Beyond the Campus: Heroism as a Case Study for Extending Researchers' Influence Through K-12 Lesson Plans

As a result of their training, college professors are subject matter experts who have the task of conveying ideas to students and to the public at large. They accomplish this, in large measure, through their research and their teaching. In this article, we consider an important alternative way in which professors can broaden their reach by creating lesson plans for students beyond their own classrooms—at very little time investment. We use as a case study our own lesson plan on heroism, which draws on expertise in political theory and psychology, in order to demonstrate the way in which such a project can be conceived, implemented and distributed to a wide audience. In designing and making such lesson plans available for K-12 students, as well as community groups and lifelong learners, we argue that subject matter experts can educate far beyond the walls of their own classrooms; they can also promote critical thinking, problem-based learning, community engagement, and even service-learning by building curricular pieces designed to speak directly to these important educational practices and outcomes.