Self-Driving Cars Discussion and Debate (Copy and Paste)
Overview
In this lesson students will discuss and debate the pros and cons of self-driving cars. Students will do research on current self-driving car technologies along with the benefits and risks before formulating a position.
This lesson plan was created by a participant of the 2020-21 Decision Education Fellowship, hosted by the Alliance for Decision Education.
Lesson Overview
Lesson Author
Allen Wang
Lesson Description
In this lesson students will discuss and debate the pros and cons of self-driving cars. Students will do research on current self-driving car technologies along with the benefits and risks before formulating a position.
Lesson Objectives
Students will be able to:
Analyze the impact of the 1929 and 2008 stock market crashes
Create stock market graphs from the Great Depression and Great Recession Eras and use the data to evaluate the risks and benefits of investing in stocks
Debate and discuss with peers based on the position taken regarding self-driving car technology.
Lesson Requirements
This lesson plan should take 120 minutes to teach
Deciding and Critical Thinking Skills
This lesson emphasizes the Clarifying Values [CV], Generating Alternatives [GA], and Gathering Information for Deciding [GID] Deciding Skills, as well as the Gathering Information for Critical Thinking [GICT], Analysis [A], Evaluation [EV], and Explanation [EX] Critical Thinking Skills.
Standards Alignment
HS-ETS1-3: Evaluate a solution to a complex real-world problem based on prioritized criteria and trade-offs that account for a range of constraints, including cost, safety, reliability, and aesthetics, as well as possible social, cultural, and environmental impacts.
SEP - HS.SEP.6: Construction Explanations and Designing Solutions
DCI - HS.ETS1.C: Optimizing the Design Solution
CC - Influence of Science, Engineering, Technology, and Application of Science
Materials and noticeable setup requirements
Business Insider - Why Don’t We Have Self Driving Cars Yet
Student Handout
Lesson Procedure
Activating Prior Knowledge - 5 Minutes
Students start off the class by answering questions about their knowledge of self-driving car.
Business Insider Video - 10 Minutes
Students watch a video by Business Insider, which describes the various stages of self-driving car technology and highlights the stage we are currently in. Students then answer a number of reflection questions.
*Teachers should break students into groups.
Team Search and Explore [SE] - 30 Minutes
(10 mins) Students work in groups to write down two lists, labeled PRO (arguments for self-driving car technology) and CON (arguments against self driving car technology.
(10 mins) Each student should pick one argument to further investigate, explicitly looking for information that supports the argument and undermines the argument.
(10 mins) Students come back to their groups and participate in a group discussion discussing the process and challenges of investigating for evidence. The results of the search and explore can be discussed if there is time.
Argument Analysis [A] - 10 Minutes
Each student should take their argument and research evidence and fill out a claim evidence and reasoning chart. The argument should be the claim. Students should then break down the rest of the evidence into the evidence and the reasoning.
Argument Evaluation [EV] - 5 Minutes
In pairs, students will evaluate the argument on a scale of 0 (totally useless or misleading) to 10 (excellent) based on a set of criteria such as expertise, potential bias, quality of writing/reasoning, logical fallacies, psychological biases, assumptions, etc.
Clarifying Values - 10 Minutes
Now that students have researched arguments on both sides, it is time for students to clarify what is most important to them as they make a decision to whether to support self-driving technology, not support, or take an alternative position.
Preparing Your Stance - 25 Minutes
Students will take their values, their arguments, their research and decide on a position regarding self-driving car technology. Students will then create a quick presentation with their position and their arguments.
Debate and Discussion - 20 Minutes
In groups of four, students will debate and discuss their position of self-driving car technology. Students should note their position before the debate/discussion and note if their position changed after the debate. Note: This debate/discussion can also be done full class but will take longer unless it is run as a seminar.