Now Every School Student Can Be an Einstein. Here’s How

Debates

Since the middle of the previous century, interscholastic debates have been a common occurrence in both public and private schools. These debates have offered generations of privileged students tremendous academic benefits that are an outcome of training in persuasion, rhetoric, argument, and organized communication.

Through debates, preparing and delivering of argumentation offers students the opportunity in critical thinking, development of their academic research skills, improvement in their communication abilities, solution of problems in a creative way, and an increase in their self-confidence.

Because school students that participate in debates frequently engage in writing, analysis of information, and in-depth, thorough library or Internet research, they stand a better chance of obtaining higher marks in comparison with students who do not participate in debates. Moreover, debaters are more likely to undertake post-graduation programs.

Debates help students in expressing their views in an effective manner and to respond to arguments cogently with which they do not agree. Moreover, debate participants are generally the most well-read and well-informed students in their class. The scope of students’ studies (from world peace to the challenges to democracy) means that debate students are participating in a worldwide exam of issues and problems faced by humanity.

One of the primary educational objectives of schools is teaching critical-thinking skills, and no class performs this better than a strategic debate. The foundation of education should be debate. True learning takes place primarily through debate. If you fail to articulate an idea and offer a rational defense, then your mind will become a slave to someone else’s thoughts or opinions or a slave to your own fluctuating impulses.

Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric are indispensable for those who wish to participate in debates. Let us now take a closer look at classroom discussions.

Discussions

Mentioned below are some of the benefits of participating in school discussions:

• Adds a New Dimension to Studies: It is difficult to maintain the attention and focus of the student if learning is a one-way process: just hearing the professor talk. Hearing another voice is beneficial and so is answering another viewpoint, which is a characteristic of discussions.

• Engages Students: The right question can stimulate their interest, encourage them to ask the question “Why,” get them to think, and offer motivation to those who succeed in making connections with the content. This benefit is magnified manifold when teachers slightly with the question, when they repeat it by writing it on the board, and refrain from calling the first hand they see raised up.

• Provides Feedback to the Teacher: When students answer questions or try to explain a particular concept in a discussion, teachers can gauge their level of understanding. They can correct or help students correct what they have not got right or what they fail to see clearly.

• Provides Feedback to the Students: When teachers initiate a discussion by asking questions or simply seeking student input over a specific topic, they are enabling students to know more about the importance of specific information and ideas.

• Promotes Preparation: If a teacher regularly chooses students and asks questions with regards to assigned reading topics or matter from their notes from the prior session, students will be encouraged to come to class more prepared.

• Controls the Class Proceedings: If there is indiscipline in the class in the form of students dozing off, chatting, texting, or not paying attention to the class proceedings, teachers can ask such students or their neighbors relevant questions.

• Balances Who Is Contributing in Class and to What Extent: In a classroom discussion, firstly, the teacher selects the participant. If teachers display patience and do not always pick the same student or if they look in an expectant manner towards other students and communicate through verbal or non-verbal communication the value of listening from other speakers, they can influence shy or introverted students to speak phenomenally. Discussions also helps teacher keep a check on how much they speak.

• Encourages Dialogue Between and Among Students: Teachers can ask students to comment on the statement of some other student. In this way, a discussion can be initiated. After the question has been asked, students should be invited to discuss answers among each other prior to the public discussion.

• Develops Verbal Communication Skills: By actively participating in classroom discussions, the verbal communication skills of students will definitely improve. What’s more, students who have stage fright can overcome this hindrance and speak without any fear. Communication skills are improved upon by practice. Hence, more the participation in discussions better will be the overall results.

• Provides Opportunity to Master the Language: A majority of faculty members have lectured on Mathematics, Physics, Biology, Chemistry, English, etc. However, they fail to adapt to the changes in language, which are new and difficult for most students. Discussions offer students a wonderful way to study using a modified and new vocabulary.

Thus, we can conclude that classroom discussions are a must for all-round development of students. Let’s move on to quizzes.

Quizzes

A quiz is a type of game or mind-sport, where the players – as individuals or teams – make an attempt to answer questions accurately. In the educational context, a quiz also serves the purpose of a brief assessment to gauge the skills, abilities, and knowledge of students.

Quizzes are generally scored in terms of points, and most quizzes are designed to pick a winner from a participant group – generally the participant with the highest score.

Benefits

Besides the obvious benefit of improving and expanding one’s knowledge (either in general or specific subjects), the style of offered quizzes is designed to inculcate fun and active participation among students, when it comes to school quizzes. What’s more, quizzes can lead to healthy discussions and debates, which we have already spoken of above. Quizzes can be customized for school students to help in language development and in specific subjects of study. Some of the other benefits of quizzes are mentioned below:

• Helps in team-building process among students

• Fun in participation but extremely competitive

• Helps relieve the stress and tension of daily work routine

• Fomenting harmony among diverse groups of friends

• Establishing new friends belonging to different cultures

To conclude, debates, discussions, and quizzes are fundamental to the learning process in school. Though there is no end to the learning process, these three forms of learning go a long way in ensuring that students lead high-quality, productive lives.