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Judicial Branch

Application of Learning Theories

Towson University

Gary Sullivan

May 18, 2018

Knowledge of the judicial branch of government is an important skill that demonstrates

student ability to form opinions on issues both historical and modern and is useful not only in a

typical school environment, but also in many real-world job applications as well. This project

will investigate the knowledge and skills necessary to understanding the judicial branch of the

United States government.

This project is designed for 9th grade students aged 13-16. Students working on this

project should have completed the legislative and executive branch portions of the curriculum

prior to the judicial branch.

The goal of this project is to have students be able to identify the different types of courts

on the state and federal level, have students identify and explain court decisions on a variety of

Supreme Court decisions, and make distinctions between civil and criminal court proceedings.

Prior knowledge of the topics of the learning activities is not expected. Students may

have heard about the Supreme Court, but likely no significant decisions. Students will be given a

pre-assessment at the start of the unit in order to determine what level of prior knowledge is

present. Due to the nature of the Maryland High School Assessment and the important of the

different Supreme Court decisions found on the test, a high emphasis will be placed on students

remembering the important details and court decision associated with each case. As such these

lessons will consist of a lot of memorization practice and can be considered behaviorist in nature
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as such. The core of the lessons will be discovery based and student centered, and the

culminating lesson will be a real-world application project.

Lesson 1

Objective: Students will analyze the concept of jurisdiction in order to determine the

difference between appellate and original jurisdiction in a court of law.

Introduction: Introduce a scenario that shows jurisdiction that can be found in a school

setting, such as a teacher's jurisdiction over their class, or the principal over the school. Ask

students how jurisdiction can apply in other places like at home or out in public. Introduce the

concept of original and appellate jurisdiction. Original is the authority of a court to be the first

ones to hear a case. Appellate is the authority to hear a case appealed from a lower court. Ask the

class why it is necessary to have differing levels and give time for response.

Activity 1: Students will be divided into premade groups of 4 and assigned to one of the

3 types of federal courts found in the US. Students are tasked with creating an infographic with

their groups that contains the following information:

-# of judges or courts

-Term length of judges

-Appellate or Original Jurisdiction

-What kinds of cases are heard

-An illustration for each section

Allow time for groups to present their work to the class following creating of their

infographic. Students will summarize the findings of each group on a separate worksheet they

will keep for their notes.

Learning theory: This activity is a discovery-based learning activity. There is minimal

teacher guidance besides initial explanation, there are multiple ways to approach the problem of

creating the infographic with no single solution being correct, and the assignment itself is very

hands on.

Closure: Students will compare and contrast appellate and original jurisdiction and

explain why appeals are always done by a higher court.

Lesson 2

Objective: Students will examine courts found in Maryland in order to make connections

to the Federal Court system.

Introduction: Students will begin by being asked "The establishment of a dual (Nation +

State) court system relies on which principle of government?" Students should answer federalism

to tie into previous work in prior units and understand that the concept of federalism is present in

all branches of government just like legislative and executive.

Activity 1: Students will be given an anticipation guide that has several true and false

statements they will need to work through to determine their knowledge of the Maryland court

system.

Learning Theory: This activity is very much a constructivist one. Piaget stated that "To

express the same idea in still another way, I think that human knowledge is essentially active."

To engage students in a process of problem solving is essential as an instructor. (Driscoll, 2005)

Activity 2: Students are then asked what similarities they notice when comparing the

federal and state systems to each other. After several key similarities are identified, students will

be split in two groups, and given guided reading assignments. Each group will be responsible for

one type of MD court system and will progress through a graphic organizer to record their
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findings. Upon completion of the organizer and reading, students will be asked to re-examine the

anticipation guide and complete the "After" column with updated information learned in class.

#Learning Theory: The learning theory associated with this activity is Lev Vygotsky's

zone of proximal development. Vygotsky (1978) states that "interaction with peers is an

effective way of developing skills and strategies." and having students apply knowledge

gained in the previous class with the federal court system to the state system is exactly like

moving up the next level in the ZPD.

Closure: Students will complete a Venn diagram matching activity that asks them to

place different concepts on each side of the Venn diagram depending on whether it is associated

with a federal or state court system.

Lesson 3

Objective: Students will examine examples of historical law in order to compare the

similarities and differences between criminal and civil law.

Introduction: Students will be shown famous quotes from the Code of Hammurabi and

be asked to determine the meaning of each statement. Then students will be presented with a

variety of scenarios that Hammurabi inclues laws about in his code and asked to describe a fair

punishment. "What happens to a man unable to pay his debts?" Students usually say something

like thrown in jail or fined more money, but Hammurabi says he must sell his wife and children

into slavery, which causes students a lot of shock. Students then go through the process of

learning about the code, and why it is important as the first set of written law we've found.

Activity: Using Hammurabi's code as a baseline, ask students what the difference

between the terms "civil law" and "criminal law" probably mean. Students will be placed in
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jigsaw groups in order to become subject matter experts on criminal and civil law. After meeting

with a partner who has the opposite law type, students will work together with that partner to

complete a vocabulary matching activity based on both types of law.

Learning Theory: This lesson is based in cognitivist theory, especially gestalt theory.

Arnheim, Kohler (1998) states that "we often learn by making sense of the relationship between

what's new and old." The connection between the ancient laws of Hammurabi and the legal

system in use in the US today can demonstrate growth, but also allow student reflection and

cognition.

Activity 2: Students will be presented an unlabeled picture of O.J. Simpson at trial and be

asked if they can identify him based off prior knowledge. Due to the magnitude of the case

someone almost always knows his face and what he was accused of. Present students with a

variety of photos about the OJ case, and lead into the verdict reaction video. Students will use the

information presented to complete a set of graphic organizers together with instructor that cover

the differences between criminal and civil law, including parties involved, how cases are

decided, the evidence required, and the steps in the case.

#Learning Theory: Interpretivist learning theory is the theme of this lesson again due to

the multiple video interviews and observation of the OJ Simpson case. Many student also seem

to empathize with the people present in the OJ case, whether that is OJ or the families of the

victims who play a large role as well.

Closure: Students will watch a brief video of the show "Judge Joe Brown". The clip is

very straighforward and illustrates what happens when the burden is proof is placed on certain

people in a trial and the weight evidence can have in helping you win. Students will be asked to
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explain why the plaintiff wins the case, and what the defendant could have done differently to

turn the decision in his favor.

Lesson 4

Objective: Students will examine the "Big 8" Supreme Court cases in order to explain

the impact of judicial review throughout the history of American Government.

Introduction: Start by introducing the question "What influence does the President have

over the Supreme court". Students should identify that the President is responsible for appointing

new justices to the Supreme Court, and as such will usually pick people with similar ideologies.

Activity: Students will complete a set of guided notes about 8 of the most important

Supreme Court case decisions that gives:

-A summary of the issue.

-The court's decision and justification.

-The implications of the decision and what changes because of it.

-A one sentence summary of what to remember when they hear the case name.

Activity 2: Students will play an online review game designed to test their knowledge

and memory of the aforementioned Supreme Court rulings. Candy and extra credit will be

offered for correct answers as a way to entice students.

Learning Theory: This lesson is centered around behaviorist theory mostly due to the

need for memorization, and the associated reward conditioning students to the correct answers,

as these cases are complicated and hard to remember.

Closure: Students are prompted to create a brief constructed response about which case

decision they disagree with and why and are prompted to share their responses with the class and

have a discussion about why as a class.

Lesson 5

Objective: Students will recreate a courtroom setting by participating in a mock trial.

Introduction: Students will review knowledge of the OJ Simpson case, and recall the

different burdens of proof that caused OJ to be found not guilty in criminal court, but guilty in

civil court.

Activity: Students will conduct a mock trial based on a scenario provided by the

instructor. Different students will be assigned roles, including:

-Judge

-Prosecutor

-Defense Team

-Defendant

-Jury

-Witnesses

Students will present evidence and do their best to convince members of the jury of the

accused's guilt or innocence.

Closure: Students will construct a brief response detailing what they believe they should

have done differently if they were going to repeat the exercise again.

#Learning Theory: The theory associated with the final lesson is the interpretivist

concept of verstehen or putting yourself in someone else's shoes. Interpretivists often have a lot

of bias and emotion in their research and having students participate directly and "decide" the

fate of their peers replicates interpretivist ideals.

Lesson 6
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Objective: Students will develop a set of written interview questions in order to further

understanding of the court system in America.

Introduction: As a warm up, ask students what type of court they would be going to for

committing a variety of differing crimes, i.e. burglary, shoplifting, jaywalking, murder etc. This

will serve as a reminder of the different types of courts discussed thus far and lead into the big

activity for the day.

Activity: Students will generate a list of interview questions they can ask a family

member, family friend, or other adult in their life related to the judicial system. Students will be

tasked with creating at least a 20-part questionnaire that includes all topics discussed so far in

class, including:

-Supreme Court

-Criminal/Civil Law

-State/Federal Court

The purpose of this activity is to have students see the real-life implications of the court

system, whether that is jury duty, a passionate news following, or occasions of appearance in

court. This grounds students and provides a modicum of evidence of the value of what we are

learning in class.

#Learning Theory: The learning theory associated with this activity is the interpretivist

theory of observation and interview. By having students make a personal connection, they

consider outside perspectives that they may not have previously. Papert (1982) famously stated

"You can't think seriously about thinking without thinking about thinking about something.” I

want my students to seriously consider how the information presented over the last 5 lessons can
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be useful outside of just being on a test. Interpretivist thought is the best way to approach this in

my opinion.

Closure: Several students will present their best question, and everyone will be asked to

write down at least one other person's question on their own list of questions. Students will be

asked to anticipate possible answers to given questions as a class.

References

Arnheim, R. (1998). Wolfgang Köhler and gestalt theory: An English translation of Köhlers

introduction to Die physischen Gestalten for philosophers and biologists. History of Psychology

Driscoll, M. P. (2005). Psychology of Learning for Instruction, Boston:

Papert, S. (1982). Mindstorms

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes.

Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.