Before
beginning an online debate, you should understand the different types
of debate. Definitions and examples of each type of debate are listed
below.
|
Formal |
Debate example |
The traditional form of debate practiced by academic debate teams. In an online environment, formal debate can take place by dividing the class into teams and assigning each team a specific argument. |
| Informal | Exploratory
Debate example |
A heightened form of discussion where students discover and investigate concepts and conflicts within a topic or issue. |
| Devil's
Advocate example |
A discussion in which one or more students are assigned the task of respectfully disagreeing with others’ stated points of view. |
We find the following things to be helpful before beginning a debate activity:
- Assign relevant readings: i.e. books, articles, websites or other texts.
- Identify additional resources and encourage students to submit resources.
- Develop and provide guidelines for debate topics .
- Select debate format .
- Provide the 9 Principles of Good Debating to your students.
- Develop and provide timelines for activity.
- Develop an evaluation method and share guidelines with students.
Move onward to Facilitating Debate!
Modified November
2002
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