Course Description: An interdisciplinary introduction to international relations. It partially fulfills general studies core course requirements. This lesson integrates with several course modules, including security issues, area studies, and conflict resolution. This is a freshman-sophomore level course with a class size of 45 students in general studies. The lesson length was 75 minutes. It was conducted in a standard level 3 technology classroom.

Executive Summary: Learning Goals: The learning goals of this lesson study were the following: 1. Acquire an overview of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the context of contemporary Middle-East history; 2. Be able to identify the major actors in the conflict and know their positions on the major issues of the conflict; 3. Be able to identify major features of the major peace proposal currently on the table. 4. Be able to identify the major obstacles to peace. 5. Be able to identify the pay-offs for peace for the main participants and for United States and regional foreign policy interests. Instructional Design: The design consisted of two treatment effects, each delivered to a different class of Global Perspectives students. The first was conducted in spring 2007, and the second in fall 2007. In the first stage students were required to read an article prior to a lecture on the topic. Students were also given a set of questions directed toward an assessment of the the learning goals above. In the second treatment effect students again were assigned an outside reading on the subject, but the lesson was modified to include the use of Google Earth to identify regional demarcations of boundaries and terrain, and the in-class viewing of a short video on the subject. Students again heard the lecture and were given the set of questions directed toward the learning goals. In each case there was a discussion after the lecture regarding the questions to assess student success in mastering the material. Major Findings: Student response, both in terms of knowledge and affect, was much more positive in the second treatment effect than in the first.

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The Lesson Below are links to the lesson plan and the materials used to teach it. How to teach the Lesson: What teachers should do - Based on our experience in conducting the lesson study project, the best results are achieved if instructors prepare the students by first presenting the video in class prior to the delivery of the lecture material. Prior to delivery of the lecture, instructors should acquire a map of the Middle East, or familiarize themselves with Google Earth so that the map may be viewed in real time during the lecture. With these points in mind, there are four basic elements to the lesson: 1) the video that students should view in advance, 2) the reading assignment, 3) the written questions that should be given in advance of the lesson to students, and, 4) the PowerPoint lecture material to be delivered in lecture format. What students should do - Students should read the assigned literature in preparation for the delivery of the lecture material. They should also review and think about the study questions. Student Learning Goals The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the longest standing regional conflicts held over from the 20th century. The continuation of this conflict disturbs the stability and undermines the well-being of the entire region as well as U.S. relations with the Islamic world. Although most parties to the conflict profess an intense desire to reach a peaceful resolution to the points of contention, the conflict remains one of the most intractable in international politics today. The immediate learning goals of this lesson are as follows: 1. Acquire an overview of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the context of contemporary middle-eastern history; 2. Be able to identify the major actors in the conflict and know their positions on the major issues of the conflict; 3. Be able to identify major features of the major peace proposal currently on the table. 4. Be able to identify the major obstacles to peace. 5. Be able to identify the pay-offs for peace for the main participants and for United States and regional foreign policy interests. The long term goals are: 1. To develop students' ability to identify major actors in regional conflicts (inter-state and intra-state) 2. To increase the capacity of the students to identify obstacles to any peace plans regarding regional conflicts. 3. To develop ability to identify peaceful techniques for conflict resolutions such as mediation and arbitration. 4. To encourage critical thinking about international affairs. How the lesson is intended to work The design shown below is the product of our empirical findings which emerged in the first attempt to deliver the lesson. In that attempt we did not include a documentary video in advance of the lecture material and we did not assign roles in the discussion period. The assigned reading for the assignment is the Wikipedia article, "History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict,". It is fashionable to criticize Wikipedia articles on the grounds that they are not authoritative and often exhibit factual errors. The current article, however, was judged by this lesson study team to be a relatively balanced account. Although the article has much to criticize, depending on one's point of view, the debate over its accuracy is available for all to see in the discussion section that accompanies the article. And, that includes the students who have been warned in advance that this is a highly controversial topic. Readings from other sources do not reveal the controversial nature of the topic in the immediate way that Wikipedia discussions about it do. Consequently, astute students will see there is little consensus on major issues related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is important that the students view the documentary video and receive the study questions in advance of the lecture and that the instructor leave ample time at the end of the lecture for discussion. The video we chose for the lesson study was "Palestine-Israel 101." This video is an overview of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict presented by the American Task Force on Palestine. The choice of this video is important because the topic at hand is highly controversial. In the presentation of the video and the subsequent lecture, no position is asserted by the instructor as to who is right or wrong in the conflict, or which side is morally superior. All such judgments are left to the side. The approach taken by the authors in the presentations to students is that of conflicting narratives; that is, that different perspectives on the conflict from both Palestinians and Israelis are best understood as narratives that express the position of the speakers. As instructors we do not pass judgment as to the "truth" of those narratives. The video at hand takes a similar perspective. Although some will not agree with all that the video asserts, or perhaps will claim that important facts are missing, the video is remarkably balanced. In the end it supports a two-state solution based on the "Road Map" endorsed by the current Bush administration. The study questions are critical to the success of the lesson. They are shown here with instructions: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Israeli-Palestinian conflict All students have been assigned a reading on the topic in Wikipedia as well as a video documentary on the issues. After watching the video and reading the information on the subject, answer the following questions. Use any other information you like that may help your answer. Major topic of investigation: Israeli-Palestinian conflict and resolution to the conflict Goals and Objectives: review peaceful solutions to the conflict as well as suggest new and innovative ways in which we can contribute to peace. Advantages of Peace: economic growth for both Israeli and Palestinian, political development in Palestine (most probably democratic liberalism), closer relationship between Israel and other countries in the Middle East and finally a major change of attitude toward the role of the United States in the region especially among Muslims. Disadvantages: The major arm dealers that supply the adversaries (Palestinian groups, Israel and other governments in the Middle East) will economically suffer. 1. What will be gained by resolving the conflict between Israel and Palestine?For Israelis? For Palestinians? For Americans? 2. What is a concrete solution to the problems between Israelis and Palestinians? How can it be achieved? 3. What are the major challenges to the two state solution at this point? Posed by Israelis, posed by Palestinians, posed by the U.S ________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Prior to the lecture on the topic, the students will have seen the documentary video in the preceding class period. They should have considered responses to the study questions above prior to coming to the next class. At the next class period, the lecture on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is presented. The lecture is accompanied by a PowerPoint slide presentation that outlines the major points. In our case the presentation was based on the work, The Arab-Israeli Conflict and Its Transformation by Dennis Stevens in Challenges to Peace in the Middle East. Longman, 2002. The lecture should not be so long as to curtail time available for discussion. Upon finishing the lecture, the instructor divides the class into three or four groups of five to seven students each, depending on the size of the class. Each group is assigned a role to play. The task of each group is to formulate a policy congruent with the goals of each group. In our case we divided the class into four groups as follows: 1) a right wing Israeli group, 2) a moderate Israeli group, 3) a radical Palestinian group, and 4) a moderate Palestinian group. A student secretary was appointed for each group. This process facilitated and supported student thinking related to the knowledge gained from the readings, lecture, and documentary video in our case study. We believe these procedures created a student friendly learning environment. Links and References for Class Materials Denise Stevens. Challenges to Peace in the Middle East. Longman, 2002. Video Documentary, "Palestine-Israel 101," published by the American Task Force on Palestine. Wikipedia, "History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict." URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Israeli–Palestinian_conflict Lesson Template This template contains the lesson portion of the Complete Report Template. Video Documentary, "Palestine-Israel 101" Published by the American Task Force on Palestine. Wikipedia, "History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict." The Arab-Israeli Conflict and Its Transformation The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

The Study Approach: Describe the types of evidence you collected before, during, and after the lesson, e.g., observations, written work, student interviews. Prior to the exercise we asked general and specific questions from the the students in order to assess their knowledge about the Middle East and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Student responses were varied. Most students only have heard the names Israel and Palestine. Some students expressed negative understanding of Palestinians but positive understanding of Israelis. This demonstrates that students were exposed to partial information introduced to them by the news media, teachers, parents and churches. Some students asked why they should be concerned about this issue since it does not have much to do with the US. This also shows the lack of thorough knowledge about Israel, Palestine, the Middle East, and the impact of this conflict on United States relations with the rest of the world. Describe the procedure for observing the lesson, indicate who observed, what they observed, how they recorded observations, etc. Zohreh Ghavamshahidi delivered the lesson while Charles Cottle and Li Xia Lollar observed the lesson delivery. Their observation demonstrates that the lesson's goals and its delivery were clear and to the point. Charles Cottle observed the students during the lesson delivery and later, we all observed the students during their participation within their designated group. Their activities included discussion within the group and afterward, discussion between the groups. At the end of the session the students' responses to the three written questions that we distributed prior to lesson delivery were collected. Findings Summarize the evidence. Present major patterns and tendencies, key observations, or representative examples of student learning and thinking. Some general observations follow: • The major pattern and tendency of students is to learn generalize information. • The lesson reveals that students' conception of this case is rather conventional than reflective. It appears that this topic has not been a part of their high school curriculum. It also reveals that there is a lack of interest among students about international issues even when the United States is depply involoved with thoe issues. Because of partial information about this topic some students are rather confused about the historical facts, adversarial parties, peace plans, and a host of other issues. • The lesson affected students positively. They walked away with detailed informaiton about the case study and analytical tools to apply to the similar cases. • They were able to demonstrate a general knowledge about this case study. They were also able to identify the parties to the conflict adversaries (right wing Israelis, moderate Israelis, and Palestinians: PLO and HAMAS). In addition the students identified several alternative measures for settlement of this dispute. • Their varied responses through their interaction within and between the groups demonstrated the acquisition of critical analysis skills. • After our exercise with the lesson plan, some students came up with some positive suggestions toward a peaceful resolution of the conflict between the two adversaries. Discussion • With respect to the lesson's goals the lesson study suggests that the students gained a general knowledge about the history of Israeli-Palestinian conflict. They also learned to identify the major actors in the conflict and know their positions on the major issues of the conflict as well as the major obstacles to peace and pay offs for peace for the main participants and for the United States. • The lesson reveals that prior to their exposure to the lesson study, student thinking was influenced predominantly by the information provided to them by the government officials and the main stream media. There were misconceptions about Palestinians, the statues of Jerusalem, HAMAS, the PLO, the role of the United States in this conflict and the Israeli governments attitudes toward the conflict. The lesson was designed to provide both printed and visual as well as electronic information to the students that can objectively see both parties point of views. After they were exposed to the information provided by the lesson the students seemed to be much less confused about the facts of this conflict. • The lesson was designed to challenge their knowledge about the topic and their notion of right and wrong. Having students divided into different groups with opposing political position on the topic we learned how the students apply their value system to justify their political position to the case study. We also learned that at first the students had a hard time to do teamwork but as we went along students showed more willingness to cooperate within their groups. • The lesson study is a valuable tool for teaching and learning. We strongly believe that the students who were exposed to this lesson study are more knowledgeable about this topic than those who had a traditional lecture on this topic. We also believe through the practice of lesson studies teaching takes a more dynamic role. Teacher can act as a facilitator, provocateur, a director and a source for information. Students engagement prove to be extremely important in the process of learning. we believe within the the field of Political Science students should be exposed to interactive learning practices and student's engagement inside and outside the class room should be strongly encouraged. • For the future lesson study we recommend a few revisions. The time for lecture should be cut in half (20 minutes). The time for students participation in groups and interaction should be increased. For students' learning assessment a set of questions about the topic should be given to the students before and after the lesson study. The result could help the instructor to determine what points need more elaboration and clarification. Study Template This template contains the study portion of the Complete Report Template.