Lesson Plan Critique:

Guiding Students Understanding Towards their Government and the Civic

Mirror Experience

Cole Anderson
32916025
University of British Columbia
December 4, 2016
ETEC 512 - 64A

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Introduction & Overview
The original Social Studies 11 lesson plan that was submitted for approval was taught at
the Richmond School District Continuing Education in the summer of July 2016. In this
assignment I will model how a hybrid model between behaviourism, information processing and
constructivism can be used to achieve students understanding the relevance of new knowledge
in regards to the Canadian Government and the Civic Mirror simulation. This was a critical
weakness in the original submitted lesson plan.

In the original lesson plan there was an insufficient level of student engagement and the
revised lesson can be used in any traditional traditional brick and mortar classroom. The original
and revised lesson was day 2 of a 5 day unit plan. As a summer school full credit course each
class was three hours long with a 15 minute break. The core objective of the lesson was to
introduce students to the basic structure of the Canadian Government as well as the signature
component in the course which was Civic Mirror.

As the original lesson plan approval indicated Civic Mirror was the gamification of
learning because students were assigned, by the educator, secrete agendas while creating their
own political parties within their digital country. As the result the students would transform the
classroom into a living and breathing country that they control. In this digital country there was a
48 piece digital hex map that promoted the students to take an active role in their learning which
transforms the classroom into a new digital online dimension of learning. In this new dimension
the educators role is only a facilitator in the simulation to advance the events such as Elections,
Winter: House of Commons and Spring: Market Public Trading. All of the in-game mechanics for
both the students and educator are explained in two separate manuals that can be purchased or
viewed as PDF on the Civic Mirror website.

In the game Civic Mirror there are events that occur. The event sequence are as follows:

Pre-Game Events (happen only once)

Introduction Practice Game Secret Agendas Election Hex Auction

In-Game Events (Occur as many times as the educator wishes)

Winter: House of Commons Spring: Public Market
Summer: Town Hall Meeting Fall: National Court Hearings

The Proposed Changes to the Original Lesson Plan:

In the improved and revised lesson plan for this assignment a colour code was included
to indicate the intended objective changes to the original lesson plan that was taught by Mr.
Anderson on Thursday July 7, 2016 on Day 2 of 22 in the Richmond School District Continuing
Education.

Original lesson plan is in black and the substantial corrections being strikethrough.
Changes in Constructivism is in red
Changes in Information Processing is in Blue
Changes in Behaviourism is in green

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 The precise changes can be seen on the revised lesson plan document that has been
included as a separate document for this assignment along with the original PowerPoint
presentation.

Behaviourism
The mistake the original lesson plan had was a failure of the educator to establish the
positive learning dynamics within the classroom on the very first day because of the 22 day
summer schedule. On the opening day students should be demonstrated correct modelling
behaviours to negate any possible negative behaviours from developing into acceptable habits
(White, 2010). To achieve this goal the educator should provide positive reinforcement to all the
students who arrived on time while allowing them to form their own research groups and
empowering student administered open floor discussions throughout the lesson. To achieve this
goal Civic Mirror can be used to positively reinforce non-disruptive behaviours by awarding or
subtracting points through the in-game mechanics such as well-being points and status
points. This was the first step to achieving a hybrid model for early 21st century learning.

To advance positive behaviour shaping positive student behaviour in a warm summer

classroom can be achieved through carefully planned educator on the students completed self-
questionnaire and positive reinforcement work habit stamp sheets (student hand-out #2). By
including positive shaping, along with cueing students early on in stage #3 or #5 in the lesson
plan, positive behaviours can be achieved by a simple use of verbal or non-verbal cues to guide
the students to the appropriate and desirable behaviours (White, 2010). If needed the in-game
mechanics of Civic Mirror can be used to advance and reinforce the desirable objective in the
revised lesson plan. When Students log into the Civic Mirror website to view their country and
personal statistics they will instantly know if they have lost or gained any points as the result of
their behaviours.

Information Processing
Another mistake within the original lesson plan was how the students were to process
and understand the importance of the new information of a difficult topic about the Canadian
Government. By enhancing the importance of the Civic Mirror as the educational gateway
platform this would reinforce Judy Williss theory of game learning (Willis, 2011). With the
inclusion of the Civic Mirror simulation a gamification scaffolding can be fully introduced to the
students by stage #7 in the revised lesson plan. This will reinforce stage #2,3 and 5 because it
would trigger the students Short-Term and Episodic Memory (Lutz,& Huitt, 2003) in the critical
self-reflecting question on What has the Government Done for Me? and Where Are You on
the Political Spectrum? (student hand-out #1) In the revised lesson this is important because in
Civic Mirror students will form their own political parties, have a leaders debate and hold a
preferential ballot selection on election day to see who will be their Prime Minister is for the next
two years in the game.

In addition to the educator using open ended classroom discussions additional

information on the basic structure to the Canadian Parliamentary System can be achieved
through a Cognitive Strategies model. Students will learn vital knowledge about the Canadian
Government through the note taking in the lesson plan: stage #4 (see the teacher generated
powerpoint). Additionally Metacognitive Strategies will include a self evaluation for the

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students to complete a questionnaire on their own personal values and where those are found
on the political spectrum. While Dual coding Theory (Lutz,& Huitt, 2003) will empower the
students to give an equal amount of importance towards verbal and nonverbal learning skills
because the note taking of the lesson plan will include a series of teacher delivered content and
thought provoking questions for the students to answer. The answers students provide to the
educator will influence which student will be assigned which secrete agenda in Civic Mirror
(humanitarian, liberal, fascist etc) by the end of the class. Judy Williss theory of using
gamification as a scaffold to student learning will be achieved and generally will enhance the
students understanding of the Canadian Parliamentary system as a synergy bonus in the
revised lesson plan (Willis, 2011).

Constructivism
To complete the hybrid objective in the revised lesson plan is the constructivism the
failure to include a clear constructivist theory in the lesson plan was the largest mistake in the
original lesson plan. In stage #3 students should have been empowered and given the chance
to use their phones, or the class iPads, to help them in their groups to formulate an answer to a
challenging question that the educator gave to them at the beginning of class. Additionally, in
Civic Mirror, there was a vast amount of game mechanics for the the students to learn in a very
short period of time. By having the students using their manuals in stage #7, and completing the
three ten question reading checks in Civic Mirror, students were engaged in their learning
because the educator is not providing to them the answers. The educator merely facilitates
setting up the challenge and then allows the students to find the answers knowing that not all
the students to complete the assigned challenge. This would have fundamentally changed and
enhanced the dynamics in the the original lesson plan.

The constructivist strategy in conjunction with Civic Mirror synergies well with Piagets
fourth stage intellectual development theory for accuracy the Formal Operations for 12-16
year old students (Glassman, 1994). Students who take Social Studies 11 are place within
Piagets age bracket and have opinions and thoughts about themselves and the world that they
live in. The biggest value for Civic Mirror is providing the students with a safe, digital
environment for them to experience the real-world. But experiencing the real-world within the
context of the course that focuses on government, global issues, economics and history.

Conclusion:
By using the suggested corrections and enhancements based upon the hybrid model of
behaviourism, information processing and constructivism this would be a very good lesson.
Using Civic Mirror is the best way to implement and promoting active student engagement in
what has been traditionally a very challenging course. That was a critical mistake in the original
lesson plan.

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Appendices / Teacher Generated Student Hand-Outs #1:

Where Are You on the Political Spectrum?

(self questionnaire)
Political parties are comprised of people who share a similar points of view on one or more
important issues that affect them or Canadians in general. This questionnaire will give you a clue
as to whether you fall on the left, the right or in the centre of the Political Spectrum. This is not a
test! Answer each question as honestly as you can. On the answer sheet please place an X in
one of the four spaces that have been provided for each answer.

Your Opinion Questions

i. The death penalty is wrong and shout not be allowed under any or all circumstances
ii. The government should use taxpayers money to provide free daycare for all Canadian parents
iii. The Directors of big companies that pollute our air should be personally fined and sent to prison.
iv. Canada should allow any immigrant who wants to move to Canada can do so.
v. Canadas Native peoples should be given the land they were promises in the treaties that were signed with
the government no matter how old those treaties are...
vi. If a factory is polluting our air and water the government should close it down even if it means that the
factory workers will lose their jobs.
vii. Our government should spend less money on our armed forces.
viii. Laws should be passed and enforces that will make sure that women will receive the same pay as men do
when they do work of equal value.
ix. The United States should not be allowed to test its cruise missiles in Canada even if this means that its
workers will lose their jobs.
x. High school students should be allowed to take any courses that they want as there should be no
compulsory subjects.
xi. If a person is poor, it is not his or her own fault but the government should help out such people by providing
generous financial aid.
xii. The government should control the amount of rent that a landlord can charge his or her tenants.
xiii. The tax laws should be changes to make rich people and big companies pay more than they do already
today.
xiv. The government should provide a mother with enough money to allow her to stay at home for a longer
period of time after she has had a baby.
xv. A woman who has decided that she wants to have an abortion should be allowed to do so without having to
get anyone elses permission to proceed.
xvi. No person or even government should be allowed to censor any book, movie or pieces of music as it is a
form of personal expression.
xvii.Artists, writers and musicians are more important in our society than are the business executives.
xviii.Workers who can go on strike do it for good reason and they serve to have the public support.
xix. The government should give more money to our universities and community colleges in order to keep
students fees as low as possible even if it means that taxes will raise.
xx. Canada should give more financial aid to the poorer and developing countries.

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 Answer Sheet

For each question place an X that will indicate if you strongly agree, agree, disagree, or
strongly disagree with each statement.

Question Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly

Disagree

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20

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 Your Score

You can now turn you answer into a score using the following formula to know what side of the
political spectrum you fall under.

Number of Strongly Agrees _______________ x5= _______________

Number of Agrees _______________ x3= _______________
Number of Disagrees _______________ x2= _______________
Number of Strongly Disagrees _______________ x1= _______________

GRAND TOTAL = ___________________

Indicate where you fall on the Political Spectrum

Please indicate on the spectre below where you score based upon the questionnaire.

100 75 50 25 0

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Left Moderate Centre Moderate Right

Wing Left Wing Right Wing Wing

Party Positions

Liberal 50 - 60
New Democratic Party 65 - 75
Conservatives 35 - 45
Libertarian Less than 35

Are You Surprised by the Answers?

Please use the space below to write whether or not you are surprised by your end result once
you have finished this exercise.
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

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Appendices / Teacher Generated Student Hand-Outs #2:

Homework Stamp Sheet

Remember that workweek will be one of the three following categories: prep, practice or prepare. The
more times you successfully complete your homework on time the greater the chances will be of you
earning additional badges and other in-class rewards.
Due: Due: Due: Due:
Assigned: Assigned: Assigned: Assigned:

Due: Due: Due: Due:

Assigned: Assigned: Assigned: Assigned:

Due: Due: Due: Due:

Assigned: Assigned: Assigned: Assigned:

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References:
A Neurologist Makes the Case for the Video Game Model as a Learning Tool. Accessed on
October 3, 2016, http://www.edutopia.org/blog/neurologist-makes-case-video-game-model-learning-tool.

Behaviourism in Action. Accessed on November 18, 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=RY3t2sijb4M&feature=related.

Building Students Success - BCs New Curriculum, accessed on October 10, 2016, https://
curriculum.gov.bc.ca.

Lutz, S., & Huitt, W. (2003). Information processing and memory: Theory and applications.
Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University.

Fudge, D. L., Skinner, C. H., Williams, J. L., Cowden, D., Clark, J., & Bliss, S. L. (2008).
Increasing on-task behavior in every student in a second-grade classroom during
transitions: Validating the color wheel system. Journal of School Psychology, 46(5),
575-592.

Glassman, M. (1994). All things being equal: the two roads of Piaget and Vygotsky.
Developmental Review, 14, 186-214

Orey, M. (2002). Information Processing. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning,

teaching, and technology.

The Civic Mirror, accessed on November 18, 2016, http://civicmirror.com.

Ross, Regan. Action-Ed Presents - The Civic Mirror Student Manual. Surrey: Action-Ed
Learning Resources Inc, 2008, 8-23.

Von Glasersfeld, E. (2008). Learning as a Constructive Activity. AntiMatters, 2(3), 33-49.

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Images in the student hand outs #1 & 2 were provided from copyright free on http://
search.creativecommons.org.

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