes are you seeking?
Criteria
How would you know (the outcome) if you saw it? (What will the student be able to do?)
Techniques
How will you measure the criteria listed in #2? (How will you know?)
How will you help students prepare for the assessments in item #3?
- Think – analyze forty socio/economic issues.
- Value – evaluate their positions on the socio/economic issues.
- Communicate – present position on issues orally and in written form.
- Act – demonstrate their decision making ability.
A student paper, which will demonstrate the student’s thinking process.
The difference of scores on the pre and post test.
The quality of classroom discussion and analytical essay.
The quality of the student’s ability to choose between competing ideas.
The student paper
The pre/post test.
The analytical essay.
The classroom discussion and analytical essay.
Discussion of forty issues in a guide classroom activity.
Discussion of forty issues.
An analytical essay that will demonstrate the student’s ability to communicate their ideas.
An analytical essay that will demonstrate the student’s decision making process.
The planned assessment for this project on communicating and clarifying values will be a pre and post test. It will be administered online to satisfy the technology component of the Title V grant. The students in my fall Tuesday/Thursday and Friday U.S. Government courses will take a Personal Values Survey online during the first two of weeks of the semester. They will take the same survey before taking the final exam. The results of the two tests will be analyzed to determine if the students significantly increase their scores on the Personal Values Survey.
A number of classroom assessment methods and techniques will be employed to either communicate or clarify student values. One of the chief methods that will be used is a class discussion utilizing a checklist of forty socio/economic issues. Each issue will be thoroughly discussed and debated. The will then produce a substantial analytical essay presenting the position of the portion of the issues presented. They will have to
EFFECTIVE PRESENTATION:
- Title V Showcase June 5, 2003
- Social Science department meeting Fall, 2003
SIGNIFICANT RESULTS:
REFLECTIVE CRITIQUE:
