But who am I?
This lesson plan is designed for Theory of Knowledge, a core component of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) during the Human Sciences Unit of Study. However, it could be modified very easily for a Psychology course. The purpose of this lesson is to help students learn about themselves and their classmates, all while understanding some of the metacognitive issues associated with Psychology and other Human Sciences.
Step 1: Pre-Screening
Step 2: Test, Test, this is Only a Test
Step 3: Sharing is Caring
Step 4: Compare and Contrast
Step 5: Bringing it all Together
This lesson plan is designed for Theory of Knowledge, a core component of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) during the Human Sciences Unit of Study. However, it could be modified very easily for a Psychology course. The purpose of this lesson is to help students learn about themselves and their classmates, all while understanding some of the metacognitive issues associated with Psychology and other Human Sciences.
Step 1: Pre-Screening
- On the board or projector display the following statement:
- I believe that everyone is unique.
- Ask students to write down privately a number to correspond to how much they agree, 5 (Strongly Agree) to 1 (Strongly Disagree). It is important that they do not lose this.
Step 2: Test, Test, this is Only a Test
- Students will begin this lesson by taking the Meyers-Briggs Personality test, available at humanmetrics.com
- Once complete students should take a few minutes to review their results. There is a great deal of information there to digest, so students may want to bookmark it for later.
- Important: Students need to remember their result, given as a four letter acronym such as ENFP or ISTJ
- Students will then need to briefly answer the question: Do you feel like this personality type accurately describes you, why or why not?
Step 3: Sharing is Caring
- Students will need to form groups that match their personality type — depending on the size of class and personality distributions you may wish to merge two similar personality types together
- Students should discuss their answer to their question from Step 1 with each other
- Their next task is to share what they learned about their personalities with the rest of the class. There should be no limit to the method in which this is shared. Some groups may give a straight forward presentation, some may make a skit or song. As a teacher, make a note of their method of delivery and if it fits what you may know about that personality type. This could be useful discussion material for later.
- Students will need to quietly and individually answer the question: Consider the people who have similar Myers-Briggs personality types as you, are you surprised? Why or why not?
Step 4: Compare and Contrast
- Many of us have our Facebook feed cluttered with much more flippant "personality tests" such as "Which Superhero Are You?" or "Which Rapper Are You?".
- Each group of students will find another such "personality test" on the internet, take it individually and compare their results, buzzfeed.com has dozens of options if students are not sure where to look.
- When comparing, students should make note of any commonalities their personality types have in their description, and to see if they got the same result as some of their group members.
- Each group should present their findings to the entire class.
Step 5: Bringing it all Together
- Ask students to consider what they learn in Steps 2-4 and refer back to the number they wrote down for Step 1. Is there a disconnect? If we are all unique, how can we be so neatly and accurately classified into 16 distinct personality types? There seems to be some contradiction here.
- For homework, students should write an essay response to the following Knowledge Question (courtesy of the Theory of Knowledge Subject Guide): Can human behaviour be subject to the same laws as the natural world?