On One

Condition
Nicholas Richardson
ED 321 FINAL UNIT PLAN

Nicholas Richardson
Professor Baker Bush
Social Studies Methods
10 December 2015
ED 321 Final Unit Plan: On One Condition

Compelling Question: How do humans learn about the

world, and how can humans influence the learning of
others?
Standards
Social Studies Standards:

D2.Psy.8.9-12 Explain the complexities of human thought and behavior, as

well as the factors related to the individual differences among people.
D2.Psy.9.9-12 Describe biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors
that influence individuals cognition, perception, and behavior.
D2.Psy.15.9-12 Use existing evidence and formulate conclusions about
psychological phenomena.

Common Core Standards

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.2 Determine two or more themes or central

ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text,
including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex
account; provide an objective summary of the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.1.B Develop claim(s) and counterclaims
fairly and thoroughly, supplying the most relevant evidence for each while
pointing out the strengths and limitations of both in a manner that anticipates
the audience's knowledge level, concerns, values, and possible biases.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.1.C Use words, phrases, and clauses as well
as varied syntax to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and
clarify the relationships between claim(s) and reasons, between reasons and
evidence, and between claim(s) and counterclaims.

Skill-Based Learning targets

Students will work on the following skills throughout this unit. Students will:

Identify minute differences between similar psychological phenomena.

Identify the key ideas, concepts, assertions, and findings throughout
psychological phenomena and theories.
Create their own experiments by synthesizing their own ideas with
those of past researchers.

Observe case studies and denote what psychological phenomena are

occurring. The will also be able to explain how and why it occurs.
Expand their psychological vocabulary.

Supporting questions
What are some of the processes of learning which have been discussed and
argued over in psychology?
What are the specific types of influences that are involved in the different
conditioning processes?
How do humans learn via observation? How does this process differ from
conditioning?

Instructional Strategies
1. Learning Crossroads assignment (Whats my address)
a. The students will perform a crossroads assignment. The students will
be given two pieces of writing which can be found here:
i. http://www.simplypsychology.org/classical-conditioning.html
ii. http://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html
b. Students will read both article, in the first, focusing on the Little albert
section which regards Ivan Pavlovs classical conditioning of a baby. In
the second article, the students will read the three shorter sections
Positive reinforcement, Negative reinforcement and Punishment.
c. After reading both articles, students will get in to groups to discuss.
Groups will be given a prompt to discuss, aimed at helping students to
understand the concepts of each type of conditioning. The prompt will
be In each experiment, what action (or stimulus) was performed and
what was the result of the action (or stimulus)? Why do the effects
persist in each case, even when the original action (or stimulus) is
removed? The goal of this question is to get students in the correct
mindset to analyze this type of psychological experiment, and include
the correct type of information in the next step.
d. Students will create a crossroads, between the experiment of Pavlov
and the experiment of Skinner. The goal will be to link these two
experiments in the mind of the students and lock in some of the base
level information, especially that which is shared between the two
experiments. They should identify only the most important information
and include it. Students will need to include:
i. At least one date for each road
ii. At least one object from the experiment (more would be good)
iii. One result or effect of the experiment.
iv. A proper road type (lane, way, drive etc)
v. A short explanation of what street was chosen and why.
More information than this would be welcome, but not necessary,
especially if it is not pertinent.
e. Learning Targets:

i. I can analyze individual differences between the experiments of

Pavlov and Skinner, but also compare their similarities. (DOK 34)
ii. I can assert what type of conditioning is occurring in a given
experiment, and support my assertion with evidence (i.e., this
is classical conditioning because) (DOK 3)
iii. I can identify the important features, and outcomes, of both
classical conditioning and operant conditioning (DOK 2)
f. Formative performance task
i. Generally, the largest issue that would impede students from
achieving all three learning targets is confusion over some of the
terms such as positive reinforcement, negative
reinforcement, neutral stimulus, conditioned stimulus etc
These can be difficult to grasp at first. My goal with this
formative performance task would be to gauge how well the
room understands the concepts, and if it would be necessary to
devote a larger chunk of class time in the future to purely
differentiating these details.
ii. Students will take a Kahoot quiz on their tablets, phones or
computers. Each slide will show an example of either classical
conditioning or operant conditioning occurring, and each
question will ask students to identify an individual piece of the
conditioning (i.e., Negative reinforcement, Conditioned
stimulus). The quiz will be short, and quick, likely given at the
end of the hour.
iii. The way that Kahoot allows formative assessment is that it
shows the teacher exactly how many students are getting each
question right on the spot. All I have to do is mark the questions
which students struggle with, and give those subjects some
extra room in the future. Furthermore, it allows students to see
which questions they struggle with, rather than forcing them to
wait until a summative assessment to see what is their most
difficult subject.
2. Components of Conditioning White Out
a. Students will read the following case studies designed to highlight
individual components of learning processes:
i. Marcy has a son named James. James has recently run into the
habit of pushing other children over on the playground when he
is running around. Marcy is appalled at her sons behavior and
wants him to stop immediately. Marcy, being an apt
psychologist, thinks that she can change her sons behavior with
operant conditioning. Because Marcy wishes to eliminate a
behavior, she must employ the method known as punishment. In
order to punish James, each time he pushes someone over on
the playground, he has to sit on the bench away from the other
children for 10 minutes. Soon, James begins to be more careful,

so that he can avoid having to sit on the bench. (Self-written, no

citation)
ii. Daniel is a track-star at West Ottowa high school. Daniel knows
that he needs to eat healthy each day to stay in peak physical
condition for his races. However, every time Daniel sees sugary
foods, his stomach begins to grumble. In order to help him kick
the habit, he employs the help of his best friend Maria. Maria is a
budding psychology student and knows that you can help
someone kick a bad habit through classical conditioning. Maria
carries around a bag of ice cubes, and each time Daniels
stomach grumbles after seeing a sugary snack, Maria drops a
cube down the back of his shirt. This causes Daniel to recoil and
yelp shock. After some time, Daniel begins to associate seeing
unhealthy snacks with the feeling of the ice cube, and now,
whenever he reaches for unhealthy food, he retracts, regardless
of whether Maria is present or not. In the case of Daniel, the
unconditioned stimulus was sugary snacks, the unconditioned
response was his stomach grumbling, the conditioned stimulus
was the ice cube, and the conditioned response was retracting
from food..
b. After reading the sections, students will pair up (or group up) and begin
to digest. Each group will have a set of questions to answer. They may
discuss out loud, but one member of each group will be designated to
writing down a few of their answers. A few example questions would
be:
i. What type of conditioning was used in each case?
ii. In the case of Marcy and James, Marcy desired to decrease a
certain behavior in her son. What does this mean about the
specific type of conditioning she is performing?
iii. In the case of Daniel, what was the unconditioned stimulus,
unconditioned response, the conditioned stimulus, and the
conditioned response? Draw out the four squares of this type of
conditioning. See the Pavlov example for help!
iv. Do you think these strategies would be lasting? What is it called
when things learned through conditioning are forgotten, and
behavior changes because of this (Extinction)? What do you
think would need to happen for James and Daniel to maintain
their learning?
c. Learning Targets
i. I can differentiate between different learning strategies based
on the evidence of a given situation. (DOK 2-3)
ii. I can develop a model of each type of learning (draw a
diagram, or clearly state the order of events), and explain what
each type of stimulus is in classical conditioning is, and what
positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, and punishment
are (DOK 3)
d. Formative Performance Task

i. The formative performance task in this lesson is worked into the

activity itself. Students will turn in the sheets which they have
used during their group discussion. This sheet holds some
pertinent information, namely, whether or not each group
understood the primary concepts of classical and operant
conditioning. Furthermore, it will elaborate on whether each
group was able to identify more specific conditions such as the
difference between punishment and negative reinforcement, or
the different stimuli in classical conditioning. In order to get a
more accurate representation of who is getting it, groups will
be kept small (2-3 people).
3. Observational Learning Theatre
a. Another important type of learning is observational learning. Acting
out and participating in observational learning is just as easy as
explaining it, so students will get active and perform. Students will be
broken into group of 3-4. Each group will be given a task that would be
very difficult without explanation, and each group will also be given a
written explanation of how to perform the task. For example, one group
may have a complex metal puzzle with rings which need to be
unseparated. Without the explanation of how to do this, it would be
quite difficult. But they have a sheet of paper with instructions. Each
group must come up with a way to show how to perform their difficult
task, and then present to the class. They may:
i. Not use any words or make sounds
ii. Not write anything down
iii. Use actions
iv. Perform the task itself
b. The goal of this performance is to have the students act out an activity
and have the class learn through observational learning. Before the
activity, students will have read the details of what goes into
observational learning. They should tailor their performance so that
it is the most conducive to learning. They should be clear in their
actions, and make sure that as many people can understand their
activity as possible. This activity will not be graded, but healthy
competition is encouraged.
c. See Dimension 4 for the rubric for student performances
d. Learning Targets
i. I can define and illustrate the concepts of observational
learning, and apply these concepts to teaching a real world
task (DOK 4)
ii. I can formulate a way to help others learn (DOK 2-3)
e. Formative Performance Task
i. It would be difficult to judge students understanding based
purely on their acting skills during this activity. Thus, each
student must also write a short explanation of what their role is
in their group, and how they came to the conclusion of how to
demonstrate their task. Students will be asked to define how

observational learning is occurring, and how their performer is

helping others to understand the given task. These sheets will
be turned in so that I can analyze them to make sure that
everyone understands exactly what observational learning is.

Summative Assessment
Learning DBQ
Rather than having students answer a boring multiple choice
test, students will be asked to explain a few cartoons and images. Each cartoon
pertains to a type of learning which we covered in
class. Students will be given space to write a
response under each cartoon or image, and a few
specifics which they will need to address in each
response. Examples are listed below:
1. Address this cartoon by answering the
following questions:
a. What type of learning is being
illustrated? (Classical Conditioning)
b. What stimuli are involved in this type
learning? Name all four types, and
how they are represented in this
cartoon (i.e., unconditioned
stimulus=food, unconditioned
response=running to kitchen etc.)
c. Why is this not considered an example of operant conditioning?
2. Address this cartoon by answering the following questions:
a. What type of learning is being
illustrated (Operant conditioning).
b. What tactic is being employed to
increase a certain behavior
(positive reinforcement).
c. How would extinction occur in this
scenario? (what would have to
happen to cause the rats to no
longer pull the lever?)
d. Why is this not considered an
example of classical conditioning?
Questions would continue in this manner, giving
students illustrations, comics and more, and an
opportunity to display their knowledge of the subject matter in semi-open ended
questions.

Dimensions Addressed
Dimension 3:

of

D3.1.9-12 Gather relevant information from multiple sources representing a

wide range of views while using the origin, authority, structure, context, and
corroborative value of the sources to guide the selecting.
o This dimension is addressed in the whats my address activity.
Students are required to evaluate the information in two separate
sources, and decide which pieces are the most important for
highlighting in their resulting address.
Dimension 4:
D4.1.9-12 Construct arguments using precise and knowledgeable claims,
with evidence from multiple sources, while acknowledging counterclaims and
evidentiary weaknesses.
o This dimension is addressed in the summative performance task. As
students answer questions, they must show that they have an adept
understanding of the material, and be able to defend their reasoning
behind their claims. They must also address why it is their claim which
is correct and not another claim.
o Student responses will be judged based on the following rubric:

4: Excellent

3: Proficient

2: Lacking

Content
Knowledge

Student
addresses all
questions
correctly and
give exact
names of
processes,
stimuli, etc

Student
addresses all
questions
correctly for
the vast
majority.
Student
clearly knows
most of the
stimuli.

Clarity and
organization

Answers are
clear and well
worded. It is
clear what
part of their
analysis
responds to
which part of

Answers are
mostly clear. It
is generally
clear what
parts of the
analysis
responds to
which

Student
addresses
some of the
questions,
with some
correct
responses.
Student does
not know all of
the names of
processes and
stimuli.
Answers are
unclear or too
vague. It is not
clear which
answer goes
to which
question.

1:
Unacceptable
Student does
not answer
the questions
and does not
know the
names of
processes and
stimuli.

Response is
too
unorganized
to understand.

Inclusion of
source

the question.
The student
incorporates
the source
into his or her
response
often, and
adeptly.

questions.
The student
incorporates
the response a
few times, but
does so
adeptly.

The student
only
incorporates
the source
once, and
does not do so
adeptly.

The student
does not
incorporate
the source.

Total: