In this article, the authors sought to discover if participation in formal debate programs translates into better academic achievement and attainment for students. First, individual debaters' reading and math test scores over time were looked at and students were compared to themselves in years when they did and did not participate in debate. The…

Humanities education in Singapore at the secondary level emphasises the inquiry-based learning pedagogical approach to engage students, inculcate critical thinking skills, and achieve the necessary knowledge and skills outcomes stipulated by the national curriculum. Inquiry-based learning is structured by a Humanities inquiry cycle involving four…

The purpose of this study is to develop a framework for analyzing classroom argumentation that includes a process of rebutting. A most commonly used framework to analyze argument in science education is Toulmin's Argumentation Pattern. It is useful for analyzing argumentation but it cannot represent the complexity of students' rebuttals during…

To improve the quality of the learning process, teachers are expected to be able to develop appropriate learning methods and models according to the learning topics listed in the school curriculum. This study aims to determine the effect of the debate model on learning motivation in students' history subjects at Darul Aman Senior High School…

High school policy debate is an academically rigourous and highly competitive US activity--elite debaters often go on to top universities and pursue successful careers. Access to the skills that debate teaches is invaluable for high schoolers, but these benefits are not equally accessible to all. As a historically male-dominated activity, the…

During the fall of 2019, the chaotic American political landscape was charged with scandal, debate, and accusations. As a result, students would often bring local and national politics into the authors' high school English language arts (ELA) classes. Instead of ignoring the students' heated debates in the classroom, the authors decided to embrace…

Competitive debate programs exist across the globe, and participation in debate has been linked to improved critical thinking skills and academic performance. However, few evaluations have been able to adequately address self-selection into the activity when examining its impact on achievement. This study evaluated the relationship between…

Civil, informed debate is essential for any healthy democracy. This is truer than ever judging from the often uncivil, fact-free public discourse one sees too often on television and social media. But does participation in formal debate training improve educational outcomes? While policy debaters historically have come from high-income public…

This study examined the effects of students' argumentation standpoints on their argumentation learning in the context of socio-scientific issues (SSIs). To that end, four kinds of argumentation standpoints were defined: affirmative standpoints, oppositional standpoints, multiple standpoints, and non-standpoints. These four kinds of standpoints…

The advent of online learning in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic radically altered the landscape of modern education. While most research has examined the socio-emotional and academic impact of the shift to online school, far less attention has been given to its effect on extra-curricular activities. This article examines the ways in which…

Few interventions reduce inequality in reading achievement, let alone higher-order thinking skills, among adolescents. We study policy debate--an extracurricular activity focused on improving middle and high schoolers' critical thinking, argumentation, and policy analysis skills--in Boston schools serving large concentrations of economically…

Widespread global interest and adoption of deliberative democracy approaches to reinvigorate citizenship and policymaking in an era of democratic crisis/decline has been mirrored by increasing interest in deliberation in schools, both as an approach to pedagogy and student empowerment and as a training ground for deliberative citizenship. In…

Few interventions reduce inequality in reading achievement, let alone higher order thinking skills, among adolescents. We study "policy debate"--an extracurricular activity focused on improving middle and high schoolers' critical thinking, argumentation, and policy analysis skills--in Boston schools serving large concentrations of…

Low-income, racial/ethnic minority youth in under-resourced schools have certain opportunities to acquire cultural capital that is valued in dominant institutional contexts. I use observational data from 6 months of debate practices and competitions with two teams in the Chicago Debate League, as well as interviews with 12 debaters and 2 coaches,…

Low-income racial/ethnic-minority youth in under-resourced school contexts have certain opportunities to acquire institutionally-valued cultural capital. I use observational data from six months of debate practices and competitions with two teams in the Chicago Debate League, as well as interviews with twelve debaters and two coaches, to show that…