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The power of in-class debates

Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, USA, rkennedy{at}bloomu.edu

The students in three sections of a class rated their knowledge and identified their view before and after each of five in-class debates. The degree of self-reported knowledge was significantly different after four of the five debates. Between 31% and 58% of participants changed their views after participating in or observing each debate. Some changed their opinion even when they defended the side consistent with their original view. Despite their fears of participating in a debate, prior to the first debate, approximately 75% of the participants stated that they would consider using debate as an instructional strategy, and after the debates, this increased to about 85%. In both instances, males were more likely to respond positively than were females.

Key Words: active learning • in-class debates • knowledge • opinions

Active Learning in Higher Education, Vol. 10, No. 3, 225-236 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/1469787409343186


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