Star Diagram
Description of the strategy

The strategy

Star diagram strategy is designed to get the students thinking about where each European country stands with respect to a specific focus question. This activity requires making guesses, descriptions, and reasoning and it helps deepening understanding.
The choice of the star as a symbol is due to the five-colour scaling of the values on the maps and it also relates to the flag of the European Union.
The activity starts with individual work in which each student is given an A4 size star diagram, and places a country on each point according to the degree they think these countries agree or disagree with the focus question. The next step is pair work, where they have to explain their reasons and exchange information and opinions, and then the whole class works on a bigger star diagram on the board. After the teacher shows the original map, they modify their star diagrams accordingly. Then, the class is divided into five groups to come up with explanations for each point of the star, which is followed by a class presentation and possibly by a discussion.

Why should we use this strategy?

The Star Diagram activity leads the students to make guesses and descriptions considering the countries, which evokes their previous knowledge and elicits their opinions about these countries. Also, during the pair work and class work on the diagram, they exchange information and opinions, which lets the students to contribute more to the class. Moreover, comparing their results with the original map, they get to know the values of other (“selected” if time is not sufficient) countries better and during the group explanation sessions, they get the opportunity to have a better understanding of the values of European countries.

Example of the strategy in action

Thematic Question: Is Europe a place where people believe that everyone should live with their own values even though they may come from different backgrounds?

Lesson Focus:Should immigrants be forced to adapt to the customs of the country they live in?

Map question: To which degree (from 1 to 5) do you think each given European country agrees or disagrees with the statement “For the greater good of society, it is better if the immigrants do not maintain their distinct customs and traditions but take over the customs of the country.”?

Introduction:

The teacher introduces the topic: “Should immigrants be forced to adopt to the customs of the country they live in?” This is the focus question of the lesson.

  1. The teacher distributes an A4 size star diagram to each student, in the centre of which there is the focus question above. There is a rank order from 1 [strongly agree] to 5 [strongly disagree] on each remote point of the star. They place the countries on these points according to their guesses.
  2. Working in pairs, they compare and contrast their individual star diagrams. Then, they discuss their reasons for their choices.
  1. The teacher hangs a big star diagram on the board. As a whole class, they decide which countries are on which points of the star.
  1. The teachers show the map “For the greater good of society, it is better if the immigrants do not maintain their distinct customs and traditions but take over the customs of the country”. They compare their results with the results on the map and modify the big star diagram accordingly.
  1. The teacher forms 5 groups. Each point of the star is assigned to one group. Each group discusses and makes a list of all the possible reasons for why these countries are on that point. They try to write as many reasons as they can.
  1. Each group shares their lists with the rest of the class and the rest is expected to comment on these reasons.
  1. The teacher monitors the discussion and asks them to relate their comments with the statements in the previous activity if there is any link (eg: the teacher shows the related map “Do you think the people in the countries with the dark color think that ‘immigrants should leave their customs and adapt to the customs of the country?”).

Debriefing Questions:

1)Was it difficult or easy for the students to place the countries on each remote point of the star according to their guesses ? Why?

2)What reasons did the students used in their guesses to place (what were the basis of their guesses in placing) the countries on each remote point of the star?

3)Were the places of the countries on the remote points of the star varied (different or similar) among students? Why?

4)Were the reasons of the students placing each country on the each remote point of the star similar to each other or not? In what ways did the reasons for each country match or differ? Why?

5)Did the results of the map match the guesses with the students? Which countries did match and which countries did not match?

6)What would be the possible reasons , if the results did not match with the quesses of the students?

7)
Did the students find possible reasons why people in these countries might have given the responses that are represented in the map?