Describes the increasing interest in high school debate teams among minority group students. Participation in debate, no longer the province of white students alone, can result in increased college admissions, thanks in part to the Urban Debate League. (SLD)

Suggests that debate not only offers teachers a way to integrate language, content, and critical thinking instruction but also prepares English-as-a-Second-Language learners with the types of communication skills they will need in academic and work environments. (Author/VWL)

Presents a method for analyzing the didactic strategies put forward to develop students' argumentation skills in biotechnology. Considers five supporting examples and focuses successively on the social characteristics at play and the procedures. Attempts to produce analytical tools to support designers and users of teaching materials in making…

Examines the advantages and disadvantages of incorporating educational debate into a marketing class. Notes that marketing debates can provide valuable experience both to help students learn various sides of controversial issues and to develop oral communication skills. (MM)

Workshops for teachers engaged in practitioner-based inquiry centered on the controversial issues raised by a television documentary on the Summerhill School. Learners normally engaged in distance education were motivated by the processes of dissent, argument, and disputation. (SK)

Reports on the origins and importance of the "Three Doctrines Discussions" of the Chinese Tang dynasty (618-960). Shows how their evolution and decline parallel shifts in the balance of political power. Argues that these debates functioned rhetorically to enhance and legitimate the emperor's political power. (HB)

Experimental groups used four decision-making techniques--reverse brainstorming (RS), dialectical inquiry (DI), devil's advocacy (DA), and consensus--in evaluating writing assignments. Control group produced a better quality document. Student reaction to negative features of RS, DI, and DA were not significant. (SK)

Seeks to explain economists' differences of opinion, through the example of contemporary British economic debate. Observes that part of the explanation lies in the complexity of economic issues. Argues that the more important factor lies in economists' ideological differences. Contrasts the views of the libertarian and market interventionist…

Compares respondents who watched the first 1996 presidential debate with respondents who did not. Finds (1) those who watched the debate could more accurately recognize issue positions of Clinton and Dole than nonwatchers; (2) differences in the groups' assessment of character traits of the leading candidates; and (3) more respondents gave policy…

Recognizes the desire to discuss current environmental issues as a significant learning motive. Describes a course in which a student debates facilitate learning. A student moderator conducts debates between two groups of students, and the debates are organized using lecture material, internet searches, numerical analysis, and research projects.…

Surveys existing research on televised campaign debates; indicates areas for future research; considers the resources needed to expand and improve current research efforts; and encourages more systematic and sustained inquiry. Notes two compelling needs in terms of resources: an archive containing comprehensive records of media coverage of the…

Examines the relationships of exposure and attention to various news media, including the Internet, with information learned about the issue positions of George Bush and Al Gore, Jr., and intention to vote among a random sample of adult residents of Indiana. Compares results to earlier studies. Confirms the importance of television news and…

Argues the global challenges of an ever-shrinking world are the result of the complicated intertwined practices of both corporations and nation-states. Suggests advanced undergraduate seminars in argumentation use case studies to explore the intersections among legal, business and other social forums. (NH)

Compares the impact of a role-play versus a conventional discussion on students' argumentation on an issue involving animal transgenesis. Applies two different debate situations and asks students to decide whether or not to approve a giant transgenic salmon farm being set up in a seaside village. (Contains 30 references.) (Author/YDS)

At the time of its introduction at the end of the 1980s, the concept of natural capital represented new, more ecologically aware thinking in economics. As a symbol of novel thinking, the metaphor of natural capital stimulated a debate between different disciplinary traditions on the definitions of the concept and research priorities and methods.…