Faculty Land Acknowledgment

The Model Assembly program trains high school students to imagine the next generation of technology policy and law.
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1. Learn: The first part of the program teaches students about Canadian government, the legislative process, and how public policy is developed.
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2. Research: In the second part of the program, students learn how to think like a policy professional and to research current technology policy debates in society. After they study a set of starter materials and prepare their own background materials individually, students then work in teams to draft a bill or policy proposal.
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3. Negotiate:  In the third part of the program, student teams must reach consensus across internal proposals to arrive at a single, negotiated approach and draft a final bill or policy proposal for their team.  In other words, the goal is not adversarial debate; the goal is collaborative policy progress. 
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4. Pitch: The program concludes with students presenting their bill or policy proposal in a "pitch" to policy makers who pose questions and offer feedback on their work. 
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Educators:
 
To launch a PILOT Model Assembly program at your school, please contact Prof. Andrea Matwyshyn at andreamm [at] psu.edu. 
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PILOT Assembly can be run in several formats -

• as an expansion module to an existing program;

• as a unit in a social studies/ law/ government/ politics class;

• as an after-school activity; OR

• as an intensive one- or two-day session or weekend conference.