TEACHING CRITICAL THINKING STRATEGIES IN THE CLASSROOM THROUGH AESTHETIC EXPERIENCES:

PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS

By Matt Thorton

Learning Objectives

1) The learner will name the different psychological disorder categories.

2) The learner will identify the causes of different psychological disorders.

3) The learner will describe the symptoms of the specific psychological disorders.

4) The learner will compare the effects that a disorder can have on a persons daily life.

5) The learner will examine the different therapy methods used for psychological disorders.

Student Activities

Students will: Watch video clips about psychological disorders. In groups, students will create a PowerPoint about a

psychological disorder category. They will incorporate pictures into their presentation.

Students will create a pamphlet laying out the causes, symptoms, and treatments for a specific disorder. They must design their pamphlets in a visually attractive manner by incorporating various colors and graphics.

Listen to the stories of a clinical psychologist Create a video detailing a person suffering from a

disorder. Students will act out the symptoms within the video. Other students will attempt to predict what disorder is being portrayed.

Day 1- Video Clips

Students watched videos that detailed different disorders. www.unitedstreaming.com

Days 2 & 3- Group PowerPoint Each group created a presentation about

a specific disorder after one day of research in the computer lab.

Days 4,5,6- Pamphlet

Individually, students researched a specific disorder. They listed the causes, symptoms, and treatments in their pamphlet.

Day 7- Speaker

A local clinical psychologist spoke with students. Many stories were shared and questions were asked.

Days 8 & 9- Role Playing Video In groups, students created a short video

detailing a person with a disorder. They illustrated common symptoms associated with their mental illness.

While the videos were played, the other students had to guess the disorder being portrayed. An example of a student video is on the

next slide……

Assessment rubric that I used to determine if my students met the learning goals of this project.

CATEGORY Incomplete: 0 Partially Complete: 1 Complete: 2 Advanced: 3 Class Discussion Did not participate. Participated sparingly. Acceptable

participation within discussion

Exceptional listening and participation within discussion.

Group-PowerPoint Did not participate. PowerPoint did not satisfy all requirements.

All essential requirements completed on time.

PowerPoint completed on time and beyond expectations.

Disorder Pamphlet Did not participate. Pamphlet did not satisfy all requirements.

All essential requirements completed.

Pamphlet completed on time and beyond expectations.

Video- Role Playing Did not participate. Video did not satisfy all requirements.

All essential requirements completed.

Video completed on time and beyond expectations.

Research Websites Used by Students: http://www.mentalhealth.com/ http://www.mentalhelp.net/ http://www.minddisorders.com/ http://www.nami.org/

Final Thoughts…..

This project was time consuming but it was all worthwhile. Students were engaged in the learning process and went the extra mile on their assignments. When students are passionate about their work it shows in the final products. The most successful aspect of this unit was the role playing video. Students enjoyed displaying their creative performances with their peers.

Going into a unit like this can definitely be intimidating. A teacher wonders if students will respond to the lessons. All of my concerns have been alleviated though because of my student’s hard work and dedication. I will definitely continue using this lesson in the future.