Inquiry Technique: Jurisprudential

Overview: This inquiry technique presents students with a reflective prompt while
exposing them to some form of media (movie, news article, commentary, photo,
case study) where students apply their knowledge, evaluate the source and form an
opinion on an issue.
Using some form of media vs. just the presentation of an issue, will:
give the students time to reflect
level the playing field for students that do not have as much of a foundational
knowledge base to draw on
serve as an initial concrete speaking point to begin the discussion of abstract
ideas

How Jurisprudential Meets the Hallmarks of Inquiry:

Constructivist: Activation of previous background knowledge, in
the reflection process students are making their own meaning

Student Autonomy: the teacher is not telling the students WHAT

to thinkthey are forming their own opinions. The teacher may
direct the students HOW to think (ex. Consider the perspective of
this person or group consider the motives of. Reflect on how the
social political climate affects this issue.). Notice how the teacher
prompts are not questions, but guidance- this allows students to
formulate their own questions.
Engaging: In most cases, students will have some interest in a
current event, contentious issues etc. because they are real world
problems. The authenticity of the task is what makes it engaging.
Exploration: In most cases, the media artifact you are exposing the
students to is an incomplete picture of the entire issue- bias may be
present, there may be limited science content, the perspectives of
all groups may not be addressed in depth and this
incompleteness prompts further research and investigation in an
area. This can include researching on the internet, asking for
experts opinions (one student may have a relative in a particular
field), relating to other media or the opinions of peers.

Emphasizes Higher Level Thinking Skills: Students are

engaging in evaluation of the media and synthesizing an argument
through the application of scientific facts and concepts
(argumentation is a skill that is increasingly emphasized in science).
Additionally, being a critical consumer of science media is a
foundation of scientific literacy.
Instructional Process using Holocaust on Trial:
Novas Holocaust on Trial resources address the central issue, should the
experimental data and knowledge gained from the unethical treatment of the Jews
be accepted into the collective base of science knowledge?
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/holocaust/textindex.html
Process

Holocaust on Trial

Teacher selects media source

and takes into consideration:
Skill development goals
Connections to relevant
content
Age appropriateness of the
issue
The existing knowledge of her
students
Teacher exposes the students
to the media and may use some
directing prompts or lenses to
view the media through. Ex.
Consider this perspective,
examine from an economic point
of view This reflective process
is done individually usually.
Students begin to reflect on
their own knowledge and
experiences and formulate their
own questions and initial opinion.

This resource could be used in grade 11-12 or for

college students due to the graphic and
disturbing nature of the subject matter. At this
age level students have learned the historical
events of WWII as well as anatomy, physiology
and an understanding of what constitutes science
and how this knowledge base is formed.

Students share their ideas and

questions and reactions with their
peers and perform further
research.

In our case, students are left on their own to

explore the Nova website. The teacher will
prompt students to consider how our body of
science knowledge is formed and has been
formed historically.

A very pragmatic student may focus on the

validity of the experiments instead of the ethical
and social implications and they may form
questions surrounding the methodology of the
experiments.
The pragmatic student may research to see if
there are any peer reviewed articles from any of
the Nazi experiments.

Students form an opinion,

substantiated by evidence from
the media and science content
and communicate it.

The pragmatic student may infer that the

experiments are scientifically sound due to the
high number of trials, precision of the
methodology and control of variables.

Students and /or the teacher may

ask questions once the argument
is presented that prompt the
student to refine and
reconsider certain elements
of their response.
The teacher may prompt students
to consider another media
source with similar themes.

A prompt that could be used is: does the

acceptance of the knowledge gained by unethical
means promote a culture of acceptance and
complacency regarding the ethical treatment of
experimental subjects
In this case, I would use The Sterilization of
Leilani Muir the same principles of eugenics
were applied in Alberta until 1969 where anyone
deemed a mental defective (as based on an IQ
test) was institutionalized and sterilized. Many
different sterilization techniques were tested on
these subjects without their consent.