Vol 6 Test 6 Part 3

Daniel, right now you wanted to organize a formal discussion of some sort in the class. Is that right?

Daniel: Yes, we thought it would be really good to end our psychology course with a formal debate. You know, where there's a statement and people argue for or against it.

Fiona: No, I haven’t organized debates before, but one of my friends did in his last year at secondary school, and he says he got a lot out of doing it. And I know they have debates in lots of other departments here at the university.

Daniel: I think a debate will encourage students to study all sides of the subject matter. And I also think listening to other people's ideas can have a focusing effect on your own. Sometimes you don’t know what you truly believe until you hear something you disagree with.

Fiona: Okay, what about the topic for the debate?

Daniel: We’ve got three to choose from. At first, we thought we’d ask the other students to suggest something, but we were afraid we’d get 30 different topics. So instead, we brainstormed some, just the two of us, then made a short list, and we’ll get them to vote for the one they like best.

Fiona: But the thing is, if people don’t know how debates work, they could feel at a disadvantage. I mean, it wouldn’t affect their grades or anything, but it could put them off. So we thought we should have a meeting beforehand to make sure everyone’s clear about what’s involved in a debate and how to prepare for it.

Daniel: I think that’s a good idea. We could establish some key points of a successful debate there, like that debates are effective methods for considering an issue, and that you need to understand both sides of an argument in order to support one side effectively. We think it’ll be best if we can use an issue that students already have strong opinions about, so some will be happy to speak in support of it, and others to oppose it.

Fiona: Right. What else do we need to do at the meeting?

Daniel: We’ve got to think about how people will use the background research for the debate. We can organize everyone into two teams to save time for the main speakers. They won’t have to do it on their own. And we’ll need to decide on some rules, like how long each person speaks for, and to select a chair for the debate—someone who’s really confident.

Fiona: Fine. Now I think we should also have some sort of follow-up after the debate.

Daniel: Yes, after it’s over, we’d like everyone to write a short essay focusing on what they gained from participating in it. That can feed into the work we’ve been doing on Learning and Motivation.

Fiona: And yes, I’ll be reading the essays and giving feedback on them.

Daniel: Great. Let’s meet up again soon.

That is the end of part three. You now have 30 seconds to check your answers.