While reading an article reporting on different strategies for increasing student engagement in online courses, I had the notion to create a survey of live topics in my critical thinking course. In this activity, students would be presented with an array of topics and issues in the topic area. By their response they would identify:
- How settled their own view on the issue is;
- How aware they are of other views that could be taken; and
- The level of acceptance they have for other views.
Such a survey might then provide a list of suitable issues that could be explored in virtual debates, where students could present reasonable arguments for others to consider and assess for strengths and weaknesses.