Public Opinion
In one of our intro classes I have a project where the student must give their opinion on a current subject.. IE. ObamaCare.... Then we form up groups based on their current bias. They must research the item with 5 facts that are opposite of their current opinion that they did not know before they did the research. It's used as a thought provoking discussion of how they form opinions on what is not necessarily all the required information.
Bernie,
I think this is a great way to get them to talking among themselves and exploring new learning opportunities. In addition, they get to start learning how to learn in relation to becoming critical thinkers.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I agree that this is a great activity, enforcing that it is crucial to research the necessary data before drawing conclusions.
Bernie,
Thank you for this suggestion. I do something similar in my Ethics class, but I had used it as an individual assignment in my Socrates unit as a way to teach what he meant to scrutinize opinion without bias and question authority. I had not thought about the benefits of doing this as a group exercise in class. I would love to use this in my upcoming session regarding a few of the current social issues in our country. How do you successfully set boundaries for students to interact with those who disagree with their position on these more sensitive subjects? Also, what guidelines do you give to the students to evaluate the "facts" they are researching?
Sincerely,
Melville
As for the question of controversial subjects, I emphasize that the point is not to defend yours or anyone else's position, just to understand that there are always other opinions to consider and that's the basis of this exercise. As for guidelines to the "facts", I ask them to not look for extreme bias but to find appropriate information the is more mainstream. In reality the group tends to control anyone who's a bit out of line.
