For the research step, students may be placed in small groups or be left working alone to pursue research in the library, at the discretion of the teacher. Students will participate in a discussion based on information from readings and library research to develop answers to all of the questions on the form. This may be done in small groups or with the whole class. Each student will formulate a policy statement using scientific information and ethical decision-making skills. This policy statement must include supportive evidence and explanation of values applied.
Common threads are to be identified through class discussion of all case studies.
Students will compare their own responses on the pre-test and their policy proposal to examine changes in their knowledge and thought. The teacher will evaluate the policy statement in terms of the clarity of the state ment and the support provided for their reasoning. Teachers of younger stu dents may wish to separate the activity into smaller components, one of which might include research, and assess each component separately to emphasize the various skills employed throughout the activity. Much human suffering results from degeneration of neural tissue, either from aging, disease, or accident. Once damaged, most human neural tissue will not regenerate, so repair to damage in the spinal cord, brain, and other neural areas is severely limited.