|
Bills
to Laws
CD-ROM
Sponsored by:
The American New Media
Educational
Foundation and The Ohio Lobbying
Association
PI: Wayne Carlson
The
curricular areas for this project were Civics,
Government and Social Studies. It was designed
for use in grades 8-12. The content of the project
was in keeping with the Ohio Citizenship Proficiency
Outcomes guidelines, the Ohio Social Studies
Model Curriculum, and the National Standards
for Civics and Government for grade 9.
| |
The
initial unit theme addressed in the project
was the process of legislation in the
State of Ohio. A simulation was done to
trace the process of a bill as it travels
through the legislative process on its
way to becoming law. Emphasis was on the
roles of the legislature, public interest
groups, special interest groups, voters,
political parties and the media
all of whom can affect the progress of
the bill. The
final product was a CD-ROM which provided
an opportunity for the student to interact
with this process. The participant is
allowed to visualize the process of a
bill as it travels through the legislative
process. At each of the stages of the
process, an age appropriate case study
(Senate Bill 19 - Disposal of Low-level
Radioactive Waste) representing an actual
bill that has traveled through the Ohio
General Assembly is available for comparison
with the process. The CD serves as both
an educational and entertaining teaching
tool.
|
|
|
Follow-on
activities assessed the value of this kind of
technological teaching tool. Student/teacher
acceptance, the educational process, related
disciplinary impact, and moral/ethical ramifications
of the approach were measured and evaluated.
|