Lesson Report:
Title
Predicting Policy Preferences with Ideology: Left vs. Right Reasoning on Campus Rules
Synopsis: In this final online session, students operationalized the concept of ideology by using a simple left–right heuristic to classify and predict responses to policy proposals. Through individual and group tasks, they practiced articulating why a stance is left- or right-leaning, moving beyond “agree/disagree� to the core values underpinning each side (common good vs. individual rights). The session set up a follow-up activity to infer ideology indirectly and previewed next week’s content on “the state.�
Attendance
– Students mentioned absent: 0
Topics Covered (chronological)
1) Welcome and logistics
– Context: 4th online session, last one; next meeting will be in person (large 4th-floor room) on Tuesday.
– Objective framing: Apply Tuesday’s introduction to political ideologies to classify and predict beliefs, culminating in designing a simple system to infer a person’s likely ideological lean and related policy preferences.
2) Warm-up recall: What is an ideology?
– Student-sourced definitions refined into: A coherent system of ideas, beliefs, and values about how society should work (what’s right/wrong, fair/unfair), used to guide judgments about policy and institutions.
– Examples named: Liberalism, socialism, conservatism (instructor corrected “capitalismâ€� to “conservatismâ€� as a political ideology; noted capitalism is primarily an economic system).
– Prompted question: Why is conservatism typically categorized as right-leaning? Students highlighted preference for tradition, stability, gradual change; instructor asked to connect that to a broader right-leaning value set.
3) Core mini-lecture: Working heuristic for left vs. right
– Left (oversimplified for this course stage): Prioritizes the common good, collective responsibility, and outcomes that benefit society at large.
– Right (oversimplified): Prioritizes individual rights, autonomy, freedom of choice, and limited institutional overreach.
– Caveat: Heuristic is intentionally simple; real-world ideologies are multidimensional and often mixed.
4) Individual exercise (Google Form): 85% attendance policy scenario
– Policy (hypothetical AUCA rule): Mandatory 85% attendance for all courses; falling below yields automatic fail.
– Provided student reaction to classify: “I’m a paying adult; as long as I pass exams and do the work, attendance shouldn’t make/break my grade. Focus should be on results, not seat time.â€�
– Instructions:
– Classify the reaction as left- or right-leaning and justify using the course heuristic.
– Do not state personal opinion on the policy; explain the ideological logic behind the student’s stance.
– Non-graded; 10 minutes to submit via Google Form linked on eCourse.
– Instructor emphasis: The “whyâ€� is key—connect the stance explicitly to common good vs. individual rights.
5) Group activity (breakout rooms): Predict left- and right-leaning responses across three policies
– Task: For each policy, write 1–2 sentences predicting a left-leaning response and a right-leaning response (agree/disagree + reasoning tied to values). 10 minutes in groups of 4–5.
– Policies (all hypothetical AUCA rules):
1) Ban the sale of sugary drinks on campus to promote public health.
2) Require at least 20 hours of community service to graduate.
3) One-strike expulsion for any plagiarism.
– Debrief highlights and instructor synthesis:
– Policy 1: Ban sugary drinks
– Left-leaning: Likely agree. Reasoning tied to common good and public health; reduces harm for all students (e.g., obesity/diabetes), promotes healthier campus norms; equity considerations for students with health conditions.
– Right-leaning: Likely disagree. Reasoning tied to individual autonomy and freedom of choice; the university should not dictate personal consumption. Some groups added market/enterprise concerns (note: instructor distinguished political from economic arguments but acknowledged overlap).
– Nuance the instructor modeled: A right-leaning argument could also defend AUCA’s institutional autonomy as a private entity (its right to choose what it sells), illustrating how domain framing can flip how “rightsâ€� are applied.
– Policy 2: 20 hours community service to graduate
– Left-leaning: Likely agree. Education serves civic and social purposes; builds solidarity and social responsibility; benefits the broader community (common good).
– Right-leaning: Likely disagree. Compulsory service infringes on student autonomy and time; misaligned with a paying customer model (“I’m paying for education, not required to perform unpaid serviceâ€�); service should be voluntary.
– Policy 3: One-strike expulsion for plagiarism
– Ambiguous by design; instructor used it to push value-based reasoning:
– Left-leaning:
– Disagree case: Policy is too punitive, lacks proportionality and second chances; concerns about equity and learning from mistakes.
– Agree case: Protects academic integrity as a collective good; deters behavior that harms the institution’s reputation and fairness for honest students.
– Right-leaning:
– Disagree case: Overly harsh sanction undermines due process and growth; could incentivize stealthier cheating (unintended consequences).
– Agree case: Strong personal accountability and deterrence; students bear responsibility for choices.
– Instructor message: Don’t stop at “too strictâ€�—explicitly tie to core values (common good vs. individual rights, proportionality, accountability, due process).
– Meta takeaway: Ideological lenses are most useful when we can (a) predict stances from value commitments and (b) articulate the value logic, not just the policy conclusion.
6) Bridging to next activity: Predict when ideology is unknown
– Problem setup: You often cannot ask someone directly about a new policy; you must infer their likely stance by first inferring their ideology through other opinions.
– Upcoming task (Thursday): In groups, design a simple diagnostic (indirect questions + scoring) to infer whether a student leans left or right and then predict their stance on:
– Prompt policy: “All final exams must be in person; no online finals permitted.â€�
– Constraint: You may not ask directly about the exams policy; use other issue positions to infer ideology and then predict support/opposition.
– Communication note: The policy prompt was also posted in Telegram; instructor will create new groups for this activity.
7) Preview of next in-person class (Tuesday): The State
– Shift from campus analogies to government and the concept of the state.
– Guiding questions: What is “the stateâ€�? What distinguishes it from other organizations? How do states arise and maintain authority?
Actionable Items
Urgent: Before Tuesday (in-person)
– Post/confirm the “short reading on the stateâ€� on eCourse and remind students of the deadline.
– Send logistics reminder for the in-person meeting (time, 4th-floor room, any seating or health protocols).
– Review Google Form submissions to identify common misconceptions (e.g., “health is goodâ€� without tying to ideology; conflating capitalism with conservatism) and plan targeted clarification.
High priority: For Thursday’s diagnostic activity
– Prepare materials for the “infer ideologyâ€� task:
– Draft 6–10 indirect diagnostic questions and a simple scoring rubric to classify left/right lean.
– Create group handouts/instructions for designing and testing their own diagnostic.
– Post the “in-person finals policyâ€� prompt on eCourse (not only Telegram) to ensure universal access.
– Ensure all students are in the Telegram channel or provide an alternate channel; share join link again.
Follow-up clarifications (content)
– Create a one-page reference on the working left–right heuristic with cross-domain examples (public health, education, speech, regulation) and a note on limits of the simplification.
– Provide concise definitions distinguishing conservatism, liberalism, socialism, and capitalism; note the difference between political ideologies and economic systems.
– Debrief the plagiarism policy more formally next time (proportionality, due process, institutional mission) to model structured argumentation from both value sets.
Housekeeping
– Reconcile Zoom participant count with roster (19 present mentioned; no absences named); note any students with persistent audio/tech issues.
– Share the Google Form link and any slides/notes to support students who had trouble submitting or wish to review.
Homework Instructions:
” ASSIGNMENT #1: Short Reading on “The Stateâ€�
You will read a short piece on what “the state� is to prepare for our next class, where we will move from AUCA-level policy examples and left/right ideological frames (common good vs. individual rights) to analyzing government itself. This reading will ground our discussion of what distinguishes the state from other organizations and why that matters for politics.
Instructions:
1) Locate the reading:
– Open the short reading on “the stateâ€� posted with this week’s materials. It will be clearly labeled for the upcoming session on the state.
2) Read it carefully before Tuesday:
– Plan enough uninterrupted time to read it thoroughly (aim for focused, active reading rather than skimming).
3) Take notes guided by these questions:
– Definition: In your own words, how does the author define “the stateâ€�?
– Distinctive features: What makes a state different from other organizations (e.g., universities, NGOs, companies)? Think about authority, scope, territory, and enforcement of rules.
– Purpose and role: What does the state do, and why does it matter for citizens?
– Connection to today’s lesson: How might left-leaning vs. right-leaning perspectives (common good vs. individual rights) shape views of what the state should or should not do?
– Application: Based on the reading, which kinds of rules require state authority, and which can be handled by private institutions (like AUCA’s internal policies)?
4) Prepare to use your notes in class:
– Be ready to briefly explain what a state is and to give one concrete example (from Kyrgyzstan or another country) that illustrates a core feature of the state.
5) Submission:
– There is no separate submission for this task; just complete the reading and bring your notes for Tuesday’s in-person discussion and activities. “