The Issues class has been a part of Evansville High Social Studies curriculum for over a decade.  While the course has undergone some revision from purely a Social Issues class to a Global Issues class and then into a combination Issues class, the focus continues to be the utilization of critical thinking skills and product-based assessment.  This year's edition is going to be entirely product based.  Student teams will produce a separate product for each unit. Then, as in a grand finale, each team will choose an issue of social/political/economic significance and develop a multi-media presentation that will include 5-7 end products, addressing a wide variety of learning styles.  Below you will find the course synopsis and links to additional ISSUES pages detailing the products, the presentations and quality work.

SYNOPSIS

The ISSUES class is an extension of the Human Relations class.  In Human Relations, students explore the intra-personal self, while in Issues, student look at conflict between individuals/groups, or the inter-personal domain.  A key element of their work is the use of Critical Thinking Skills. Being able to effectively use these is essential in their daily work, their product work and in the multi-media presentation.

Each year, different issues can be carefully scrutinized.  Of course, we look at this issues from as many possible vantage points as we can.  This year we will be breaking down the issues related to: HATE, WORLD HUNGER/POVERTY/WORLD POPULATION, FAMILY, AGING and DEATH/DYING.  Students will utilize critical thinking when reading/discussing and writing analyses of these issues.  In addition, the critical thinking tools will be a focal point of all other group-related work.

The Grading System utilizes the same curve as my other classes.  More important than mere numbers is the breakdown of what is high priority down to what is of lower priority.  In this class, the breakdown is:  CLASSWORK (20%), DAILY PARTICIPATION (20%), UNIT PRODUCTS(20%), and MULTIMEDIA PROJECT (40%).

NEXT ISSUES CLASS BEGINS IN EARLY APRIL...
 
 

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