DILEMMAS in Civil Rights

Curriculum Rationale Paper

T-527 – Developing Curriculum
With New Technologies

Jeremy Price
Curriculum developed in partnership with Jody Reilly

16 December 2002
Jeremy Price Dilemmas in Civil Rights Rationale 16 December 2002

Introduction
Mr. Collins, my European History teacher in high school, taught by the quote attributed

to George Santayana, “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” A poor

Irish boy from the Bronx thrust into the role of helicopter gunman during the Vietnam War, Mr.

Collins hung the quote prominently on the wall of his classroom and referred to it often in his

lectures, hoping that his students would remember the tragic mistakes humankind has made in

order to prevent those same mistakes from happening again.

John Dewey, perhaps the most influential educational thinker of the 20th century,

expressed the notion that education has a social function, and not just an academic function. “A

being connected with other beings,” writes Dewey (1961: 12), “ cannot perform his own

activities without taking the activities of others into account.” In other words, an individual

operates within a social milieu or socially aware environment. Dewey further recognized that an

individual does not operate merely in reaction to those around him or her – the individual

similarly has the power to effect change – nor is the individual’s environment limited by spatial

or temporal proximity: “The things with which a man varies are his genuine environment”

(1961: 11). The role of education in the pursuit of these greater social goals then is to transport

members of all races, ethnicities, and social classes across boundaries closer to one another,

increasing contact with each other, broadening their horizons, and expanding each other’s

spheres of influence or “environment” (Dewey 1961: 86).

With all due respect to Messrs. Collins and Santayana, simply to remember may not be

enough to prime for social and civic change. Remembering is in essence a passive process.

Understanding, on the other hand, “…is the ability to think and act flexibly with what one knows”

(emphasis added; Perkins 1998: 40). Grappling and engaging with the ideas, thinkers, heroes,

-1-
Jeremy Price Dilemmas in Civil Rights Rationale 16 December 2002

and events of history, and actively connecting the past with the present, is an effective way of

learning from history. Through understanding then, and not simply remembering, can students

help build a better world and to bring about a sense that history is nothing if not situated firmly

in the present.

The Generative Topic and Targets of Difficulty

This curriculum, “Dilemmas in Civil Rights,” one section within a larger thematic unit on

social movements in United States history1 for eighth-grade students, engages students in the

study of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s and follows the Teaching for Understanding

framework (Wiske 1998). As part of a larger unit, students are afforded the opportunity to

analyze the various social movements within their historical and social contexts, and to compare

and contrast the successes and failures of each movement.

The Civil Rights Movement in United States history can be an interesting subject of inquiry

for students drawing them in to a deeper and more thorough study, in other words, making this

topic generative. Wiske (1998: 64-5) points to four characteristics of a generative topic:

 Central to a domain or discipline: The Civil Rights Movement, as a historical topic,

is exemplary of and central to many important concepts, such as justice, power,

racism, conflict, protest, fairness, compromise, and change.

 Accessible and interesting to students: The topics listed above are often of great

interest to adolescent children as they developmentally strive to establish their own

identities within a larger social framework. In addition, the 1960’s is an era often

glamorized as a time of great change for the United States in the media through

television shows and movies.

1
Other topics include the women’s suffrage movement and the labor movement.

-2-
Jeremy Price Dilemmas in Civil Rights Rationale 16 December 2002

 Interesting to the teacher: There are teachers who lived through the Civil Rights era,

forging a personal connection to the topic. Some teachers also enter the teaching

profession for altruistic purposes, in order to effect positive social change, making the

topic of the Civil Rights Movement very important and interesting.

 Connectable: The Civil Rights Movement, in addition to being connectable to

concepts listed above in the first characteristic, can also be connected to

contemporary political events and social movements. This allows for building a

breadth and depth of inquiry in history and modern times.

While there are many aspects of the Dilemmas in Civil Rights curriculum that are

generative, increasing intrinsic motivation, there aspects of the curriculum that may be

challenging, difficult, and troublesome to the 8th-grade learner. These “targets of difficulty”

include:

 Thinking critically about the actions of national heroes: Through the early education

years, heroes of the Civil Rights era, such as Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., and

President John F. Kennedy, are often elevated on a pedestal. Getting students to think

critically about the motivations for and ramifications of the actions of these key

players involves breaking down ingrained preconceptions.

 Building a personal connection to history: Connecting what has happened in the

past, specifically the events of the Civil Rights era, to the present day, and how the

Civil Rights Movement impacts the personal lives of students, are often difficult

challenges for students, and nearly impossible to convey in a traditional didactic

classroom setting. Allowing for exploration, reflection, and scaffolded inquiry are

various ways of addressing this target of difficulty.

-3-
Jeremy Price Dilemmas in Civil Rights Rationale 16 December 2002

 Critically reading texts: Students of this age (8th grade) are just starting to be

responsible for critically analyzing and assessing the values of written texts. In

addition, in the “Information Age,” an era of widespread publication capabilities with

few social mechanisms in place to check for accuracy, it is easy to fall prey to the

Pierre Salinger Syndrome2 and to believe whatever information is presented. The

challenge becomes to move students to analyze both historical primary sources and

digital documents with a critical eye.

Understanding Goals
“When a sailor departs port and loses sight of land, he must have some method of determining
his direction. Early captains relied on nature to provide the answers.” – Mariners’ Museum (1997)

If the use of curriculum is considered a learning journey, the understanding goals can be

considered the cognitive destination. According to Wiske, these goals “state explicitly what

students are expected to come to understand” (Wiske 1998: 66). Understanding goals are

important markers allowing teachers to bridge performances of understanding with assessments,

and connecting these same performances with increasingly important state and national standards

and curriculum frameworks.

This is not to say, however, that there is a direct line between the current understandings

of the class and the understanding goals. When flying on a commercial jet from one city to

another, it is fair to say that one is “off course” 80% of the time on direct flights – the flight crew

continuously adjusts according to a variety of natural and man-made factors to arrive at the

scheduled destination (Porter 1999: 6). In a classroom setting, every student brings his or her

own background, experiences, and opinions to the learning table. This can cause the
2
Pierre Salinger was a press secretary of President Clinton and a former journalist. Salinger became the namesake
of the syndrome describing the widespread tendency to believe anything published on the Internet after he “relayed
a bogus report that he read on the Internet, stating that TWA flight 800, which crashed on July 17, 1996, had been
the victim of friendly fire” (Webopedia 2002).

-4-
Jeremy Price Dilemmas in Civil Rights Rationale 16 December 2002

conversation to cross into unexpected territory. Being mindful of understanding goals allows the

teacher to reach out to these conversations and bring the conversations into the fold of the

overarching aims of the curriculum.

In the same vein, John Seely Brown (2000) argues in favor of a “Learning Ecology” – a

constantly evolving interdependent collaboration of diverse learners building upon the ideas of

one another in order to create knowledge. Pedagogy in a learning ecology becomes a matter of

“husbandry” – cultivating the conversation for knowledge building purposes (Brown 2000: 19).

Towards these ends, the understanding goals of the “Dilemmas in Civil Rights” are structured in

a two-part fashion:

 Statements of expectations, which explicitly state what the students should come to

understand at the end of the unit. These statements are phrased similarly to standards

and frameworks to allow easy mapping, and are worded in a form familiar to most

teachers.

 Questions for inquiry, which allow for in-depth, focused explorations of topics

without a predefined destination. These questions provide the tools for teachers to

cultivate and focus the discussion along thematic lines, but the outcome is not known

except to say that students have explored these questions in depth.

While well-worded understanding goals structured as statements and implemented by

skilled teachers lead to deep and complex understandings of topics – this notion, in fact, is

integrated into the definition of “understanding goals” (Wiske 1998: 68) – providing questions

gives teachers a choice. The teachers can decide which structure of understanding goals works

best according to their personal style and the particular needs of the learners. Both paths can

lead to a viable learning ecology

-5-
Jeremy Price Dilemmas in Civil Rights Rationale 16 December 2002

The understanding goals of the Dilemmas in Civil Rights curriculum are as follows:

Statements of Expectations Questions for Inquiry

Students will understand how the U.S. government
allows for and empowers social protest.
Students will understand the different contexts of
the dilemmas within the Civil Rights movement.
Students will understand the dilemmas in the Civil
Rights Movement.
Students will understand the relevance of the Civil
Rights Movement to issues that arise today.
How do citizens in a representative democracy make their
voices heard?
How do the Constitution and the Bill of Rights support citizens
and empower social protest?
How does social action/protest make our democracy stronger?
How do the social, political, moral, legal, and cultural contexts
affect the dilemmas inherent in the Civil Rights Movement?
What are the roles of the dilemmas within the Civil Rights
Movement? How does exploring these dilemmas enhance our
understandings of the Civil Rights Movement?
In what ways do the achievements of the Civil Rights leaders
resonate today?

Performances of Understanding and Ongoing Assessments

The Teaching for Understanding framework is based on a system of performances and

“…emphasizes understanding as the ability and inclination to use what one knows by operating

in the world” (Wiske 1998: 72). This notion ties in well with the idea that the study of history in

general, and the study of the Civil Rights Movement specifically, can help bring students to

affect positive change in the world around them. The performances presented in the “Dilemmas

in Civil Rights” are geared to allow students to grapple with the ideas, concepts, events, and

contexts of the dilemmas inherent within the Civil Rights Movement in order to construct their

own views and understandings. This will lead, hopefully, to changes in decision-making habits

and in action when dealing with others.

To these ends, several modes of understanding are

Content/Basic
Thinking
engaged and encouraged. Jonassen (2000: 26), drawing upon

the Integrated Thinking Model (see figure on right) posited by Complex Thinking
Process

Critical Creative Thinking

Thinking
the Iowa Department of Education, describes a model of

understanding in which the skills necessary to remember and Integrated Thinking Model (adapted from Jonassen 2000: 26).

recall basic and accepted subject domain knowledge (Content/Basic Thinking), the skills

-6-
Jeremy Price Dilemmas in Civil Rights Rationale 16 December 2002

necessary to evaluate, analyze, and connect new knowledge in meaningful ways (Critical

Thinking), and the skills necessary to generate new knowledge and understandings (Creative

Thinking) are intertwined and interdependent, forming a model of “Complex Thinking

Processes” (Jonassen 2000: 25-28). The performances of understanding inherent within

“Dilemmas In Civil Rights” are designed to provide a balance between the three different modes

of thinking, affording teachers the opportunity to craft an environment of complex thinking in

their classrooms.

In addition to being structured around the complex thinking model outlined above, the

performances of understanding are likewise structured on the four dimensions of understanding

framework posited by Mansilla and Gardner (1998). Similar to the above model, these

dimensions of understanding are all equally important, intertwined, and interdependent. The

dimensions of understanding are as follows (from Mansilla & Gardner 1998: 173-8):

 Knowledge: addresses the ability of students to transcend innate perspectives and

their ability to move between examples and generalizations;

 Methods: addresses the ability of students to sustain a sense of skepticism as they

learn new information, and their ability to build validating mechanisms;

 Purposes: addresses the ability of students the contexts and consequences of the

construction and uses of new knowledge;

 Forms: addresses the ways that understanding is performed through various symbol

systems (writing, multimedia, movement, etc.) in order to express what has been

learned and constructed.

Inherent within the dimensions of understanding are four levels of understanding (naïve,

novice, apprentice, and master) (Mansilla & Gardner 1998: 172). As students move through

-7-
Jeremy Price Dilemmas in Civil Rights Rationale 16 December 2002

higher levels, they demonstrate a greater, or deeper, understanding of the issues through the four

dimensions. The role of curriculum, then, becomes to provide a framework for students and

teachers to engage in this journey. The performances of understanding presented in “Dilemmas

in Civil Rights” are designed to allow these manners of explorations.

The assessments of, or rather the feedback for, the performances of understanding for this

curriculum are nearly impossible to disentangle from the performances themselves. Therefore,

they are included in this section rather than reserving a separate section for their delineation. By

definition, assessments within the Teaching for Understanding framework should be ongoing,

contextualized, meaningful, and aligned closely with the understanding goals illustrated at the

outset, allowing students to adjust their course (using the commercial jet flight metaphor from

the Understanding Goals section above) and guiding them to a level deeper understanding

(Wiske 1998: 77). In the “Dilemmas in Civil Rights” curriculum, in order to work toward these

goals, the assessment strategies employed by the teacher are clearly delineated and made public

from the beginning of the unit by encouraging teachers to share the understanding goals with

students, as well as the various assessment tools, such as rubrics (an example of a rubric can be

found in Appendix 2). For one of the culminating performances, the expository essay, students

are encouraged to assess and provide feedback on the work of their peers.

The understanding performances are listed below. Explanations bridging the

performances with the Complex Thinking and Understanding Domain models, as well as with

the assessment strategies, can be found in Appendix 1.

 Process Journal: An on-going chronicling of the understanding journey taken by the

students, encouraging students to reflect on the process (Ritchhart, Wiske,

Buchovesky, & Hetland 1998: 143).

-8-
Jeremy Price Dilemmas in Civil Rights Rationale 16 December 2002

 Brainstorming: A messing-about-type activity (Wiske 1998: 74) designed to elicit the

innate knowledge held by the students.

 Timeline construction: A messing-about and guided inquiry activity (Wiske 1998: 74)

hybrid allowing students to explore the events and conditions that led up to the Civil

Rights Movement.

 Dilemma Explorer: Utilizing the Dilemma Explorer online collaborative tool (Price

2002), students engage in a guided inquiry activity exploring the dilemmas

surrounding the different forms of protest employed by Martin Luther King, Jr., and

Malcolm X.

 Peer Conference: A culminating performance (Wiske 1998: 75) structured similar to

a “science fair” or academic conference poster session environment. At this “history

fair,” students are encouraged to utilize various modes of representation to present

their inquiry through and stances stemming from the Dilemma Explorer process.

 Analytical paper: Another culminating performance in which students demonstrate

their understandings through a five-paragraph expository essay in which they “…

make choices and defend choices…” (Jonassen 2000: 289) regarding the different

styles of protest.

-9-
Jeremy Price Dilemmas in Civil Rights Rationale 16 December 2002

New Technologies
A variety of new technologies are employed in the implementation of the “Dilemmas in

Civil Rights” curriculum. All were carefully selected according to Jonassen’s criteria for

Mindtools (2000: 18-19). In addition, the technologies were selected to be transformative, rather

than efficiency-promoting, so that social construction of knowledge would be supported

(McCormick & Scrimshaw 2001). It should also be noted that, procedurally, the technologies,

with the exception of the Dilemma Explorer system, were added late in the curriculum design

process, so that the selection of technologies was kept in-line with the understanding goals and

was tied closely to the performances of understanding, not the other way around. The one

exception, the Dilemma Explorer, is an example of how a technology system can become

transformed when developed concurrently with a curriculum, and, similarly, how a curriculum

can in turn become transformed by a technology (Price 2002).

The following new technologies were selected for inclusion in the “Dilemmas in Civil

Rights” curriculum:

 Tom Snyder Production’s TimeLiner (http://www.tomsnyder.com/): This software

allows students to create timelines by inserting events, as well as incorporating

various multimedia sources (photos, video, sound). While utilizing this easy-to-learn

software, students must decide on the important events and contexts for inclusion in

their timeline.

 Dilemma Explorer online collaborative inquiry tool (for more information, see the

Initial Report, available at

http://learnweb.harvard.edu/ent/design_studio/design_studio.cfm?design_id=6672):

This free collaborative tool scaffolds the dilemma inquiry process for students, so that

- 10 -
Jeremy Price Dilemmas in Civil Rights Rationale 16 December 2002

they develop questions, consider various points of view, and incorporate multiple

sources in order to craft their own stance on the dilemma. Students and teachers have

the ability to leave “Sticky Notes” for each other, containing feedback on the process

and suggestions for further inquiry.

 Don Johnston’s DraftBuilder

(http://www.donjohnston.com/catalog/draftbuilderd.htm): This tool scaffolds the

note-taking process so that students can collect information from various sources as

discrete ideas and then drag-and-drop these ideas into a larger, connected written

document.

 Presentation tools, such as PowerPoint, graphics programs, and video editors:

While not necessarily fitting the MindTools model nor transformative according to a

strict reading of the sources (Jonassen 2000; McCormick & Scrimshaw 2001), these

are important technologies that allow students to demonstrate their inquiry through

the dilemmas of the Civil Rights Movement.

Concluding Thoughts
The process of designing this curriculum in conjunction with my teacher-partner and

fellow classmate, Jody Reilly, has been a wonderful personal learning experience. As someone

who identifies with a more theoretical bent, it was very informative to work so closely with a

teacher with concrete classroom experience and a real interest in the power and events inherent

in the domain of history.

It is hoped that this curriculum will help students break down the walls of inequality

constructed by prejudice through a deep exploration and the shared construction of

understandings of, and helping to forge personal connections with, the Civil Rights Movement.

- 11 -
Jeremy Price Dilemmas in Civil Rights Rationale 16 December 2002

It is further hoped that this proactive use of the methods and knowledge domains of a historical

era in order to bring about positive change does Mr. Collins, perhaps the most influential teacher

of my learning career, proud knowing that his mission lives on in the minds of his students.

- 12 -
Jeremy Price Dilemmas in Civil Rights Rationale 16 December 2002

Appendix 1: Mapping the Performances of Understanding

Complex Thinking Model Domains of Understanding Model
Performances Basic/Content Critical Creative Knowledge Methods Purposes Forms Assessments
Process Addressed indirectly Students are Students are Students are encouraged Students are Students are Journal entries Assessed on a weekly
through student encouraged to encouraged to to chart their path from encouraged to write encouraged to reflect should be clearly basis by the teacher
Journal reflection. analyze and reflect synthesize and intuitive beliefs to questions regarding on how their written and evaluated based
on their elaborate on their deeper understandings. source materials, and understanding demonstrating their on effort and growth,
understandings. understandings. how they might journey may be understanding not “correct answers.”
address those useful to the history journeys.
questions, as well as as a discipline of
reflections on how study.
they might use the
discovered
information and
their judgment of the
information.

Brainstorming Students are Students are Students are Through a collaborative Through a Students are Students must No formal evaluation,
encouraged to become encouraged to encouraged build a effort, students’ intuitive collaborative effort, encouraged to function within a but the teacher plays
aware of their own identify what they shared understanding beliefs may be students are predict how their group collaborative the important role of
beliefs when referenced regard as important of the Civil Rights transformed. encouraged to collaborative process and must facilitator, keeping the
against “accepted in terms of their Movement. construct new understanding defend their own conversation on track,
knowledge.” innate knowledge, understandings and construction can positions as well as and bringing a wider
and compare that to validate each impact and be reconcile them with breadth of experience
with the knowledge other’s impacted by the positions of to the process.
of their peers. understandings. accepted others.
understandings, and
to take ownership of
their collaborative
efforts.

Timeline Students are Students must Students are A timeline is a type of As a collaborative Students are Students are Timelines will be
encouraged to identify evaluate information encouraged to concept web activity, students encouraged to take encouraged to make presented to the class
the events and contexts and connect pieces synthesize demonstrating an must work together ownership of this use of a timeline, and then publicly
that culminated in the of information with information so that understanding of to build a shared process and to which is an effective displayed in the
Civil Rights Movement each other and to the they can recognize temporally connected understanding and to recognize that these symbolic classroom. Students
based on accepted foundation of the the patterns that led events and contexts. validate existing contexts and events representation of will be evaluated on
understandings. Civil Rights to the Civil Rights knowledge for have led to great temporally their recognition of
Movement. Movement. inclusion in their social change in the connected events key events and
timeline. United States. and contexts. actions, and on the
quality and use of
their research.

- 13 -
Jeremy Price Dilemmas in Civil Rights Rationale 16 December 2002

Complex Thinking Model Domains of Understanding Model

Performances Basic/Content Critical Creative Knowledge Methods Purposes Forms Assessments
Process Addressed indirectly Students are Students are Students are encouraged Students are Students are Journal entries Assessed on a weekly
through student encouraged to encouraged to to chart their path from encouraged to write encouraged to reflect should be clearly basis by the teacher
Journal reflection. analyze and reflect synthesize and intuitive beliefs to questions regarding on how their written and evaluated based
on their elaborate on their deeper understandings. source materials, and understanding demonstrating their on effort and growth,
understandings. understandings. how they might journey may be understanding not “correct answers.”
address those useful to the history journeys.
questions, as well as as a discipline of
reflections on how study.
they might use the
discovered
information and
their judgment of the
information.

Dilemma Students are Students must Students are Through the process of Throughout the Students are Students must be Students will be
encouraged to identify evaluate, analyze, encouraged to using the Dilemma process, students are encouraged to able to organize assessed on the
Explorer the core problems and and connect various synthesize source Explorer system, encouraged to become aware of historical connections they draw
issues within the sources of information, and students construct a construct a stances implications their information, events, between events,
dilemmas of the Civil information to then to construct a concept web, which can on the dilemmas, inquiry holds, as and contexts, as well contexts, and points of
Rights Movement and questions and points stance on the initial visually be displayed. and to question and well as to construct a as deliver an oral view, as well as their
develop a stance. of view and to their dilemma. In addition, they have validate sources of personal stance on report based on their articulation of the
stance. the ability to chart how information. the dilemma and to inquiry. issues orally in class
their initial stance consider the possible and the presentation
changes through their implications and of their ideas in a
understanding journey. outcomes of their clear and thoughtful
stance. manner.

Peer See above. See above. See above. See above. See above. See above. In addition to Students will be
organization, assessed on the
Conference3 students are strength by which
encouraged to they demonstrate their
present their inquiry argument through
into the dilemma various media. Do the
utilizing any pieces presented in
medium they feel their “poster” tell a
best represents and story or form a
demonstrates their cohesive argument?
inquiry. Options Are the various stages
include visual of inquiry clear and
diagrams and explicit? Is their
photos, music, position convincing
video, etc. and easily
understood?

Analytical See above. See above. See above. See above. See above. See above. Utilizing a five- Students will pair up
paragraph expository for peer evaluations of
Paper3

3
The Peer Conference and the Analytical Paper are both culminating performances based on the guided inquiry of the process in which students utilize the
Dilemma Explorer online collaborative system. Therefore, most of the connections with the Complex Thinking model and the Dimensions of Understanding are
similar or the same.

- 14 -
Jeremy Price Dilemmas in Civil Rights Rationale 16 December 2002

Complex Thinking Model Domains of Understanding Model

Performances Basic/Content Critical Creative Knowledge Methods Purposes Forms Assessments
Process Addressed indirectly Students are Students are Students are encouraged Students are Students are Journal entries Assessed on a weekly
through student encouraged to encouraged to to chart their path from encouraged to write encouraged to reflect should be clearly basis by the teacher
Journal reflection. analyze and reflect synthesize and intuitive beliefs to questions regarding on how their written and evaluated based
on their elaborate on their deeper understandings. source materials, and understanding demonstrating their on effort and growth,
understandings. understandings. how they might journey may be understanding not “correct answers.”
address those useful to the history journeys.
questions, as well as as a discipline of
reflections on how study.
they might use the
discovered
information and
their judgment of the
information.

essay format essays. In addition,

(introduction, body, students will be
conclusion), students assessed on their use
are expected to of the five-paragraph
clearly demonstrate format, the clarity of
their inquiry and the their writing, and the
stances to which strength of their
they arrived. argument. An outline
is part of the process.

Appendix 2: Sample Rubric

Far Below the Standard Below the Standard Meets the Standard Exceeds the Standard
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
x3 Clear Argument  The writing partially  The writing demonstrated a basic  The writing demonstrated consistent  The writing demonstrated thorough
addressed the topic. development of ideas. development of ideas. development of ideas.
 The paper did not include a  The paper included a basic thesis  The paper included a clear thesis  The paper included a strong thesis
thesis statement. statement. statement, and the topic sentences in statement, and all the topic sentences
the main body paragraphs generally in the body paragraphs supported the
relate to the thesis. thesis.
x3 Use of Sources  The paper did not include  The paper did not include many  The paper did include several primary  The paper included several
primary or secondary primary or secondary sources. and/or secondary sources. appropriate secondary and/or primary
sources.  The sources did not always  The sources generally supported or sources.
effectively support the argument. were related to the argument.  The use of sources strongly supported
the argument.
x3 Planning and  The writing showed partial  The writing demonstrated basic  The writing demonstrated clear  The writing demonstrated excellent
organization. organization. understanding of the format of a 5- organization.
Organization  The paper is separated into  The paper contains 5 paragraphs. paragraph essay.  The format of the 5-paragraph essay
paragraphs.  The Introduction paragraph  The introduction paragraph contained was followed exactly.
contained the thesis statement. the thesis statement.
 The concluding paragraph included a
restatement of the thesis.
x1 Use of Revision  A rough draft of the essay  Revisions were limited to spelling  The changes in the final draft reflect  The final draft reflected excellent
was not turned in. and sentence structure. careful revision and proofreading. revision.
 Some comments and suggestions were  Most/All comments and suggestions
used to revise content as well as were used to revise content as well as
grammar. grammar.

- 15 -
Jeremy Price Dilemmas in Civil Rights Rationale 16 December 2002

x1 Sentence  Writing sometimes contained  Writing contained very few, if  Writing included vocabulary from the  Writing demonstrated thoughtful use
incomplete sentences. any, incomplete sentences. unit. of content vocabulary.
Structure and  Writing did not show  Writing contained some sentence  Writing used transitional words and  Writing showed skillful use of
sentence variety. variety. phrases. transitional words and phrases.
Vocabulary  Writing used some vocabulary  Writing used sentence variety.  Writing was clear and concise.
from the unit.

x1 Mechanics  Writing contained enough  Writing contained some  Writing contained few mechanical  Writing contained no mechanical
mechanical errors that it was mechanical errors but reader could errors. errors.
difficult to understand the understand content.
content.
x2 Bibliography  No Bibliography included  Format of Bibliography was  Bibliography contained minor format  Bibliography had no errors and
incorrect. errors. included all sources in alphabetical
 Bibliography did not include all  Bibliography included all sources used. order.
sources used.
Total= 98 points

- 16 -
Jeremy Price Dilemmas in Civil Rights Rationale 16 December 2002

Bibliography
Brown, J. S. 2000. Growing Up Digital: How the Web Changes Work, Education, and the Ways
People Learn. Change. March/April 2000, pp. 11-20.

Dewey, J. 1961. Democracy And Education. New York: Macmillan.

Jonassen, D. H. 2000. Computers as Mindtools for Schools: Engaging Critical Thinking.

Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill.

Mansilla, V. B., & Gardner, H. 1998. What Are the Qualities of Understanding? In Wiske, M.
S. (ed.). Teaching for Understanding: Linking Research with Practice (pp. 161-197). San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Mariners’ Museum. 1997. Early Navigation Methods.

<http://www.mariner.org/age/earlynav.html>. Retrieved 13 December 2002.

McCormick, R., & Scrimshaw, P. 2001. Information and Communications Technology,

Knowledge and Pedagogy. Education, Communication, and Information. Vol. 1, No. 1,
pp. 37-57.

Perkins, D. 1998. What Is Understanding? In Wiske, M. S. (ed.). Teaching for Understanding:

Linking Research with Practice (pp. 39-58). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Porter, Bernajean. 1999. Grappling with Accountability: Resource Tools for Organizing and
Assessing Technology for Student Results. Sedalia, CO: Education Technology Planners.

Price, J. 2002. Dilemma Explorer: Initial Report. (Class Assignment for Harvard Graduate
School of Education course T-540 Cognition and the Art of Instruction taught by David
Perkins.) Available from the Dilemmas in Civil Rights design Web site
<http://learnweb.harvard.edu/ent/design_studio/design_studio.cfm?design_id=6672>.

Ritchhart, R., Wiske, M. S., Buchovecky, E., & Hetland, L. How Does Teaching for
Understanding Look in Practice? In Wiske, M. S. (ed.). Teaching for Understanding:
Linking Research with Practice (pp. 122-158). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Webopedia. 2002. Pierre Salinger Syndrome.

<http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/P/Pierre_Salinger_Syndrome.html>. Retrieved
13 December 2002.

Wiske, M. S. 1998. What Is Teaching for Understanding? In Wiske, M. S. (ed.). Teaching for
Understanding: Linking Research with Practice (pp. 61-86). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

- 17 -