Measuring Civic Engagement

Overview

In this lesson students will define the term "citizen," and examine the various roles of citizens. Students will take a survey to measure civic involvement in their community.

Grade Levels

9 – 12

Objectives

Students will:

• define the term citizen;
• generate a list of the qualities, duties, and responsibilities of a good citizen; and
• conduct a survey that measures civic engagement in their community.

Estimated Time

1 week

Materials Needed

• E-Learning Module: Getting Involved
• Internet connection with Macromedia FLASH® enabled
• Projection device
• One piece of chalk and a chalkboard or a marker and a whiteboard

Procedure

Day 1

1. Have students define the term "citizen." Make sure students understand that a citizen is a member of a political society who owes allegiance to the government. Citizens are entitled to rights and protections from their government.
2. Ask students if they think they are good citizens. If so, why?
3. As a class, generate a list of the qualities, duties, and responsibilities of a good citizen. Students may say that a good citizen obeys laws, votes, stays informed about civic issues, communicates with his or her legislators, or volunteers. Write this list on the chalkboard or whiteboard.
4. Explain to students that through the years most people have agreed on what makes a good citizen and have acknowledged that it is important to be civic minded. However, the number of people who are civically involved as declined.
5. Use a projection device to show students "Need for Greater Involvement" and "Measuring Civic Involvement." These videos are located under "Youth Involvement" in the Getting Involved E-learning module.
6. Ask students why they think the number of young people who are civically engaged has declined. Discuss the importance of citizen participation in a representative democracy. Have students explain the consequences of non-participation among citizens.

Days 2-4

1. Tell students that they will conduct a survey to measure civic involvement in their community.
2. As a class, develop a list of questions students can include in their survey. It may be helpful to refer students to the list of duties and responsibilities of citizens they previously created. Some possible questions are: How often do you vote in Presidential elections?, How often do you vote in midterm elections?, How many times in the past year have you contacted one of your representatives?, Do you belong to a special interest group?, Do you stay informed about current issues?, or Do you volunteer?
3. Divide the class into three groups. Ask students in the first group survey 10 people between 18 and 30 years old. Ask the second group to survey 10 people who are between 31 and 55 years old. Have students in the third group survey 10 people who are 56 and older. Have students show the results of their survey in a table.
4. Collect your students' tables and create a graph that shows the results of the entire class.

Day 5

1. As a class, analyze the results of the survey. Talk about any differences among the different age groups. Ask students if they think people in their community are civically engaged or if they think people need to get more involved.

Extension and Adaptation Activities

Extending the Activity

Have students write an article for the school newspaper in which they discuss the importance of citizen participation in a representative democracy and encourage people to become civically engaged. Students may wish to include a copy of the results of their survey with the article.

Cross-Curricular Connection

Give each student a copy of all the tables that were created and have students create their own graph that displays the results of the survey. Tell students to compare the results of their survey to national surveys on civic engagement.

Assessment

Basic Concepts and Processes

Ask your students to respond to the following requests for information and assess their knowledge of key concepts taught in this lesson.

1. Define the term citizen.
2. List at least five qualities, duties, and responsibilities of a good citizen.
3. Do your think people in your community are civically engages? Why or why not?

Scoring Guide for Student Surveys

Elements	Possible Score	Assigned Score	Notes
Helps identify questions for the survey	15
Surveys 10 people	30
Displays results of the survey in a table	40
Participates in the discussion about the survey results of the entire class	15

Lesson Plan Feedback

If you have suggestions for improving this lesson plan, or if you have ideas for others using the module, please let us know. We value your input. Thank you!

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