Using Google Documents in Teaching

Using Google Documents in Teaching

            Debating as a teaching method is a strategy that involves a process of, firstly, allowing pupils time to research and construct an argument regarding a certain topic. They will then be required to present this argument to the opposing team, by listening carefully to the defensive opinions and finding the relevant information from their research to ‘argue back’. (Darby, 2007)       
As mentioned in the previous blog post, as a class we have recently spent a seminar debating with another group online using Google Documents. We spent the first part of the lesson researching and forming our argument as a group, before logging onto Google Documents to ‘argue’ with the other class. I found this session very engaging and I am now going to explore the idea of using this in teaching.
            One of the main benefits of using debating as a teaching source is that it fully engages the pupils to argue the points that the opposing group are coming up with, which therefore enhances their ability to form a critical argument (Fandos-Herrera, 2017). I found that one of the most positive aspects of this session was that the idea of debating live against our peers meant that we were really motivated to come together as a group and actually make an effort with the points that we were arguing. I also found that myself and many other members of my group, who may normally be fairly quiet in seminars, really wanted to work hard to research and get involved.
            Furthermore, it has been found that students involved in a study, which involved asking them questions on a topic both before and after taking part in a debate on the topic, reported that their knowledge on a topic was significantly higher after participating in a debate on that topic within their class. However, 88.5% of the participants in this study were female, meaning that we cannot be certain that debating is as beneficial for male students. (Kennedy, 2009)
            Despite the clear evidence behind this teaching method, the use of debates in education is often only limited to those students who are part of debating societies and clubs (Bellon, 2000). One explanation for this is the criticism that debates in education only highlight two possible arguments, ignoring the fact that there are usually more than two viewpoints of any topic (Tumposky). However, this problem could easily be rectified by splitting the class into more than two ‘teams’ during debates. The class could be split into as many different teams as there are arguments in the debate.
Another potential issue is that debating, particularly in primary schools, could encourage a level of competition in the classroom that may lead to more negative situations. Competitive attitudes can be associated with bullying in the classroom (Sutton, 2000) and younger children may carry these debates, or the teams used in a debate, into the playground, causing conflict and arguments.
            On the other hand, this does not mean that older children (Key Stage 3 or possibly 2) cannot benefit from debating in lessons. To conclude, it is clear that students learn the most when using their knowledge in context and debating gives them a perfect opportunity to do this (Meyers & Jones, 1993).

References

Darby, M. (2007). Debate: A teaching-learning strategy for developing competence in communication and critical thinking. American Dental Hygienists Association, 81(4), 78-78.

Fandos-Herrera, C., Jiménez-Martínez, J., Orús, C., & Pina, J. (2017). Introducing the discussant role to stimulate debate in the classroom: Effects on interactivity, learning outcomes, satisfaction and attitudes. Studies in Higher Education, 1-17.

Kennedy, Ruth R. (2009). The Power of In-Class Debates. Active Learning in Higher Education, 10(3), 225-236.

Meyers, C., & Jones, T. (1993). Promoting active learning: Strategies for the college classroom. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Sutton, J., & Keogh, E. (2000). Social competition in school: Relationships with bullying, Machiavellianism and personality. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 70(3), 443-456.


Tumposky, N. (2004). The debate debate. Clearing House, 78(2), 52-55.

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