Rationale

In addition, we will integrate cognitive information processing and behaviorism into our design. For example, we plan to use advance, and more significantly, graphic organizers (Ausubel, Novak and Hanesian 1978; West, Farmer, and Wolff 1991) to “gain the students’ attention and to help them understand how the new information might best be structured so as to integrate it with information that is already known” (Ertmer and Newby, 2016, p.66). It is essential that students engage in the activities with the larger purpose in mind. This is informed by Ivanitskaya et al’s (2004) finding that a “significant number” of college students “expressed a complete lack of understanding of the assignment" (p.170) when interviewed about it. While learners participate in the activities, they will apply knowledge to problem-solving and decision-making tasks that will help students improve their knowledge of the research process and proficiency at effectively completing each step. By applying programmed instruction materials, our aim is to help students become more mindful researchers.

We intend to create a learning experience which enables students to critically analyze multiple sources and answer deep questions which will in turn encourage them to dig deeper as mindful researchers.

As the design itself will be multimodal, we intend for students to be able to take from this experience an ability to engage with and analyze multiple forms of literacy (Kalantzis and Cope, 2010). We want students to be able to leverage the internet to be able to find quality sources that meet their learning needs. A visual learner should be able to find quality videos online, just as an auditory learner should be able to find good podcasts. The qualification of good sources, and the process of analyzing their validity, should not be different for any of these forms of literacy.

Another element of our design which will be important is having students express how they are perceiving certain sources, both with regards to the quality of the source, as well as the source’s bias. We understand that students will need opportunities to not just simply write their opinions, but to share them as well. By providing forums for discussion and debate (padlet, flipgrid, etc) we believe that we can celebrate a diversity of ideas and emphasize the need for reflection and discussion throughout the process.

We want our design to be able to suit the needs of all students in middle and high school. In looking at BC’s Critical and Reflective thinking competencies, our project will fit all four of the overall goals. Since BC's curricular competencies stem from the core competencies, our goal aligns with the Ministry's intention that students not only build competencies, but also understand how they connect with and apply to multiple disciplines.

Analyzing and critiquing: Students will look at various pieces of work, make judgements about the bias they observe, and draw conclusions about the validity of the arguments within.

Questioning and Investigating: Through the process of questioning what they read, students will be challenged to “gather, interpret, and synthesize information and evidence; and reflect to draw reasoned conclusions” (Province of British Columbia, Critical Thinking and Reflective Thinking, 2021) all as a means of answering the question: Is this a valid source?

Designing and Developing: Students will develop opinions about what they are reading. The goal is for them to take this understanding and use it to design text of their own, whether it be written, oral or visual.

Reflecting and Assessing: Students will make connections between the various sources they are reading and prior knowledge. They will be asked in what ways does the work they are reading portray a specific bias? How do they know what that bias is in the first place?