DEBATE

Assignment Content

1.

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Learning teams consist of two to three students. Each team will choose a topic (see choices below). Then, each person will choose the position (affirmative or negative) he or she will need to argue and defend. One person will take the affirmative position and one the negative position. If a team has three people, the third team member can take either position but must argue the same position throughout.

· *NOTE: To communicate with your team, click on the team conversation icon in the upper right-hand corner. It looks like a tiny stick figure head and neck with a bubble coming out of the right side of his head.

The debate topic choices are (Each team will choose one topic):

· Wars have had a greater impact on human expression in the 20th century than the other movements addressed this week.

· Technology has had a greater impact on human expression in the 20th century than the other movements addressed this week.

· Political events have had a greater impact on human expression in the 20th century than other movements addressed this week.

· Civil rights have had a greater impact on human expression in the 20th century than the other movements addressed this week.

· Gender equality has had a greater impact on human expression in the 20th century than the other movements addressed this week.

By Thursday of Week 2, each team member will post in the team forum an opening statement of between 200 and 350 words establishing his or her position.

After all opening statements, each team member needs to then produce an additional three posts in the team forum as responses to the other teammate's starting with the affirmative position. So it will look like this:

· Opening statements - affirmative - negative - affirmative - negative - affirmative - negative

· There will not be a word requirement for the other posts, but the idea is that all team members are both refuting the last point of your opponent(s), while presenting new ideas and support for your position.

· To do this effectively, you must fully research both points. If you do not understand the opposing points, you will not be able to create an effective rebuttal.

· In addition, you want to make sure that, in your preparation, you have more points than you present in your opening statement. These will then be used in your rebuttals. Make sure all resources are cited in all posts.

Students will be evaluated on how effectively their position is defended, how well they rebut opponents' points, and the quality and quantity of supporting resources.

After the debate has concluded and all debate arguments and responses have beenposted in the team forum, one member of the team should compile the arguments (in the order that they were made) into one document and submit for grading. While this is a team assignment, grades will be based on individual contributions. This final submission should include an introduction and conclusion and be properly formatted according to APA guidelines. *Note, this final submission should not simply be a copy/paste of team posts. It should be formatted in paragraph format and include a substantive introduction and conclusion.

Format: The final submission should include an introduction and conclusion and be properly formatted according to APA guidelines.

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