Initiatives and Interventions
In Defense of Debate: Academic Debate as Pedagogical Tool For Citizen Empowerment
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Korry Harvey, Phillip Sharp
Academia offers a variety of pedagogical tools to instruct and train students in behaviors that serve societal needs. One of those tools, formalized academic debate, is in a unique position to prepare students for meaningful public discourse and civic engagement by addressing prominent and contentious social issues through role-playing advocacy. Students are expected to gather evidence, construct sound arguments, and critically evaluate contrasting positions, all while developing various rhetorical techniques and listening skills. Although sometimes viewed suspiciously as an overly confrontational endeavor, when practiced properly, academic debate strives for greater shared knowledge, and even agreement, not through hostile or combative discourse, but rather through a reasoned, ethical, and deliberative exchange of differing perspectives and ideals. This paper will propose an important role for academic debate as a interdisciplinary training device, with the purpose of preparing students to skillfully engage in public discourse. It will examine some of the problematic practices of current social and political discourse, establish a conceptualization of best practices, and propose pedagogical means for improved engagement in public discourse and citizen advocacy.
How the Freshman Project Can Help College Students Explore Professional Courses
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Ya-Ling Tu, Yung-Hsiang Hu
Due to rapid globalization and constant changes in science and technology, Taiwan's industrial structure is in desperate need of transformation. Industry 4.0 is such an opportunity for the required industrial upgrading. From k-12, the Taiwan education system is too focused on test scores already. Therefore, most students are often seen as lacking critical thinking skills. The Freshman Project has adopted the CDIO (conceive, design, implement and operate) framework, in which first-year students think about the appearance of future factories and production processes to set professional learning goals and provide motivation early in their careers. According to questionnaire analysis, this study found that the learning motivations of the students are stronger than those who do not participate in the Freshman Project. Furthermore, the results of the interviews indicated the Freshman Project enables its students to understand other people's creative ideas while developing their own creativity and imagination. The Freshman Project's learning experience teaches first-year students how to learn and stimulates their motivation even before entering formal classes, as well as guides them in planning future courses for self-enrichment.
