Critical Thinking: Steps 7 & 8: Commitment and Debate

Steps 7 & 8: Commitment and Debate

In correlation with national standards, students should be able to meet the following objectives:

1. Conduct research using multiple sources in order to support his/her position in debate.
2. Put information from multiple sources into debate format.
3. Present an argument to support his/her position in a clear and concise manner.
4. Be able to link information from text (additional sources) to experience that relates to the sources and text used.
5. Use organization methods to hone in on specific information.
6. Synthesize all information pulled from multiple sources and draw conclusions.
7. Deliver a well-developed and polished speech that is geared towards an audience; and use credible sources to defend positions taken on a specific topic.
8. Evaluate formal/informal presentations for effectiveness and use of statistics, visual aids, and analogies.

Reference

ProQuest LLC. (October 2007). Teacher mini-debate guide. Retrieved from http://www.proquestk12.com/productinfo/pdfs/MiniDebate_Teachers.pdf

For practice researching, formulating arguments and debating, check out Debate.org. It is a safe space where you can propose a topic for debate, vote or participate in ongoing debates, and participate in informal polls. Debates are constantly updating and changing, so check back regularly if there is a topic you want to follow.

TechNyou. (2011, December 11). Critical thinking part 4: Getting personal [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/W_veZ24nC3g

Think about this: It is easy to get tied up in your own perspective. So what can you do to avoid attacking someone because of their point of view? How do you separate the argument from the person? 

If a plane crashes on the border between Norway and Sweden, in which country do you bury the survivors?