Teaching young students science, nature…and civil argumentation

Education Department Associate Professor Rola Khishfe has been training K-12 grade teachers how to teach students to argue, debate, and interact with one another on topics related to science and nature – in a way that allows them to disagree, but always in a civil manner. Evidence-based discussions on science and nature issues – like climate change, cloning, water resources, and many others – generate student interest because they impact people’s lives and usually generate solid arguments for and against basic points. She explains how her work promotes debates and argumentation anchored in facts, while also teaching young people to accept other students’ views because usually there are no explicitly right or wrong answers to seal a difference of opinion.