Debate+and+pupil+talk+in+science


 * Debate and pupil talk in science** (Return)

There are many different approaches to facilitating effective pupil talk in lessons. Many pupils need to slowly build up skills in debating and argument. There are different models and styles of teaching for doing this: This list doesn't include balloon debates, which can be highly entertaining and really motivate students to research and present a case. Some of the items on this sheet - in particular Six Thinking Hats - are thinking skills, it should be borne in mind that like any skill, it needs to be practised before it is going to be of genuine use

The GTC published some interesting work on pupil talk, and produced some resources for use in schools: There is other research to support the use of pupil talk in action research and developing metacognition:

Questions to focus on in developing pupil talk in science:

Where is pupil talk used effectively in the school? What are the chief difficulties in using pupil talk effectively in lessons? Why are colleagues sometimes reluctant to use pupil talk in lessons? How is best practice identified and spread effectively?

(Use the discussion on this page to share effective practice on this issue)

Increasingly, scientific and political debate are taking place online through forums and discussion pages. There are some excellent science blogs and websites that show this. One of the better-known is Ben Goldacre's 'Bad Science'. Perhaps more suited to older students - the issues are complex and topical and Ben Goldacre, a passionate communicator, often couches some of his more vitriolic points in language not suited to young children. Notable on the site, though, is the level of debate and the scrutiny to which supporting documents and statistics are put. There's some healthy debate on this article from the New Scientist (which also features on the example debate activity here). Anyone who's plumbed the grim depth of a YouTube comments page or a sports 'discussion' on the net will know that these activities can quickly descend into name-calling and ad-hominem attacks. Modelling debates online as a class activity are an excellent way to teach students effective argument technique as well as to help them to improve their writing style. There are a lot of guides that can help students to argue effectively, including some good sites on logical fallacies (another, more comprehensive list is here) which can be used to analyse existing writing as well as to guide their own.
 * Online debate.**

One possible way to introduce students to this type of debate is to set up a wiki or blog site (see instructions here). Setting up a wiki site is very straightforward and if you have a list of students' e-mails stored electronically you can create bulk users. A piece of writing can be linked to or created, along with some supporting resources and then students can be asked to respond to the writing using the comments/discussion section of the page. Because the students can be identified by user the scope for abuse is minimised and commenting can be set as a homework - easy to check up on. An example is provided here: Debating online. More information on using new technology for pupil talk and debate activities.



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