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Objectives | Students will:
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The student "plays" the role of a new staff intern to a freshman congresswoman from California, Molly Barger. Barger's first assignment to the new intern is to research background on the issue of gaming (casinos) on American Indian reservations. Letters on both sides of the issue have been arriving in the mail, and Barger needs to know how to provide an informed and knowledgeable response to the controversy. The student (intern) will have access to a number of powerful online information resources and will need to make a presentation to the congresswoman which reflects current and historical knowledge of U.S. history, as well as government law and policy toward American indian tribes and reservations.The student is given a copy of the letter, which includes general instructions and research deadline.
The teacher can then act as one of the congresswoman's senior staff members, and can help the students get organized toward the research by brainstorming with the three PBL questions:
The memo itself lists a number of hints about the informational resources, and the Resources section of this unit include a number of links to online resources.
- What do we know about the problem?
- What do we need to know?
- Where can we go to find the answers?
Acting as the senior staff member, the teacher should suggest that the student intern keep a daily progress log, and should also check their progress (i.e., ask class who has found some interesting or helpful information or resources, etc.).
If possible, the student performance (meeting with the congresswoman) should be simulated as realistically as possible with a volunteer (parent, teacher, or college student, etc.) acting the role of the congresswoman.
The following points and thoughts are offered to the teacher who is guiding the students through the PBL unit.
- The use of brainstorming with the students will assist them in clarifying (throughout the unit) what they are doing and where they are in their progress toward their presentation.
- Students should, at the very least, be able to come to an understanding that they will be expected to know relevant U.S.laws and Supreme Court decisions, historical events which led to the laws and cases, the key individuals who played roles in the development of the laws and policies, and that they will need to know their material well enough to respond to questions.
- They should be made aware of the range of resources available, both in their local school library, community, and online. They should not depend solely upon Internet resources.
- Students should be encouraged to collaborate, and within acceptable limits, make shared presentations, as long as you as a teacher are comfortable that the presentations reflect the shared knowledge of the group members.
Ideally, something similar to the following evaluation rubrics can be arrived at by brainstorming or in classroom discussion with the students.(These Adequate-Good-Excellent rubrics are offered as a suggestion, a starting point.)Adequate Performance. The student will demonstrate or explain:
- Why gambling is permitted on reservations (legal/historical)?
- What defines who is an American Indian (BIA definition)?
- What is an American Indian reservation (legal/historical)?
- What are the rights, powers, duties of the reservation/tribe?
- What is the relationship between the tribe, state and U.S. government?
- Responds barely adequately to follow-up questions by the congresswoman, and needs some prompting.
Good Performance. All of the above, plus:
- Demonstrates the ability to cite and explain several related legal and historical events.
- Cites several controversies and issues related to the definition of a reservation and an American Indian.
- Is able to discuss rights/powers/duties of the tribes/reservations by citing significant events and laws.
- Explains the difference between federal/state/tribes by giving examples of issues, events and laws.
- Responds clearly to follow-up questions by the congresswoman, but may need a little prompting.
Excellent Performance. All of the above, plus:
- Gives a very polished presentation which is engaging and which flows smoothly.
- Responds thoroughly and relevantly to follow-up questions by the congresswoman without prompting.
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| Last updated 09/26/2002 |