This web-based curriculum module is the first in a series that will use film and other media to help young people develop the critical thinking and ethical decision-making skills they need if they are to address the many crucial ethical dilemmas that face us every day.

To use this curriculum

This module can be used in many different ways, depending on the size of the group, the degree of computer access (one computer with a projector, four or more computers in a classroom, or a lab), and the nature of the class (formal classroom, afterschool, church group, etc.). It can be a self-guided activity or it can be undertaken by an entire class, and that class can work as one group (with a projector) or can be broken into small groups that compare their results. The group does not even have to meet face-to-face but could work entirely online, through email, chat, or videoconferencing.

We have divided the video clips in the module into two sections-one devoted to the prison experiment itself and the second devoted to reflections many years later. Each section is accompanied by one or two guiding questions. Whatever the means of delivery and organization, there are a series of steps we recommend you use to guide the students through the process.

These are:

  1. Stop: Stop after each clip.
  2. Observe: Observe your own reactions.
  3. Reflect: Reflect on these reactions.
  4. Act: Think about what you would do in these same circumstances.

This project is being developed jointly by Dr. Robin Stern, Director of New Media, Research, and Development at the Center for Social and Emotional Education; Dr. Susan Lowes, Director of Research and Evaluation at the Institute for Learning Technologies, Teachers College/Columbia University; Patti Freeman Evans, an analyst at JupiterResearch; and Guillermo Creus, Director of Web Projects at the Institute for Learning Technologies, Teachers College/Columbia University.

We thank Dr. Philip Zimbardo for giving us permission to take clips from the video. Dr. Zimbardo has an extensive website on the experiment and its aftermath, which can be found at http://www.prisonexp.org/.