I came up with this basic idea yesterday as I was putting together my student workbook for the Love and Marriage unit. In this entire unit (Chapter 5 of the student’s guide) there are four key studies applicable to the following topics:
- Hormones and behaviour (Bio)
- Evolution and behaviour (Bio)
- Methods and Ethics (Evolution – Bio)
- Methods and Ethics (Hormones – Bio)
- Cultural dimensions (Soc/cult)
- Methods and Ethics (Cultural influences/origins – Soc/Cult)
- Formation of personal relationships (HR)
- Role of communication in relationships (HR)
- Why relationships change or end (HR)
- Methods and Ethics (Personal Relationships – HR)
In the table below you can see the four studies in the left column. Because these are so important to this topic (and valuable for multiple applications), I want to make sure that students remember the specific details as well their potential applications. So in the consolidation phase of a lesson late in the unit I will give them the following table (in their workbooks) and they have to match the details with the study.
They can use colour or letter codes, arrows or any other method they want to match. The key thing is that they’re revisiting some specific details and consolidating their learning so when they use these studies their descriptions are more clear and accurate.
Teaching Tip: If you’re like me and love a bit of competition, you could count up the potential maximum correct answers and challenge students to see how many they can get right.
Some of the details can be applied to more than one study, which really gets students thinking and discussing.
A simple idea, but I think an effective one.
I’ve been appreciating the comments on my lesson ideas, especially those that give tips on how to improve them, so as always I’d welcome any thoughts or ideas.
Travis Dixon is an IB Psychology teacher, author, workshop leader, examiner and IA moderator.