You could, but you would be defeating the whole philosophy of experience-based instruction. The trigger-event experience gives the students a frame of reference that will aid in their acquisition of the concept. The experience also provides the students with a familiar baseline on which to build new learning.

One of the reasons Mini-Society has been so successful in achieving long-term learning results is that the students' interest in learning concepts is triggered by their personal experiences as opposed to the authority of the teacher. They have a "need to know" the concepts BEFORE they are given the instruction. This experience-induced need adds to their motivation to learn. In keeping with the principles of experienced-based education, the Mini-Society experience precedes the debriefing of the related concepts and the subsequent teaching strategies for enriching and expanding those concepts. For more information, click on Selected References and then on "Mini- Society: Learning Theory in Action".

On any given day there will be people who may not be engaging in the various experiential transactions of Mini-Society, but that doesn't mean they are not participating. Sometimes the participation most beneficial to students is to sit and do nothing for a while or to wander around the classroom wishing they had some kind of productive role in the society. Most of the students are industriously involved in both the commerce and non-commerce activities of Mini-Society, or are trying to think of new entrepreneurial ventures that they could create.

Remember that during the first eight to fifteen sessions all the students are directly involved in setting up the society. After the first infusion of income to "prime" their economy, all the students are involved in the town council meetings even if they aren't actively producing and consuming.

In due course, almost every student will find motivating reasons to participate actively in their Mini-Societies. A good example of what might happen in your classroom can be found by clicking on Mini-Stories and then on "Todd Learns His Most Important Lesson."

The answer to this question is a little technical because it touches on some important aspects of the learning theory research upon which Mini-Society is based. If you convert Mini-Society into an Imposed Behavior Modification System/token economy, you will be depriving students of the potential benefits of enhanced learning in both the cognitive (knowledge) and affective (attitude) domains. Research on token economies has shown that when the reward is withdrawn, the desired behavior will decline. Data suggests that providing "extrinsic" incentives via a token economy may actually undermine the individual's intrinsic incentive (self-motivation). Ultimately less of the desired behavior (learning, in this case) will be forthcoming than if the token economy program had never been initiated at all. In contrast, research also shows that an individual's academic achievement and autonomy will be enhanced in a Mini-Society type of incentive structure where self-motivation and some creative input (e.g. recognizing market opportunities) are necessary for long term success. It should be emphasized that the start-up short-term payments in Mini-Society for non-productive activities (e.g. punctuality for the first week) are suggested solely for the purpose of initially infusing funds into the system. For more information, click on Selected References and then on "Mini-Society vs. Token Economy: An Experimental Comparison of the Effects on Learning and Autonomy of Socially Emergent and Imposed Behavior Modification."