Making Connections to the Past and Present

University of Hawaii, West Oahu

INTRODUCTION

This study examines the integration between culturally diverse students, differentiation

methods, and student engagement, all within a classroom setting at Roosevelt High School.

Roosevelt is an urban high school in Honolulu made up of students from the surrounding

neighborhoods of Mānoa, Makiki, Nu‘uanu, Papakolea, Pauoa and Punchbowl. According to the

HIDOE’s Accountability Resource Center Hawaii (ARCH), in the 2018-2019 school year the

Fall enrollment of students was 1,372. In the Student Ethnicity chart, amongst those 1,372

students the five largest populations of ethnic backgrounds were Japanese (20.6%), Native

Hawaiian (18.8%), Chinese (18%), Filipino (10.3%) and White (7.2%). There were also 5.6% of

students amongst the larger population that were limited in English proficiency, otherwise

known as CDL learners. In comparison to other schools nearby such as Stevenson Middle

School, 660 students enrolled in Fall for the school year 2018-2019. Out of those students 7.2%

of them were limited in English proficiency. Out of the 26 students in the targeted classroom 3

students are easily notifiable as CDL learners. The targeted classroom is not largely diverse in

ethnic backgrounds. 20 out of the 26 students in class fall into the ethnic categories of either

Japanese, Chinese, or Filipino. The other 6 students are of either fall into the category of Native

Hawaiian, White, Samoan, Hispanic, or other.

Culturally diverse learners (CDL) refers to students who have come from a background

or home where another language besides English is spoken. Differentiation refers to making a

distinctive curriculum to be used to teach CDL’s, as well as students who have different methods
of learning. Student engagement refers to active participation and management of the class

throughout the duration of a lesson. Though there is much research on these three elements, these

three concepts will be used and applied to a 9th grade Modern History of Hawai‘i classroom in

Honolulu, Hawai‘i.

Parameters.​ These three elements are being further examined with two specific students

in mind: a CDL with Chinese as his or her first language and a new student in the class who has

become disengaged during discussions and lessons. With these two students in mind, the central

and essential question of this study is ​what methods of engagement can we use to integrate

cultural relevancy and class cohesion?

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK (SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISM)

Social constructivism​ refers to the “learning theory based on the ideas of Vgotsky (1978)

that human development is socially situated and knowledge is constructed through interaction

with others” (McKinley). Social constructivism is the framework behind our lesson study. We

create as we do, and we continue to create as a reaction to what we are learning, and the new

methods and research that come out. Part of the way we learn involves interactions, and there’s

that main social aspect within those interactions. McKinley goes on to say, “Social constructivist

theory asserts that people’s ideas coincide with their experiences and that writers build on their

socio-cultural awareness…” By this, he means that when people relate their experiences to the

content and through other social interactions, new ideas can come to fruition. This goes

hand-in-hand with the Zone of Proximal Development, also known as the ZPD. The ZPD talks

about the knowledge that a student does not yet comprehend, but with necessary assistance from
someone with the skills and knowledge beyond that learner, the student will be able to grasp that

particular knowledge. This particular knowledge is not a complex idea, but one that is right

above their current knowledge, but the student would not be able to grasp the idea independently.

Through this framework, we have taken ideas that include small group discussion (social

interaction) that relate to the content, and group work in our activity, to help students cultivate

the ideas they would not get on their own. This ZPD also comes through as we show the

relationship between Japanese internment camps during World War II, and the current pandemic,

COVID-19.

CHALLENGES WITH TEACHING SOCIAL STUDIES

The content area of Social Studies covers multiple fields of learning such as History,

Geography and Political Science. With various fields to cover, the major challenge Social

Studies teachers face is addressing multiple standards and how in depth they should go into

teaching the content. Teachers desire their students to not only remember the content, but most

importantly grasp it. To remember the content consists of students regurgitating information,

which they may eventually forget down the line. However, we cannot be sure that just because

students recite dates and names back to us that they fully understand what is being taught to

them. According to Pearcy and Duplass, John Dewey describes this as a “‘record of knowledge’

(simply put, knowing ​what)​ and ‘knowledge,’ or knowing ​how​ to think about ​what​.” (2011). In

simpler terms, students need to be given the tools to learn how to think about the material in

depth.

A teacher’s preference can interfere with the breadth of topics that are covered within the

classroom. Teachers often choose to teach content that they are comfortable with, which implies
that certain information is more important to teach than others. Other challenges that teachers

face are resources to provide information to students. Textbooks are primarily used as a main

source of information. However, these sources do not always provide depth for student learning.

Therefore, according to Pearcy and Duplass, CD’s DVD’s, internet sites and other resources

provide more support in gaining depth (2011).

To provide depth and encourage critical thinking, it is important for us to also promote

learning about things that students are interested in. Problem-centered learning is a great way to

relate information back to the student’s interests because it uses real world problems that are

more tangible for them to grasp and deepen their understanding. According to the article ​Critical

Thinking and Inquiry Tasks that Reflect the Concerns and Interests of Adolescents​, the

challenges to providing students with quality problem-solving learning is time restraints, students

lack of prior knowledge on the issue, and the lack of proper guidance through the process

(Memory, 2004).

CULTURALLY DIVERSE LEARNERS

Teaching culturally diverse learners.​ Educators have recognized the need for a change

in structure and teaching methods when it comes to teaching students who do not have English as

their first language. However, despite this knowledge, nothing has been done in the classroom,

curriculum, and instruction to further assist CDLs. “Critical cultural consciousness” refers to

educators and teachers reflecting on their practices, beliefs, and biases in regards to their

teaching and the students in their classroom (Green, 2007). When educators teach with

pre-notions, stereotypes, and biases towards students, they are setting CDLs up for a

self-fulfilling prophecy of failure. When teachers move too fast in curriculum, and don’t
integrate prior knowledge and culture, CDLs find it difficult to keep up with the content, falling

behind, and they are deemed as non-compliant, problematic, and stuck with a “learning

disability,” when in actuality, teachers aren’t doing their part in being inclusive and culturally

responsive in their curriculum and instruction.

Through culturally responsive teaching methods, teaching is built upon students’

implemented and preferred learning styles, integrating their own personal cultural experiences

and backgrounds, as teachers learn to adapt to their students, and not the other way around.

Cultural knowledge, prior experiences, parameters of reference and research, performing styles,

and the integration of students’ preferred learning styles makes learning more tangible, and

within reach for CDLs, as educators and teachers set them up to succeed (Green, 2007). Topics

become more interesting to students when there are relevance and a potential application

outcomes. Comprehension will increase as interest increases; however, comprehension will

decrease as interest decreases, as well.

Teaching culturally diverse learners in social studies classrooms.​ With the

acknowledgment and awareness of how educators must teach CDLs, specifically within the

context of a social studies classroom, educators must examine their teaching practices on how to

teach a culture that may not be the students’ own. Being critically and culturally conscious, one

must remove biases in a social studies classroom, removing all biases, stereotypes, and dominant

cultures and further look into all perspectives involved in the event. A social studies teacher

needs to mix different cultural backgrounds, languages, and cultivate a safe learning environment

for ideas on geography, and history to be talked about. Social studies teachers have the
responsibility to make learning and content exciting, applicable, relevant, and engaging (Green,

2007).

The main focus is on how to build community in a social studies classroom, that also

mixes in critical thinking, and disciplinary content. Through a study done in a social studies

classroom, researchers observed the practices and methods that the teacher used to teach a wide

range of ethnicities and cultures, maintain interest, and create a positive learning environment

(Marri, 2009).

Through anticipatory sets, inquiry lessons, text-based seminars, and class discussions, the

teacher was able to examine multiple perspectives on an even playing field, creating a safe

environment, where it is okay to disagree, but not okay to attack. Students were able to examine

different perspectives and back up their arguments with evidence, allowing them to think

critically. Through discussions, the teacher also implemented a sense of community and mutual

respect and positive relationships, getting the entire class involved in discussions and lessons.

Through these lessons, students saw their peers as individuals, not as representatives of a larger

group (Marri, 2009). The teacher also attached relevancy to the students’ lives as they brought

their work into their own communities, examining themes that they were learning in their

lessons, in their public transportation, public services, and housing.

Through attaching relevancy, community, critical thinking, and fieldwork, this teacher

was able to achieve a sense of unity within the classroom, keeping each student engaged. This

teacher emphasized multiple perspectives, teaching students that “all voices should be heard”

(Marri, 2009). Because of the connection from curriculum to current events and community,

students realized that history is applicable and happening right in front of them, regardless of the
time period. With these methods also came a deep historical understanding and appreciation,

creating that strong sense of mutual respect and environment in the classroom.

CLASS ENGAGEMENT

Maintaining student engagement for most teachers may end up monotonous in the most

typical classroom environments - In the history classroom we tend to organize time and curricula

chronologically (Kaiser 2010). More noticeably we tend to heavily focus on the aspect of war in

the classroom (Kaiser 2010) as it is something that follows social-cultural or economic events.

For example, cases such as the Great Depression or the Roaring twenties being precursors to

World War II tend to suggest that there is a pre-existing routine to how we format history in the

classroom.

Signifying the beginning or end of unit curricula with “border years” has become a

popular trend when packaging history for classrooms. One reason for this is because of the fact

that “units” make each time frame for each lesson much more manageable which in turn provide

a window of focused study (Kaiser 2010). Kaiser uses an example of how 20th century history

would be written to illustrate unit plans broken up by date to specifically target larger events in

history.

Again, by organizing curriculum as such students should be able to lock on to multiple

significant changes or differences such as the socio-cultural changes that precede the civil rights

movement and after (Kaiser 2010). However using “border years” in different lenses does allow

for new avenues to break away from traditional historical perspectives. Non-traditional historical

perspectives such as using song, or even popular beverages serve as vessels to tell history - An

example of this would be the use of the progression of music history to show parallels in 20th
century from the birth of jazz in the 1900s to the 1950s surge of the rock and roll genre to show

the same key historical events in the civil rights movement (Kaiser 2010). This also leads to the

idea that student research can be headlined by student interests or general topics that would help

spearhead or guide historical perspectives in the classroom. Topics such as music, literature, food

and even fashion may also serve as alternative lenses that supplement traditional lenses like

mentioned prior. These “lenses” for viewing history curriculum were tested by allowing for

students to choose which non-traditional eras would serve as the the framework of their studies -

from there they are tasked with drawing the correlation between tradition and non-traditional

“border years” using economic, socio-cultural and political trends found in both lenses which is

then presented in the form of a multimedia presentation.

Relevancy ​When teaching an engaging lesson we don’t want to exert formulating

influences as our students do not truly learn this way. Instead we want to encourage their free

thinking and enable them to formulate their own thoughts, questions and opinions. One teaching

strategy that we found fits this category is relevancy. In a classroom, relevancy is being able to

connect the content to the students to show them the importance of what they’re learning and

how it relates to them. Oftentimes lessons lack relevancy, especially in a Social Studies class. In

a study completed under the Western Sydney University Human Ethics Committee, sixteen

teachers from Western Sydney tested three different teaching strategies to evaluate their

effectiveness amongst students. The three strategies used were explaining relevance, providing

choice, and free choice. As a result they found that explaining relevance to students performed

better overall. (Bennie, 2017) This study shows that providing relevancy would not only

maintain student engagement but also impact student learning.

 The relationship of a culturally relevant and responsive learning environment to

achievement motivation for Native Hawaiian secondary students. ​Timothy Linoʻs research

discusses the relationship between Hawaiian public school students and their low rank in

academic engagement and success - this also extends to other students of similar indigeneous

descent (Lino 2010). Lino further puts this problem into context as he mentions that although

mainstream education has tried to aid indigeneous and minority learners in the system, the idea

that integrating culture into education is not the solution but instead finding a means to insert

education into their culture (Lino 2010). The question “To what degree does cultural

connectedness is related to indigeneous success in the classroom?” is also one of the driving

factors to Linoʻs research in the kula kaiapuni or Hawaiian immersion school system, public and

private as well as charter hawaiian focused schools. This research also dissects the variables of

the motivation to succeed in the classroom and cultural connectedness by gender and grade level

by using Ke Kula ʻo Ehunuikaimalino on Hawaiʻi island.

Culturally relevant pedagogy or (CRP) and culture based education (CBE) and their

relevance to Hawaiian learners are continually referenced in Linoʻs research as the framework

for academic success. The implementation of culture based educational (CBE) strategies when

addressing the improvement academic and life skills for native learners - this implies the use of a

variety of different methods to stimulate student motivation, engagement and self-worth in the

classroom.

METHODOLOGY

Ms. Mckay’s classroom

● Possible methods for student engagement: ​(Refer to Linoʻs journal)

 ○ Bandura’s (1986) theory is that self-efficacy beliefs

■ “​(a) Mastery Experience: ​ interpreting the result of one’s previous

performance;​ (b) Vicarious Experience:​ observing others perform tasks;

(c) Social Persuasion: ​receiving positive reinforcement and appraisals

from others; and ​(d) Somatic (of or relating to the body)​ and Emotional

States: people can gauge their confidence by the emotional state they

experience as they contemplate an action”

○ ​(a) Structure Curricular and Social Experiences:​ students will feel more

efficacious about learning when they understand how the new learning builds on

what they know; ​(b) Involve Parents:​ keep parents informed about school

activities, encourage them to foster positive home influences, and provide

workshops to help them facilitate productive learning and study habits with their

children; ​(c) Ensure Smooth Transitions:​ this pertains to transitioning from one

grade level to the next, elementary to middle school, and middle to high school.

Anticipatory Set.​ This unit involves a lesson on Japanese internment camps during World

War II. Prior to this unit on World War II, students studied the plantation systems in Hawai‘i

during the 19th and 20th century. This includes sugar plantations, Hawai‘i creole pidgin and the

immigration of laborers to Hawai‘i. To introduce the new unit, a simulation would be used as an

anticipatory set. Through this simulation, students would be assigned a “role card,” which states

their name, job, age, residence, ethnicity (which were different Asian ethnicities such as

Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, etc), and background. However, it would be made clear

that it would be around World War II, which was the time of internment camps. Students who
had cards that said they were residing in Hawai‘i would have to research some background of

Honouliuli Internment Camp, since Asian-Americans who lived on O‘ahu would be sent to that

internment camp. Students who had cards that said they were residing on the West Coast of the

Continental United States would be sent to Tule Lake Internment Camp in California. Students

would have to research in small groups their new locations. This research included the living

conditions, discrimination, and martial law.

Through this anticipatory set, students would be able to see how Asian-Americans who

settled in Hawai‘i and throughout the West Coast, and throughout the rest of the United States

were subject to discrimination, and the internment camps, which held strict laws and guidelines

that had to be followed. If there was any sign of conspiracy, or non-compliance, there would be

harsh consequences.

Implications.​ ​Due to unforeseen circumstances involving COVID-19, our group had to

rethink the methods in how we taught. Since public schools, including Roosevelt High School,

have closed down and moved online, we were unable to teach the 9th grade students. Therefore,

we had to change to teach teacher candidates from the University of Hawai‘i, West O‘ahu. These

teacher candidates have just entered the formal teaching program at UHWO, and have two more

semesters until graduation.

On top of the change of plans of students, we had to revise our lesson plan to fit an online

and virtual format. Through online programs such as Google Forms, Google Slides, and ZOOM,

we needed to make changes to the curriculum and the lesson plan that was initially put in place.

Our original lesson plan included Japanese internment camps. However, due to the similarities

and parallel between Japanese internment camp martial law, xenophobia, and guidelines, we
altered the lesson plan to attach relevancy to COVID-19. The added concept of COVID-19 was

added using the “prior knowledge,” strategy, since the students would be experiencing first-hand

the guidelines, laws, and changes that came with COVID-19. Our research supported ideas of an

anticipatory set, class discussion, and integrating cultural in a way that would provide connection

and relevancy. By adding in ideas about COVID-19, share outs, and utilizing the “break out

room” feature on ZOOM, we were able to incorporate these ideas and methods of engagement

and relevance.

Therefore, our lesson focused on the content state standard SS.MHH.3.19.2: “Analyze the

local socio political effects of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.” Our objective stated, “students will

be able to analyze the sociopolitical effects of the Japanese American internment camp

experience and apply it to current events.” Our essential and focus question asks, “How are the

socio political effects of the Coronavirus pandemic similar/different to that of the WII Japanese

internments?”

Lesson Overview.​ This lesson was taught by Ralph Dela Cruz, to the teacher candidates

of University of Hawaii, West Oahu. For the first ten minutes, students, teachers, observers went

around the “room,” and stated their name, content area, alma mater, and where they were

currently placed and what grade they were teaching. This would help break the ice a little bit.

For the anticipatory set, we put students into groups beforehand, to evenly distribute

content area. Prior to the lesson, we received a roster with the teacher candidates’ names and

focus content, and separated groups evenly. We did this to ensure there was an even distribution

of knowledge, versus putting the social studies teachers together, leaving other content areas at a

disadvantage.
 The first question asked was “What are experiences with the COVID-19 pandemic? What

are the regulations put in place to keep people safe?” Students break up into breakout rooms, and

talk about the question. The content part of the lesson was broken up in three parts: “After

Bombing Effects/Internment Camp Overview,” “Martial Law,” and “Racism and Xenophobia.”

The teacher would go over the different regulations and aspects of each concept in regards to

Japanese Internment camps. After discussing said topic, groups would go into their original

groups, and talk about how what the teacher just discussed is similar to our current COVID-19

regulations and guidelines. After 2 minutes of discussion, groups would come back, and one

person from each group would share what was talked about during the discussion. After the share

out between groups, the teacher would move on and share the similarities that some groups

might have said or missed during discussion. He elaborated on each aspect to give a deeper

understanding and more details to the severity and extent of the similarity. After the lesson, the

teacher moved on to teach the activity of the lesson.

DayZ Beta Board Game.

Day-Z was originally designed as a ​physical​ playing card based board game. Day-Z is a

zombie apocalypse themed game which is played with two sides: safe players or alliances and

the infected. There are 10 rounds to Day-Z, within these 10 rounds of gameplay, players are

allowed stockpile currency in the form of “food tokens” to make necessary “Special cards” in

game purchases to help speed up or insure their victory. “Food tokens” are awarded in between

rounds for safe players in each alliance. Infected players also have the chance to wreak havoc

and “attack” safe alliances - growing their numbers one by one. As the game proceeds,

“situational cards” are drawn at random to dictate pace and gameflow as random apocalyptic
situations may arise to harm or benefit all players. In essence, the goal of Day-Z is to survive and

to survive with the most amount of players and resources ​or t​ o infect the whole population and

leave no survivors.

Student Evidence Data Collection.​ ​We had two means of student evidence data

collection: the post-lesson interviews with our case study students, as well as a Google Form

survey that would gauge engagement, comprehension and retainment, and class cohesion. This

Google Form also gauged their relationship and connection to the lesson being taught.

The Google Form.​ The Google Form included these questions:

1. With the information you analyzed about the internment camp, how does it relate to our

current crisis with the COVID-19? (1 paragraph min.

2. On a scale of 1-5, how engaged were you with our lesson as a whole? (1 = not engaged at

all; 5 = very engaged)

3. On a scale of 1-5, how engaged were you with our board game? (1 = not engaged at all; 5

= very engaged)

4. On a scale of 1-5, if you were to receive a test on the relationship to internment camps

and current events, how confident are you that you would get an A? (1 = not confident; 5

= very confident)

5. What is your ethnicity?

6. On a scale of 1-5, how well do you think you and your group worked together? (1 = did

not work well together; 5 = worked very well together)

7. What card from the board game could you relate to internment camps?

8. What card from the board game could you relate to the current COVID-19 pandemic?
 We asked questions 1 and 4 to see how much they were able to comprehend and retain

from the lesson itself. We were testing for engagement through strategies such as relevance, class

discussions, and an activity, so we wanted to get a good sense of how well we did with questions

2 & 3. We asked question 5 since we were looking to see connection to the content and building

that relationship and seeing the relevancy to what we were teaching, regardless of your ethnicity,

background, and where you grew up. Question 6 gauged for class cohesion. We wanted to get

everyone involved, and not have anyone feel excluded or feel like the environment was too

unsafe to participate in the game and class discussion. Questions 7 & 8 deal with the board game.

We used to board game to integrate engagement, and we wanted to see if students could see how

the board game was necessary to the content, and could integrate concepts from the lesson into

the board game. We wanted to see that the board game complemented the content instead of

being two separate aspects of it.

​ he post-lesson interview are for our two case study

Post-Lesson Interview. T

students. Their interviews would determine how well they comprehended and retained the

information, if they were engaged, and their thoughts on the lesson. These were the post

interview questions:

1. What did you enjoy most about the lesson?

2. What did you learn? (What can you now do that you could not do [previously]? What can

you do better? How is it better?)

3. What aspect of teaching worked best for you?

4. If the same lesson is being taught to another group what would you change? Why would

you change that aspect?

 Case study students.​ ​ As stated before, this lesson was originally to be taught at Roosevelt

High School, and our case study students were students who the original teacher (Victoria

McKay) thought we should focus on. The first student named Charles (fictitious name) is a 10th

grade student in a 9th grade classroom. Therefore, he is already surrounded by students not his

age, which may be a bit uncomfortable for him. He is a Chinese culturally diverse learner (CDL),

and often doesn’t participate in discussions and comes off as introverted and quiet. McKay chose

this student to observe because of his possible struggle with the content. Because of the language

and cultural barrier, he may feel disconnected to Modern Hawaiian History, or he may need

more time grasping the content.

McKay’s second case study student is Samantha (fictitious name). Samantha is a new

student to Roosevelt High School, so she may already feel disconnected. Samantha is a

Caucasian student, and is often not engaged with the content, sitting towards the back, and

staying on her phone through the duration of class. McKay chose this student to observe as a

case study student because she is often disengaged during class, and may often lack the

connection and relationship to the culture.

Due to unforeseen circumstances that involve COVID-19, and what we have explained

previously, we had to choose new case study students to focus on from the class of teacher

candidates. After some collaboration, we decided on two case study students: Amy and Lance

(fictitious names). Amy was homeschooled, and didn’t graduate from a public high school where

Modern History of Hawai‘i (MHH) is taught as a requirement. She is of Caucasian ethnicity, and

her family is from Alabama. She is one of the English teacher candidates in our focus class. We

picked her as one of our case study students because she did not have to take MHH. Like
Samantha, she is of Caucasian ethnicity, and therefore, she may have a struggle to have a

connection to the culture. Lance is from San Diego, and moved around a lot during his high

school career. He attended high school in Hawai‘i for one year, and his age ranges from 30-35.

Like Amy, he is another English teacher candidate in the focus class. Lance is also a single

parent to 3 boys. We picked Lance because he has been out of high school the longest, which

means he may not remember a lot of content from high school. Also, considering he moved

around a lot during his high school career, he may not have learned MHH.

RESULTS

​ he first highlight was that we were looking for was

Highlights of the lesson. T

engagement. Through the research, we learned that the integration of relevancy and class

discussion is key to engagement. Scaffolding is also key to engagement. As stated before in the

lesson overview, we integrated class discussion and share out times in between instruction.

Because students were broken up into smaller groups, it provided a safe space for everyone to

speak, and the time limit was long enough to have a conversation, but not too long where the

conversation would go on other tangents. Students were engaged through the integration of

relevancy. We were able to make the content relevant to the students by comparing WWII

Japanese internment camps to the current COVID-19 pandemic, and their experiences being

home, quarantined, and following strict rules and guidelines. Scaffolding helped as well. Instead

of presenting instruction and points all at one time, students were able to go step-by-step between

the “after bombing effects,” “marital law” and “racism and xenophobia,” which made the

concepts seem more tangible and in-reach instead of being bombarded with information.
 The second highlight still has to do with engagement, but also integrates our research

about class cohesion. Class cohesion is important in the class because it builds a mutual trust and

respect in the student-to-student and student-to-teacher relationships. Because we broke share

outs into small groups, as stated before, it provided a safe space for everyone to speak, and no

one felt pressured to say the right answer. Also, since groups were small, everyone got a chance

to speak, or continue the conversation. During the activity, people enjoyed the board game itself,

but also enjoyed the bonding they had with one another in their groups. Because their share out

groups were also their board game groups, they were able to talk to each other during the share

outs and then take what they learned from one another to build that bond in the board game.

Because of one of the areas we were looking at was class cohesion, groups got to build that bond

by strategizing together on how to spend “food tokens,” which group to attack, and which team

members to save. This overall built a good unity and cohesion and bond within their groups.

Because the original lesson plan was going to be taught on Japanese Internment camps,

we needed to integrate the similarities of COVID-19 to the internment camps in our lesson. With

this being said, a worry was that the relationship would not be apparent to them and it would take

them a while to get it. However, because of the way the lesson was set up (Japanese internment

guidelines, share out, then COVID-19 similarities), students were easily able to see the

comparison between the two. Because they were able to connect the relationship between the

two, the content seemed more relevant to them and they were able to “own it” and relate to it

more since we are facing a similar situation with remaining indoors, having the curfew, and

having a lot of Chinese-American xenophobia. It built that cultural relevance and relationship.
 ​ ne “learning point” in our lesson was in regards to the use of the
Valleys of the lesson. O

first time application of technology - Zoom and other distance learning tools that had been used

to modify the lesson. Prior to actually teaching the online class of 14 - our lesson had meant to be

originally played as a physical card playing game. The adaptations were made on a webcam

conferencing application called Zoom - this enabled many features such as breakout or

conference rooms, screen sharing and an online chat box, all of which were used to interweave

online teaching. This integration proved to be a bit of a challenge for the team - learning how to

navigate and pilot Zoom from a hostʻs perspective had itʻs kinks and hiccups even ​when t​ eaching

the lesson. The use of breakout rooms to group participants into rooms of 5 or 6 as well as the

the manual calculations in between game rounds (this was to tally scores, and keep track of other

miscellaneous Day-Z results) resulted in the need to allot for extra time to reorganize and adjust

Google Slides as the lesson went on. In addition to first time use of Zoom, some low points of

this lesson study had to do with overall fluidity and smoothness in delivery - Even with

instruction given prior towards breakout room sessions and gameplay, students still needed time

to adjust and grasp what was being asked of them whether it be a prompt question or instruction

in the latter half the lesson when participating in Day-Z.

These low-points proved to be counter-productive to our learning goals and intention as it

affected the most important variable that we were gauging for - student engagement and class

cohesion and ultimately bridging content and making it relevant. There were short, brief

moments of time dedicated to quick pit stops in the lesson to cater to tech issues which couldʻve

played a large, pivotal role in capitalizing on the outcome of the lesson. Overall, most of the low

points during this lesson study that we had observed mostly stemmed from the inexperience we
had with the platform with Zoom and the modifications that had to be made to suit the “distance

learning” aspect of this particular lesson.

​ s stated before, one of the biggest situations

Situations that arose during the lesson. A

arose in regards to the COVID-19 outbreak where we had to change the lesson plan, and

integrate technology into every area of it. Taking what we already made, and trying to find a way

to make the lesson accessible to the students online was one of the biggest challenges. Teaching

it to another class that was not ages 13-14 was also a challenge. Like I said previously, the class

that we ended up teaching were other teacher candidates, we knew that they knew what “good

teaching,” and “bad teaching” was and would be a harsher judge of our lesson and how we are

teaching and presenting the information. Having the lens of “teachers” watching us, as well as

their role as “students,” was a challenge since we were being “judged,” through different

perspectives.

Another situation that arose during the lesson itself was the conversations. The questions

in our slides said, “what are the similarities between Japanese internment camps and

COVID-19?” This question was on every of the share out slides that came after the Japanese

internment “after bombing effects,” “marital law,” and “xenophobia.” Our goal for having these

share out times was to take the information that was discussed in the slide before, and then

relating those specific aspects to COVID-19. However, during the first share out, we found that

that wasn’t the case, and groups were talking about general similarities instead of the specific

similarities. Realizing this problem, Victoria and Grace went ahead to the rest of the share out

slides and changed it so it was more specific to the discussion that we wanted them to have. The

questions ended up being “what are the similarities between the martial law/xenophobia during
the Japanese internment camps and COVID-19?” This made the discussions flow in the specific

way where we would have the ideal answers, and steer discussions flow in the right direction.

The next situation that occurred was the time management of the lesson. We were

allotted a normal class time. Because Roosevelt’s periods are about 90 minutes, that is the time

frame that we tried to stick to. However, we realized we were pressed for time during the lesson.

To make sure we were still on track for time, we were unable to share a video about an

internment camp that showed an interview with a survivor of Tule Lake internment camp on the

mainland, and see the living conditions.

To add on to the last point, like I said before, we were allotted 90 minutes, but our lesson

ended up being 180 minutes (3 hours). This means we went over 90 minutes than we thought of.

This could have been due to the length of share outs in the class setting (the part when one

person from each group had to share with the rest of the class). At first, the board game took

some time to explain, and took a couple of rounds getting used to. Therefore, because of these

circumstances, we would have gone over in a normal class setting. However, in this sense, and if

we were in a class setting, it would have been broken up into two 90 minute periods.

Like stated before, because we haven’t taught with technology before, so there were

some situations that arose that dealt with technology itself. Despite many attempts and practice

runs of using the break out rooms on Zoom, we were still presented with challenges throughout

the lesson. Therefore, there were some moments of confusion during the lesson when the

breakout rooms were not working, it couldn’t be activated, or people were placed in the wrong

break out rooms. Therefore, despite numerous attempts and practice to nail down the breakout

rooms, we weren’t able to grasp it fully. Another technology mishap occurred when Lance’s
computer died during the board game part of the activity. Therefore, since he was one of our case

students, there was a time where we were unable to observe him when he was offline. Lastly,

during the game, Victoria and Grace needed to keep track of the food tokens and which points

were added and deducted from each group. We were a bit confused since there were multiple

PowerPoints, multiple rounds, and a lot of math involved. It was a bit difficult to pay attention to

the game, do the math, as well as keeping an eye on observing the case study students.

Because of technology, we were able to text one another as a group to get clarification on

different steps and questions. We had one group text message and whenever a problem arose that

needed to be addressed, we would be able to address it through the text thread. We were also

able to try to keep the time limits, and communicate as thoroughly as we could. However, we

know that if we were in an actual question, we wouldn’t have been able to have a text thread, and

our conversations would be limited because we wouldn’t have that other text thread.

Teaching experience.

This class of 15 student teacher candidates had itʻs fair share of unique traits and

differing classroom dynamics much like any other classroom - whether it be lower level

elementary to what had originally been planned for in secondary education. This classroom of

teach candidates were a very upbeat bunch although it being an extensive 180 minute long period

(Originally planned for 90 mins). From when the lesson first began, we had noticed the well

established general comfort level amongst classmates - casual conversations and a very inviting

online atmosphere all had already been results of a previously existing classroom culture. In

order to establish and build on classroom rapport an ice breaker activity was planned as an effort

to reduce any social angst prior to jumping into instruction (Again, as an effort to establish
classroom cohesion with a class that was not originally taught by Mr. Dela Cruz) - the time used

getting to know each other made teaching and running the lesson a lot more smooth.

Immediately, once after content was delivered through a screen share of Google Slides -

prompt questions cued for student-directed discussions in breakout rooms which would be

observed by group mates Grace and Victoria as Mr. Dela Cruz would float and facilitate class

activities. Per Dela Cruzʻs personal observations floating in each quarantine room students

seemed to get an idea and catch scent as to what ideas the lesson was trying to bridge (Japanese

internment + COVID-19). This led to very energetic, fun ​yet ​mature conversations in each

breakout session - This group of teacher candidates had shared very similar moral and ethical

values and overall answers to breakout room prompts despite differing backgrounds. This

continued onto our Day-Z (beta) demo gameplay as classroom cohesion was shown in a few

accounts - whether it be through competitive gameplay and playful exchanges between rivaling

teams or former teammates. Breakout rooms and quarantine sessions also proved to be major

catalysts in sparking class discussion as it was visible to see the verbal hierarchy in each group -

students who dominated conversation would in turn prompt more soft spoken students to chime

in and join group discussion. This dynamic was evident in all 3 original breakout groups and

even when a new 4th group was made due to the mechanics in the latter activity.

Overall, all students seemed to be attentive and genuinely engulfed in the classroom as

far as “surface level” observations go - online mannerisms such as body language in eyes,

posture and vocalness or willingness to insert themselves in student-guided group discussions or

class discussions. What was most delightful to witness as a teacher whoʻs first time teaching this
group of teacher candidates were the group discussions and the intuitiveness and controversy that

each conversation held.

Lesson Observations of class.​

Throughout the lesson, we found that the class appeared to be engaged during both the

content section and the game. During the content section, the students took to the break out

sessions where they were able to discuss the many commonalities between Japanese Internment

Camps and the COVID-19 pandemic. The break out rooms sparked deep and thoughtful

discussion by all students and solidified relevancy as our teaching strategy. Although this lesson

was taught to college students, they appeared to still be learning new things about the content as

well as having the opportunity to then connect it to themselves.

During the game the students were very engaged and did well at seeking clarity during

the instructional portion. In the break out sessions here, student interaction increased as they

were able to strategize with their teams and cast people out into the quarantine room. Many

students got heavily involved in the game and became largely competitive towards the end. This

section of the lesson was able to solidify our research in class cohesion.

Lesson Observations of Amy. ​Through our observations of Anna, we found that Anna

was constantly engaged and attentive to instruction and what was being talked about. I think this

is mainly due to the fact that Anna was originally homeschooled, so growing up, her learning

took place at home. Therefore, she is used to the virtual and learning environment at home. It

was easy for her to focus and follow along with our lesson.

When the content was being presented, Amy listened intently, nodding her head to

signify that she was listening. During the share outs, Amy was the “leader” of the group, who
directed the conversations and often started off being the first to talk. During the first break out

room that asked the question “how are the after bombing effects similar to COVID-19?” she

talked about xenophobia and racism. There was Japanese-American racism and xenophobia

during the internment camp time, and presently, there has been an increase of Chinese-American

racism and xenophobia.

During the second break out room that asked about the martial law commonalities, Amy

helped one of her quieter classmates speak and develop her thoughts. This classmate was talking

about how her father is considered an “essential worker” and how there is a lot stricter laws.

Since Amy is very extroverted and has a lot to say, she wanted to help someone who had a

harder time putting her thoughts and experiences into words. During this same discussion, Amy

also talked about the ethics of freedom and to what extent are we really “free.”

During the third break out room that talked about xenophobia, Amy had a lot to say.

Since Amy is Caucasian, she opened up to how she sometimes feel embarrassed and ashamed of

the ethnicity she is affiliated with which is affiliated with using racial slurs and being racist

towards other ethnicities. She opened up about how her parents are from Alabama and so her

parents often use slurs such as “jap” and “chink.” She also asked the question “if we had

different leadership would things regarding xenophobia?” to her group. She was the person who

shared out during the lesson.

During the board game, Amy listened to the instructions of the game intently, and she

was the one who tended to choose the strategies and make sure their group remained “safe.”

Their strategies were to hoard their food token and not try to bomb anyone or attack anyone else,

but to preserve themselves. Halfway through the game, Amy got infected and was moved to a
different room. However, her group saved her and she was moved back to the game. When Amy

was gone, her group realized that they were struggling without her strategizing and leadership,

and saved her with the “cure” card.

Lesson Observations of Lance.​ Through our observations of Lance, we found that

throughout the entire lesson Lance’s interaction slowly began to decrease as time went on. This

could have been due to many things. Since this lesson took place virtually, it is not the

conventional way of learning that many students are used to. Therefore finding a positive

environment to learn in can be difficult. As previously mentioned, Lance is a single parent to 3

boys. During our observation, we saw that Lance was streaming in to zoom in his garage. This

appeared to make engagement more difficult as Lance was standing up for the majority of the

lesson. He also was observed sitting in, on, and leaning against his truck for the duration of the

lesson. Despite these things, Lance made sure to pay attention to the lesson and game the entire

time.

In the beginning of the lesson he was able to interact well with his peers during the break

out sessions. He was able to openly communicate his points of view with his peers. However, he

often allowed for his peers to take the lead of the conversations. Only speaking when addressed

or when agreeing to his group’s opinions and then expressing his own. This is how he

communicated with his peers for most of the information section of the lesson.

As the lesson moved on to the game, his engagement appeared to decrease. Although he

was still paying attention, during break out sessions he did not have much of an opinion and did

not contribute to decision making for his group. In the last 3 rounds of the game, Lance barely

conversated with his peers and had little to no interaction with them. In the midst of this, Lance’s
computer died to which another student explained that he would come back on soon. When he

eventually came back, the activity had wrapped up and he was required to fill out the exit pass.

Post-Lesson Interviews.

Amy.

Question Amy’s Answer

1. What did you enjoy most about the ● Enjoyed the first part of the lesson
lesson? with the breakout rooms
● Liked questions with the discussions,
enjoyed the relatability with the
questions and the relevancy between
internment and COVID-19.
● Liked the game and forgot that she
was on Zoom and computer, and it felt
like a personable game.
● Should have joined the lesson with the
board game, like a more solid wrap
up, for high school student.

2. What did you learn? (What can you ● Learned about actual history between
do now that you could not do? What internment camps, and more in depth
can you do better? How is it better?) (location and time), making
connections to relevancy.
● “I wouldn’t have made that
connection between the two events.”
● New perspective
● Engaging people over game and over
Zoom, and liked the games and the
breaking up of groups.
● Thought was going to be all over the
place but kept everything moving.

3. What aspect of the teaching worked ● Conversations were helpful for the
best for you? inbetween; small groups helped her
and the pacing of it, and the
allowance to dig deeper to it and
come back to the main group and fill
in more ideas with the other groups.
● For someone who needs more hands
on and activities, the game was very
helpful
 ● Learned best with the conversations
and questions were
thought-provoking and made them
think deeper.

4. If the same lesson ins being taught to ● Compare and contrast set up
another group what would you ● Role play, acting out scenarios,
change? Why would you change that incorporate a lot of writing
aspect? ● Making their own meme or
propaganda

Lance.

Question Lance’s Answer

1. What did you enjoy most about that ● Liked the game; the strategizing part,
lesson? breakout rooms, based off of personal
vendettas versus strategy
● Bond with your groupmates. Bonded
with groupmates, had fun

2. What did you learn? (What can you ● Connection between Japanese
do now that you could not do? What internment to now, and connecting
can you do better? How is it better?) that relevancy to Hawaii, which is very
important.
● Learned how to conduct a game using
Zoom.

3. What aspect of the teaching worked ● Good to see parallels, how there
best for you? would be explanation of internment
camp and then COVID-19.
● We didn’t tell the connections, let
them figure out for themselves and
then give the answer.

4. If the same lesson is being taught to ● Make it like ​Dungeons and Dragons
another group what would you and integrate descriptions for English,
change? Why would you change that group exercise.
aspect? ● Role playing with writing to teach
imagery and description.
 Statistics of the lesson. [​ Refer to Student Data Evidence Collection → The Google

Form]. On a scale on 1 -5.. (1 = not engaged at all; 5 = very engaged)

Engagement How engaged were How engaged were If you were to

Statistics
you with our lesson you with our board receive a test on the

as a whole? ​1 -5 game?​ 1-5 scale relationship to

scale internment camps

and current events,

how confident are

you that you would

get an A? ​1-5 scale

Key 3: ​20%​ , 4: ​50%​ , 5: 4: ​40%​, 5: ​60% 4: ​60%​, 5: ​40%

30%

Data

Class Cohesion How well do you think you and your group worked together? ​1-5
Statistics
scale

Key 4: ​40%​, 5: ​60%

 Data

Cultural relationship statistics.

According to data collected on Google Form - 40% of the class had identified as Filipino while

the other 60% classmates had multi-ethnic ancestry with a combination of Hawaiian and other

Asian background. As shown in the diagrams above, ​no ​documentation of engagement ​below ​the

score of 3 (1-5 scale) was recorded for any of the responses regarding classroom engagement.

What card from the board game could you relate to the internment camps?
 According to data collected via Google Form, students were able to explain the

connection between 6 different Day-Z cards and their effects and how gameplay was altered and

content delivered during the lesson studyʻs anticipatory set - In this case Japanese internment

camps. Answers below are provided by survey conducted by lesson study:

Card Chosen Survey Explanation(s):

Tyrant Card ● Tyrant- The people in the internment

camps were subject to strict rules and
regulations. In these situations, the
government could easily control their
food rations (or in the case of the
game, the food tokens).

Dysfunction Card ● The card that related to the internment

camps was the dysfunction card where
turmoil broke out in communities. This
is similar to the internment camps
because many were separated from
their families in short notices which
caused turmoil in many
Asian-American communities.

Peace Treaty Card ● I do not know an extensive amount of

internment camps aside from what we
just learned. I would say that the
Peace Treaty would relate to it, with
everyone within the internment camps
knowing that they are all on the same
boat and should work together to get
through this.

Bad Batch Card ● The bad batch card is related to the

internment camps because one person
can have an impact on the outcome for
others.

Nuke Card ● I feel that the nuke could be related to

the internment camps in not a literal
way, but more so figuratively that in
one action (bombing of pearl harbor),
 it can cause a huge backlash of effects,
immediately effecting everyone
involved (extent of US involvement in
WWII with Japan)

Sacrifice Card ● I could relate the sacrifice card to the

internment camps because the
individuals of Japanese descent were,
in a sense, sacrificed. They were
chosen to be placed in camps against
their wills for the "greater good" of
America.

What card from the board game could you relate to the current COVID-19 pandemic?

According to data collected via Google Form, students were able to explain the

connection between 6 different Day-Z cards and their effects and how gameplay was altered and

content delivered during the lesson studyʻs anticipatory set - In this case the current COVID-19

crisis. Student responses varied from using real life observations and examples. Answers below

are provided by survey conducted by lesson study:

Card Chosen Survey Explanation(s):

Virus Scare ● Virus scare because for one thing, the

name, but also because it's like all of
our needs are being held back from us
with all the stores and restaurants
closing.

Dysfunction ● Dysfunction- Due to the current

COVID-19 pandemic, many
individuals lost their jobs, thus their
income being affected. The
dysfunction card is similar to this
situation because all alliances could
not gain any food tokens (like
money/income in our current
situation).
Role Cards: Safe + Infected ● I can relate the role cards to the
current COVID-19 pandemic. There
are a lot of concerns regarding the
exponential growth in infected cases
each day. The fact that an infected
person in the game can infect another
person who, in turn, infects another
person relates directly to the spread of
COVID-19. This shows Ro (R naught)
and the rate of infection
grows/spreads.

Care Package Card ● The card that I could relate to

COVID-19 was the care package card
where extra tokens were based on
what place their group was in. This is
similar to the stimulus checks that
people are currently receiving.

Nuke Card ● Nuke, because whole countries and

states have regulations and become
strict on what we can do.

Bad Batch Card ● The bad batch card was very similar
to what's happening right now.
Everyone has the chance of being
infected and infecting others.

Cure Card ● I feel that the cure really associated

itself with the current COVID-19, not
necessarily because we found a cure,
but that by trying to find a cure, there
may be little to no results. There were
labs in Europe that were asking for
volunteers to get the virus so that tests
could be done to find a cure before it
had really started to break out. Like
the card, it may result in finding a
cure, or it may yield no results.
 Potential changes to the lesson.​ In regards to the lesson, we would strengthen the

connection between the game and the content. During the lesson, we can see how the content and

board game operated outside of the other sphere, with some sense of cohesion and relationship

but not a strong one. Therefore, we would try to make it more relevant to the content of being in

the internment, instead of being a “zombie apocalypse” game. To do this, we could use similar

elements that included xenophobia, martial law guidelines such as arrests for being out past

curfew, or being out in places that are off limits. We could also incorporate sacrificing time

instead of people. Food rationing could also be a stronger force in the board game.

We would also try to stay within the allotted time. This may mean sending out the rules

and guidelines for students to read for the board game beforehand to be efficient and we would

only have to explain it briefly. This way, we would make use of the time playing the game, and

then spending time to connect it more strongly to the content.

Lastly, we would try to do more test runs with the breakout rooms on zoom. As stated

before, there were some technical difficulties with the break out rooms, and some confusion with

who went where. We would also want to try to have better communication during the game for

the math portion of it.

CONCLUSION

The purpose of this study was to evaluate cultural relevance and class cohesion within the

classroom. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the overall lesson was shifted when COVID-19

spread to Hawai‘i, hindering the lesson from being taught to its original intended audience. The

entire study needed to be adjusted including finding a new class to study, choosing new case

study students based on previous criteria and adjusting the lesson to fit online distance learning.
 The authors chose to compare the current COVID-19 pandemic to WWII Japanese

Internment because the COVID-19 pandemic is something that every student can relate to.

Specific topics were chosen for the lessons content to share the commonalities between both

events in history. A virtual board game was then played with the students, ideally this board

game would have helped the students further relate the content to their current situation.

Through our findings, we found that ten out of the fourteen students participated in the

post lesson Google form. The Google form showed us that utilizing relevance as a teaching

strategy to engage students worked for the students. They were able to reflect on their learning

by sharing realizations and personal connections they made between the content and their

experiences with the COVID-19 pandemic. We also found that students who participated in the

Google form felt that they were able to work well with their group. However, we can determine

this data may be inconclusive to support class cohesion because the case study class have a long

history together, as they are a Education cohort from the University of Hawai‘i West O‘ahu. This

means that they have been in multiple classes together each semester to build their bond and

cohesion amongst one another.

In relation to the case study students, they did not complete the Google Form. However,

in accordance with their post lesson interview and observation criteria we can conclude that one

out of the two case study students were fully engaged. Out of the two, Lance appeared to be less

engaged with the lesson according to our observation criteria. However, it is important to note

that this may have been affected by a multitude of things, including the fact that distance

learning is not always ideal for every student's learning environment. Which we concluded may

have affected Lance’s ability to engage with the lesson and other students.
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