The Relationship between Facts, Debate, and Education (original) (raw)
Related papers
Teaching Philosophy, 2017
One very common style of teaching philosophy involves remaining publicly neutral regarding the views being debated—a technique commonly styled 'teaching the debate.' This paper seeks to survey evidence from the literature in social psychology that suggests teaching the debate naturally lends itself to student skepticism toward the philosophical views presented. In contrast, research suggests that presenting one's own views alongside teaching the debate in question—or 'engaging the debate'—can effectively avoid eliciting skeptical attitudes among students without sacrificing desirable pedagogical outcomes. Thus, there are good reasons to engage philosophical debates as an educator, not merely teach them.
Formal Debate as a Pedagogical Tool in the College Classroom
1988
By understanding the values and goals of debate, the applicability of debate to all disciplines, the logistics of setting up a debate and the judging and grading procedures, college instructors in all disciplines can use debate to stimulate student interest and increase conceptual skills. Debate functions to develop skills in critical thinking, analyzing, synthesizing, and impromptu speaking. Though both types of debate are useful, Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA) debate is more easily and appropriately adaptable to the college classroom than National Debate Tournament (NDT) debate with its stress on policies. Six major areas of concern arise in preparing students for formal debate: the topic and resolution, research, developing affirmative and negative cases, the general format of the debate, cross examination, and rebuttals. By using active listening skills, developing a flow chart of the arguments presented in debate and casting votes for one of the teams, the audience becomes an integral part of the classroom activity. Some of the factors considered in grading include the amount of time and effort students seem to have put into the debate, overall use of good reasoning and critical thinking skills as applied to the subject matter, and the sincerity and effort put into the debate. (Contains eight references. Appendixes discuss structure of the debate, judging criteria, and grading criteria, and contain a sample flow chart.)
Debate as a practices in higher education curricula
2015
Currently, some courses of the 14 faculties of the University of Porto used the "debate" as a pedagogical strategy for teaching. For this study we took into account: syllabus of subjects which are using the debate as a method of teaching learning, the observations made by "De par em Par" program of the University of Porto as action of multidisciplinary training and the interviews to teachers that use debate in their courses, to achieve the research objectives.
AN ARGUMENT FOR ARGUING: DEBATES AS A TEACHING AND LEARNING RESOURCE IN THE ENGLISH CLASSROOM
DIGILEC Revista Internacional de Lengua y Culturas, 2019
The aim of the present study is to explore the use of debates as teaching and learning resources in the English classroom, particularly in the Official Language Schools (EOIs). The analysis of the didactic potential of debates is accompanied by a teaching and learning proposal to implement this resource in an English C1 classroom.
Debating: a catalyst to enhance learning skills and competencies
Journal of Education and Training, 2013
Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine if training through debates can be used as a rationale to enhance learning skills. In particular, it investigates whether debating can be useful in developing both, key graduate capabilities skills (critical thinking and communication skills) and the process to facilitate learning (motivation, intellectual challenges and learning in depth). The research validates some of the previous findings and argues that integration of debates into a curriculum enhances learning. Design/methodology/approach-Third-year undergraduate students participated in this exercise. The University invited the United Nations Association to administer their model conference that involved debating. A survey questionnaire was distributed to the students. Given that the sample was small, the data were analysed using cross tabulations. Findings-The research found that learning through debates for developing both, key graduate capabilities skills (critical thinking and communication skills) and the process to facilitate learning (motivation, intellectual challenges and learning in depth) were statistically significant. Not all students reflect a positive attitude to debating. Research limitations/implications-Knowledge can be conceived as being based on intersubjective reasoning processes that students are likely to adopt. This is dependent on how students want to learn, as they have different learning approaches, expectations, motivations, and meta-cognition. Practical implications-The implications of these findings are essential for training, learning, and open opportunities for further research. Originality/value-Findings from this study demonstrate quite clearly that debating is statistically significant on several learning outcomes that are desirable for graduate capabilities and learning processes.
Debate in the Introductory Course: Teaching invention and Audience in an Age of Post-truth
NCA Convention, 2023
Participation in competitive debate activities was a formative influence in the professional development of many communication teachers and scholars. However, debate pedagogies are typically reserved for upper-division elective courses or students participating in intercollegiate debate. Integrating academic debate as a capstone unit can enable students in an introductory course to accrue many of these same benefits. This essay describes and reflects upon my experience incorporating an academic debate unit in an introductory public speaking course. Using a format that slightly modifies the National Speech and Debate Association's Public Forum Debate, teams of students are assigned to argue the affirmative or negative on a public policy proposition of mutual interest. Students completing the unit demonstrate their abilities to conduct research, argue policy stock issues, listen critically, and engage in substance-oriented, civil disagreement. I contend that, despite difficulties in scaling this approach at the programmatic level, debate remains a viable pedagogical tool that militates against the post-truth tendencies that plague contemporary public discourse.