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 crucial for guiding both the teacher and students regarding the focus of the class. By outlining what needs to be accomplished, students can channel their efforts more effectively during studying and class participation, while the teacher can adjust activities to ensure the objectives are met. In this plan, the objectives are structured to foster a deep and critical understanding of ethics and will, encouraging the practical application of these concepts in real-life and theoretical situations.

Objective Utama:

1. Help students analyze and discuss behavioral ethics as an inherent duty of human beings that goes beyond individual will.

2. Enable students to identify real-life situations where ethics might clash with personal will and apply philosophical reasoning to tackle these dilemmas.

Objective Tambahan:

1. Promote critical thinking and reasoned argumentation based on ethical principles.

Introduction

Duration: (15 - 20 minutes)

The introduction aims to engage students and link what they studied at home to practical and relevant scenarios, fostering critical reflection right from the outset. The posed problem situations are designed to spark ethical contemplation and prepare students for fruitful classroom discussions. Contextualizing the topic illustrates the real-world and historical relevance of ethics and will, enhancing students' interest and understanding of these vital issues.

Problem-Based Situation

1. Imagine a close friend facing financial troubles who asks you to mislead your teacher, claiming they submitted an assignment late on purpose to get a redo. How would you navigate this situation with ethics and your personal will in mind?

2. You’re in a workplace where colleagues frequently resort to cheating to meet targets, and the manager turns a blind eye to these practices. Although it makes you uncomfortable, not following suit might put you at risk. How do ethics and the urge to do what's right balance out in this scenario?

Contextualization

Ethics and will manifest in countless aspects of life, from simple everyday choices to complex moral and political issues. For example, the French Resistance during World War II exemplifies how ethical principles and the will to act for the greater good superseded personal safety and interests. Moreover, contemporary organizations face ethical challenges around environmental sustainability and social responsibility, highlighting how individual choices can ripple through and impact the wider community.

Development

Duration: (65 - 75 minutes)

The development stage is structured to allow students to apply and deepen their understanding of ethics and will through hands-on and interactive scenarios. Working in groups enables them to explore various perspectives and solutions to ethical dilemmas, thereby promoting critical thinking and informed choices. Each activity is designed to simulate real or hypothetical situations that test personal and collective ethics, equipping students to face these dilemmas with awareness and understanding.

Activity Suggestions

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

Activity 1 - The Decision Machine Dilemma

> Duration: (60 - 70 minutes)

- Objective: Cultivate skills for ethical decision-making in complex scenarios and understand the application of ethics in AI programming.

- Description: Students are divided into groups of up to 5 members. Each group is tasked with a scenario: they are engineers programming an AI to make ethical choices in tough situations, such as whether to save a patient or a bystander in a car mishap. The machine has only two options, resulting in different ethical repercussions.

- Instructions:

• Discuss within the group the potential outcomes of the machine's decisions in each scenario.

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

• Present the programmed decisions to the class, justifying the ethical reasoning behind them.

Activity 2 - The Ethical Conference

> Duration: (60 - 70 minutes)

- Objective: Practice argumentation and negotiation skills in ethical discussions and understand the complexities involved in global ethical decision-making.

- Description: In this activity, students engage in a simulation of an international ethics conference. Each group represents a different country, tasked with negotiating and debating a global ethical dilemma (for instance, resource allocation during a crisis).

- Instructions:

• Research and prepare arguments based on various ethical theories to support your country's stance.

• Participate in negotiation rounds with other groups, striving to reach a collective ethical agreement.

• Draft a final declaration summarizing the agreement and justifying your decisions.

Activity 3 - The Ethical Race

> Duration: (60 - 70 minutes)

- Objective: Grasp the dynamics of ethical decisions in competitive environments and acknowledge the significance of maintaining moral integrity under pressure.

- Description: Students, in groups, take part in an obstacle course where each obstacle represents a unique ethical dilemma. They must decide which path to take, with their choices affecting the overall time taken in the race. Some routes may be quicker but ethically questionable.

- Instructions:

• Navigate the course, making ethical choices at each hurdle.

• Record decisions and the times of each group.

• Discuss the choices made and how they reflect personal as well as collective ethics.

Feedback

Duration: (15 - 20 minutes)

This feedback session is pivotal for reinforcing students' learning, allowing them to share insights and perspectives gained throughout the activities. Group discussions provide an opportunity for students to compare their views with one another, enriching their comprehension of the material and encouraging deeper reflection on the relationship between ethics and personal will. Furthermore, the key questions help recap essential points discussed and evaluate the impact of the activities on students' ethical understanding.

Group Discussion

Initiate the discussion by inviting each group to share their key insights and challenges encountered during the activities. Encourage students to contemplate how ethics and personal will shaped their decisions and those of their peers. Recommend that each group present a brief overview of the ethical solutions they proposed and discuss the implications of such decisions in real-world contexts.

Key Questions

1. What were the most significant ethical dilemmas your group faced, and how did you resolve them?

2. In what ways did personal will affect the ethical decisions made during the activities?

3. How did the ethical theories studied assist in guiding your group’s decision-making?

Conclusion

Duration: (5 - 10 minutes)

The conclusion serves to ensure that students have a solid understanding of what has been learned and how theoretical concepts were recognized in practical contexts during the lesson. Summarizing helps reinforce the knowledge gained, while discussing the connection between theory and practice emphasizes the importance of ethics in everyday life. This closing also seeks to reaffirm the topic's significance, encouraging students to keep reflecting on ethics and will in their everyday experiences.

Summary

In this lesson, we delved into the interaction between ethics and will, critically examining how behavioral ethics extends beyond individual will. We reviewed both classical and contemporary ethical theories, applying them to practical situations through interactive exercises and group discussions.

Theory Connection

Today's lesson bridged the gap between the theoretical concepts learned at home and their practical application in class, using methods like conference simulations and ethical dilemmas to showcase the relevance of ethics in daily life and broader contexts, such as programming AI.

Closing

Grasping ethics and will is vital for nurturing conscious and responsible citizens capable of making informed ethical choices across various situations. Throughout the lesson, we recognized that ethics is not merely a set of rules but a guiding principle that can transform our interactions and the world around us.