Lesson Plan | Active Methodology | Ethics and Will

Premises: This Active Lesson Plan assumes: a 100-minute class duration, prior student study both with the Book and the beginning of Project development, and that only one activity (among the three suggested) will be chosen to be carried out during the class, as each activity is designed to take up a large part of the available time.

Objective

Duration: (5 - 10 minutes)

Setting clear objectives is vital for guiding both the teacher and students on the focus of the class. By outlining what we expect to achieve, students can better channel their learning efforts and participation, while the teacher can adjust activities to ensure that the goals are met. In this plan, the objectives are crafted to foster a deep and critical understanding of ethics and will, promoting the use of these concepts in both real-world and theoretical situations.

Objective Utama:

1. Enhance students' ability to analyze and discuss behavioral ethics as an essential duty of individuals that goes beyond personal will.

2. Enable students to recognize real-life scenarios where ethics might clash with individual desires and to apply philosophical approaches to navigate these challenges.

Objective Tambahan:

1. Cultivate critical thinking and articulate argumentation grounded in ethical principles.

Introduction

Duration: (15 - 20 minutes)

The introduction aims to engage students and make connections between the material they've studied at home and practical, relevant situations, fostering critical reflection from the onset. The proposed scenarios are designed to provoke ethical contemplation and prepare students for classroom discussions. Contextualizing the concepts of ethics and will illustrates their real and historical significance, enhancing students' interest and comprehension of these crucial topics.

Problem-Based Situation

1. Imagine a close friend is struggling financially and asks you to tell your teacher that they purposely turned in an assignment late, hoping to get a do-over. How would you handle this situation, taking ethics and personal will into account?

2. You work at a firm where colleagues often cut corners to hit targets quickly, and management seems oblivious to this. Despite feeling uneasy, you know that if you choose the high road, you could face negative consequences. How do ethics and the desire to do what's right coexist in this situation?

Contextualization

Ethics and will manifest in various aspects of life, from daily decisions to significant moral and political challenges. For instance, the actions of the French Resistance during World War II highlight how ethics and the will to act for the greater good can overshadow personal gain or safety. Furthermore, many organizations today grapple with ethical dilemmas surrounding environmental sustainability and social responsibility, showcasing how individual choices can impact the world as a whole.

Development

Duration: (65 - 75 minutes)

The development phase allows students to apply and deepen their understanding of ethics and will in engaging and interactive ways. Collaborating in groups enables exploration of multiple perspectives and potential solutions to ethical dilemmas, fostering critical thinking and informed decision-making. Each activity is designed to simulate real or theoretical situations that confront personal and shared ethics, equipping students to navigate these dilemmas with awareness and knowledge.

Activity Suggestions

It is recommended that only one of the suggested activities be carried out

Activity 1 - The Decision Making Dilemma

> Duration: (60 - 70 minutes)

- Objective: Develop skills in ethical decision-making in complex scenarios and comprehend the implications of ethics in artificial intelligence programming.

- Description: Students are organized into groups of up to 5. Each group receives a scenario where they are engineers responsible for programming an AI system to make ethical decisions under pressure, such as choosing between saving a patient or a pedestrian in a car accident. The machine has only two options, each yielding different ethical repercussions.

- Instructions:

• Engage in discussions within the group about the potential outcomes of the machine's decisions in each scenario.

• Program the machine (using cards or dice), selecting between the two options for each scenario.

• Present your group's machine programming to the class, explaining the ethical reasoning behind your choices.

Activity 2 - The Ethical Conference

> Duration: (60 - 70 minutes)

- Objective: Hone debate and negotiation skills in ethical contexts while appreciating the intricacies of ethical decisions on a global scale.

- Description: In this activity, students simulate an international ethics conference. Each group represents a different country and must negotiate and debate around a global ethical dilemma (e.g., resource allocation during a global crisis).

- Instructions:

• Conduct research and prepare arguments according to different ethical theories to advocate for your country's position.

• Engage in negotiation rounds with other 'countries' (groups), aiming to reach a global ethical consensus.

• Draft a final declaration summarizing the agreement and articulating the justification for your decisions.

Activity 3 - The Ethical Race

> Duration: (60 - 70 minutes)

- Objective: Grasp the dynamics of ethical decision-making in competitive settings and acknowledge the importance of maintaining moral integrity under pressure.

- Description: In groups, students participate in an obstacle course where each obstacle symbolizes a different ethical dilemma. They must choose which path to take, with their decisions affecting the total race time. Some routes may be quicker but raise ethical concerns.

- Instructions:

• Navigate the course, making ethical decisions at each obstacle.

• Track decisions and the completion times for each group.

• Discuss the choices made and how they represent both personal and collective ethics.

Feedback

Duration: (15 - 20 minutes)

This feedback session is essential for solidifying student learning, providing opportunities to share insights and differing perspectives gained during the activities. Through group discussion, students can examine their ideas in light of others, enriching their understanding of the topic and fostering deeper reflection on the relationship between ethics and personal will. The guiding questions help to summarize key discussion points and evaluate the activities' impact on students' ethical development.

Group Discussion

Kick off the discussion by inviting each group to share their key insights and challenges encountered during the activities. Encourage students to reflect on how ethics and personal will shaped their own choices as well as their peers'. Each group may also provide a brief overview of the ethical solutions they proposed and discuss the real-world implications of such decisions.

Key Questions

1. What ethical dilemmas did your group encounter, and how were they addressed?

2. In what ways did personal will influence the ethical decisions throughout the activities?

3. How did the ethical theories discussed assist in guiding your group's decision-making process?

Conclusion

Duration: (5 - 10 minutes)

The conclusion aims to ensure that students leave with a clear understanding of what has been learned and how theoretical concepts were practically applied during the lesson. Summarizing reinforces acquired knowledge while discussing the connection between theory and practice highlights the significance of studying ethics in our daily lives. This closing segment also emphasizes the topic's importance, inspiring students to continue contemplating ethics and will in their own lives.

Summary

In this lesson, we investigated the relationship between ethics and will, scrutinizing how behavioral ethics extends beyond personal desires. We revisited both classic and contemporary ethical theories, applying them to practical situations via interactive activities and group discussions.

Theory Connection

Today's lesson bridged the theoretical concepts explored at home and their practical applications in class, employing conference simulations and ethical dilemmas to enhance the relevance of ethical ideas in everyday life and broader contexts, like programming AI systems.

Closing

Grasping ethics and will is vital for developing informed and responsible citizens who can make ethical choices across diverse situations. Throughout the lesson, we recognized that ethics is not merely a set of rules, but a framework for action that can transform our interactions and our communities.