Teaching Critical Thinking Skills Using Debates
A Teaching Note
Dr. Gráinne Kirwan, IADT
Summary
This teaching note describes the technique of using debates as a method of teaching critical thinking skills. It has been used by the author as a 3 rd
year assignment for the BSc
(Hons) Applied Psychology in the Institute of Art, Design and Technology, IADT in modules on forensic psychology and cyberpsychology. However, the model can be used in many other areas of study. For the assignment, students complete a debate, defending their position on a motion against a classmate. This encourages students to think critically about a topic, as they are required to present their position, rebut arguments, find flaws in opposing statements, and defend their own arguments. Students enjoy the assignment, and improvement in critical thinking skills has been anecdotally noted by lecturers. A sample assignment brief, debate topics and debate transcripts are available in the Appendices, and mp3 files of student debates are also available.
Learning Outcomes:
Students should be able to

Identify key concepts relevant to the field of study

Outline the relevant field

Describe the impact of the field on human life
Timing and Assessment
This work extends over several weeks. As most students haven’t come across such an assignment before, the lecturer should allow time for dry runs and sample debates. This assignment caries a weighting of 25% of a Level 8 degree, third year, 10 credit module. The actual debates run for approximately 15 minutes each, and as such a considerable amount of time is required if assessing a large number of students.
Materials Needed

List of topics

Stopwatch

Assignment brief
Instructions to Students
The students are required to prepare a 5 minute presentation based on their side of an argument topic relevant to the subject being studied. The student should prepare at least four supporting arguments, and each argument must be supported with at least one citation from
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the relevant literature. The literature cited should be academic in nature (preferably peer reviewed articles, although books, book chapters and suitable government or industry funded empirical research is also acceptable. References considered unacceptable include any opinion pieces, journalistic articles, or websites. The student should also prepare a short printed document outlining their arguments in bullet points. This document should be no less than two pages long, but no more than three pages, and should also include the citations and references used in APA format.
The debate format outlined in Figure 1 is used. Each person presents their arguments, and this is followed by a cycle of rebuttals. Finally, a class vote is completed to decide the debate winner.
The ‘For’ person presents their arguments
The ‘Against’ person presents their arguments
The ‘For’ person is allowed to present any rebuttals
The ‘Against’ person is allowed to present any rebuttals
Figure 1: Outline of the format of the debate
There is a class vote to decide the debate winner
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Of the marks given for the assignment, 70% are assigned for the quality of the arguments as presented on the document. The remaining 30% are assigned based on presentation style and rebuttal(s). It should be noted that the class vote is for entertainment purposes only, and does not contribute to the grade given.
Sample topics for cyberpsychology and forensic psychology are listed below. A longer list of topics, along with a sample brief, are included in the Appendices of this document.

Cyberbullying is worse than offline bullying

Society needs to reconsider the notion of privacy due to the changing nature of our online interactions

Online communication has irrevocably altered the English language

Our online selves accurately reflect our offline personality and traits

Juvenile offenders should be treated the same as adult offenders

Juries should be advised not to make verdicts based solely on eyewitness testimony

Polygraph evidence should be allowable in Irish courts

The death penalty should be re-introduced into Irish law
Benefits

This assignment allows students to work with a teammate, or not – whichever they prefer

Encourages students to think critically both for and against the topic they are given – without developing this skill they find it harder to develop adequate rebuttals

Students become enthusiastic about the topic, and wish to ‘win’ the debate using the
‘in-class vote’

This assignment provides a method of directly assessing critical thinking

The various topics used reduces examiner fatigue as it avoids repetition and students are required to present arguments, rather than simply describing a topic

Students become more critical about the sources used to support an argument – they need to carefully choose the sources used to make their points

While not impossible, plagiarism is more difficult than standard essays due to the focus of the debate and the need for rebuttals

The assignment can be varied to allow for debating in teams
Challenges

Students can be allowed to indicate preference for certain topics, but may be disappointed if they do not get their preferred topic

Similarly, some topics may be perceived as easier than others, especially if there is a prevalence of literature in some fields

There is a slight advantage for students who work with their teammate, as they’ll be aware of the arguments to be made and can prepare rebuttals in advance.

Similarly, an absent partner can be a disadvantage – there is less opportunity to rebut and display extended knowledge. However, this can be overcome by allowing the
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student to indicate what possible alternative perspectives could be, and the flaws in these arguments

Because a range of topics is required to complete the debates, the lecturer needs to have a lot of content covered before this assignment can be attempted

It can be more difficult to directly compare student work, due to different topics involved

Some students place too much focus on winning the ‘in class vote’ rather than meeting the requirements, and may prioritise being an entertaining speaker over the quality of the arguments made

Students with speech impediments can find this assignment difficult. In these cases, the specific debate may be made private (where only the students involved and the lecturer are present, and there is no in-class vote). In exceptional cases, the assignment can be assessed based on the written document alone.

Students can be slow at getting into pairs or unhappy with allocated partners. This can be overcome by giving a time limit to choose a partner to work with and indicate a preference for a topic, after which date the lecturer assigns students to partners and topics.
Conclusion
This assignment is a very useful method of assessing student critical thinking skills and preparing students for evaluating arguments. While there are some complications with an assignment such as this, they are generally easy to overcome. Students report that they enjoy this assignment, and lecturers indicate that they see an improvement in student work as a result of the assignment.
Dr. Grainne Kirwan
Lecturer in Psychology
School of Creative Technologies
Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology
Kill Avenue, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin
Email: grainne.kirwan@iadt.ie
June 2011
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Appendix A: Sample Brief
You must prepare a five minute presentation based on your side of the argument topic assigned to you. You should have at least four arguments for why you are correct, and each argument must be supported with at least one citation from the relevant literature (i.e. you should have a minimum of four citations in your presentation). The literature you cite should be academic in nature (preferably peer reviewed articles, although books, book chapters and suitable government or industry funded empirical research is also acceptable. References considered unacceptable include any opinion pieces, journalistic articles, or websites).
You must also prepare a short printed document outlining your arguments in bullet points.
This document should be no less than two pages long, but no more than three pages. In addition to this, you should also include the citations and references used in APA format, and your name and student number. This document must be submitted immediately following your presentation. You may use your document as notes during your debate, but it must be submitted directly after the debate.
The assignment is a debate between you and the person opposed to your side of the argument.
In each case, the following format will be used:
1.
The ‘For’ person presents their arguments
2.
The ‘Against’ person presents their arguments
3.
The ‘For’ person is allowed to present any rebuttals
4.
The ‘Against’ person is allowed to present any rebuttals
5.
There will be a vote from the class to decide the debate winner
It should be noted that the class vote is for entertainment purposes only, and will not contribute to the grade given. Of the marks given for this assignment, 70% will be assigned for the quality of the arguments as presented on the document. The remaining 30% will be assigned based on your presentation style and rebuttal(s).
The list of topics is provided overleaf. You should form a team with the person who you will debate with, and send both names in an email as soon as possible, indicating by topic number your first, second and third choice topics. Topics will be assigned on first come, first served basis. If none of your three choices are available, I will respond to your email with a list of the remaining topics. You will be informed of the start time of your debate on (date). You should also inform me on that date as to which side of the debate each student will take (i.e. for and against). Each debate should start promptly at the allocated time. To be respectful to the class and your opponent, please do not be late. Any students who have not chosen an opponent, topic and side of debate will be allocated these on (date)
It is each student’s responsibility to ensure that they are suitably prepared for their debate, and that they know the time and location of their debate. Any student who misses their debate for any reason must complete a late submission application form.
If you have any questions about this assignment, please contact me as soon as possible.
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Appendix B: Sample Topics
Cyberpsychology Topics
Online communication has irrevocably altered the English language
Cyberbullying is worse than offline bullying
Our online selves accurately reflect our offline personality and traits
Online adultery is legitimate grounds for divorce
Dating websites are good ways of meeting romantic partners
We are too careless with personal information online
Victims of crimes in virtual worlds (such as the victims of Mr. Bungle in LambdaMoo), should be allowed to seek justice through offline legal systems
Social Networking Sites improve our social lives
Flaming is an acceptable behaviour in online environments
Personalised online stores (such as Amazon) are good for consumers
Society needs to reconsider the notion of privacy due to the changing nature of our online interactions
Facebook will still be popular in two years time
Politicians should make greater use of captology (computers as persuasive technologies)
Forensic Psychology Topics
Juvenile offenders should be treated the same as adult offenders
Polygraph evidence should be allowable in Irish courts
Irish juries should be comprised of experts instead of the general public
The death penalty should be re-introduced into Irish law
Victims should take at least some responsibility for their victimisation
Offender profilers are under-utilised by police forces
Non-offenders who have many high-risk indicators of criminality (e.g. low empathy, low SES, etc) should be forced to complete programmes aimed at preventing criminality
Terrorists are psychologically abnormal
The details of child sex offenders (names, addresses, etc) should be in the public domain.
Confessions should be inadmissible as evidence in court
Juries should be advised not to make verdicts based solely on eyewitness testimony
Prison is an appropriate punishment method for Irish criminals
The main predictor of criminality is the person’s family
Restorative justice is “what works” in avoiding recidivism
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Appendix C: Sample partial transcripts
Topic: We are too careless with personal information online
For: “Its not carelessness online, its more ignorance. Many users are unaware of the risks of personal information sharing. That comes from Acquisti and Gross in 2006. They are also unaware, especially in the case of Facebook, that their privacy settings may be changed… and I would argue that this ignorance makes it difficult to avoid the risks… people are not careless with their personal information, they just don’t know that they’re risking so much by sharing it”
For: “I would argue that privacy policies are complex, confusing and misleading. LaRose and Niffen pointed out that some users do not understand privacy policies… people fail to notice that they contain catch-all policies and stipulations that may mean that they have no rights to their information once submitted… I propose that it is the fault of the company, not the user”
Against: “You say that privacy policies can be hard to understand, but Goldman did a study and it revealed that only 3% of consumers actually even read privacy policies and I think in general people are more concerned about saving time and convenience than about their safety”
For: “I would argue about the privacy policies, that oftentimes the reason people don’t read them is because they’re so complex”
Topic: Online adultery is legitimate grounds for divorce
For: “In relation to the exclusivity of online affairs, it must be noted that Underwood and
Findlay in 2004 said that over two thirds of online affairs actually moved offline… so they’re not remaining exclusively online”
Against: “Cooper suggested that there are three factors that turbo-charge the Internet’s appeal as a venue for sexual activities. These are Anonymity, Affordability and Accessibility, together known as the Triple A engine… the overwhelming unequalled attraction of the
Internet is in its anonymity… users can indulge in behaviours that they would never do in real life. This effect is known as disinhibition”
Against: “Cyberspace fosters recreational flirting and the rapid emergence of pseudointimacy, therefore any relationships that are formed with people exclusively in online environments can never be considered real. This is because the most important aspects of ourselves, our true everyday nature and personality are never fully revealed until it moves offline.”
Topic: Cyberbullying is worse than offline bullying
For: “According to Stephen Joseph, a psychologist at Warwick University, physical bullying is not the worst kind of bullying. He found that verbal abuse is the worst kind of bullying as it causes post traumatic stress and low self esteem. My opponent is correct in stating that
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physical bullying does not take place online - it is the case that verbal abuse can take place online on social networking, hence it can be argued that the worst form of bullying, verbal bullying, can take place online”
For: “The study by Ortega at al contains strong support for traditional bullying having a more emotional impact than cyberbullying, however some of the results by Ortega et al highlight emotions reported by participants that scored higher in cyberbullying and lower in traditional bullying. 19.1% of participants felt more defenceless during experiences in cyberbullying as opposed to 18.6% of traditional bullying”
Against: “Wolak et al indicated that youths who visit chatrooms are not generally distressed by online harassment. The research suggests that regular use of chatrooms may have toughened up users, therefore they did not feel distressed or threatened.”
Against: “Patchin and Hinduja were uncertain as to whether online bullying was the cause of lowering of self-esteem in students, or whether students were already suffering from low self-esteem. Results indicated that victims and offenders previously had even lower levels of self-esteem than students who had not previously been victims or offenders.”
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