Kindly comment on the debates that have taken place in class, playing judge on what you liked and/or disliked about them. You can also tell me your ideas on the the topics discussed and respond to other comments.
The debates that were discussed in class made me change my opinion on many things. They made me realize the importance of the issues argued and thats why in my opinion that experience was very useful. The facts stated during the disputes made me perceive things in a different way than i used to
The activity that took place in class was but a mere introduction to the domain of debates and the charismatic characteristics a participant in a debate is required to possess. I found it quite demanding and exhausting, and no matter how many times (or how few) I rehearsed my speech and arguments, I failed to recite them, when facing the opposition, without having to refer solely to my prepared paper.
I found it pleasing tackling another side of the english course through debates. However, I did not really like the way in which they were conducted. The majority of times, all hell broke loose when an argument did not please the affirmative or negative team although the instructions clearly stated that a party could not intervene until the other had finished talking. On top of that, none of the debates actually ended at some point because of the inexhaustible supply of arguments each team kept pouring out and that caused a bit of boredom and dullness towards the end of each debate. None of the informations given contributed to changing my point of view towards a certain subject but it was certainly interesting listening to all the different facts presented. Finally, I do not think there is a team that completely outshone the others. Each one had his strengths and weaknesses. However, if I must choose, I would favour the negative team that opposed my own affirmative team in "Organ donation should be compulsory for all citizens" because, although they did state some irrelevant arguments, they had nevertheless an amazing attitude and showed great interest towards the topic they were discussing. (Written by Marc Rajji).
I found the debate quite entertaining to be honest. After two weeks of hard work on an essay I thought the debate came in the perfect time. This debate taught me a little about team work, how to coordinate between me and my teammates, how to respond to others correctly without offending anyone and most importantly how to manage my timing in order to convey the largest amount of information with no more than 5 minutes. The topic I liked the most was “Women should not propose to men” and I’m pretty sure it showed during the debate. I thought the arguments of every team for any topic were very strong and convincing and I really enjoyed how, at the end, we never reached a solution since all negative and affirmative teams made sense one way or another. I found the debate truly helpful and I think we should do it more often.
The debate was a good idea , but at some points it reflects the problem of our society ( no one was convinced at the end , everyone thinks that his point of view is the right one and wasn't at all flexible to the others ideas )
I really enjoyed the debates that took place in class, both in terms of content and presentation, for all teams provided logical and strong arguments. Working in a group and learning how to support our arguments properly and how to respond to our opponents in a clever way are a bit of what I learned through this experience. However, what I liked even more are the arguments that started after the formal debates were over, when we were free of all the technique and order limitations (although we sometimes went a bit out of control and off topic).
The preparation of the debate was somewhat smooth as my teammates and I had very good communication and had the same work ethics adding the fact that the arguments we extracted, after hours of research, were very solid. Thus we came to the debate very enthusiastic and thinking that it would go a certain way but it went in a completely opposite direction. As the position we were in favor of was “junk food should be banned from schools” we expected that we would get a strong opposition because our audience consists of students and students are very attached to junk food. However, all hell broke loose when we started talking and that was very disruptive to the debate. The audience started participating in an unorganized manner and attacking us on every single word we said without letting us defend ourselves properly. The opposing team wasn’t any better since it started behaving in a very unprofessional way while we were talking and didn’t hear us out till the end. Instead, they only took parts of our arguments and started twisting these parts to their own favor and whenever we tried to explain to them what we meant they asked us to stop repeating ourselves. Moreover, this team and the class didn’t allow us the chance to disprove some of the arguments the opposition stated. So overall, the outcome of this debate was mostly negative and I exited the debate very angered and somewhat hurt of the way everyone behaved although I did gain experience in teamwork and communication. From this post I probably sound like a Debbie downer but I couldn’t be fake in my writing. As for the other debates that were held I'd say that both teams in each case had very strong arguments so it was interesting to listen to them bicker.
I really liked the debates that took place in class. I'm usually not good at oral presentations but this time it worked and i was able to do my part right. I think that's because the people surrounding me made me feel comfortable so i argued in a proper way. I honestly liked the topic, "Should women propose to men?" because it was interesting, and a nowadays trend. It made all the students argue, give their opinions and points of views because it revolves around the gender roles that we are mostly concerned with during this stage of our lives. I disliked the scientific topics because they consisted of a lot of statistics and boring information. Nevertheless, i know that they play an important role as supporting evidence to one's opinion. Reading from papers also made topics boring and less interesting. The members in my group were prepared well which drew the attention of the students in class and made the presentation enjoyable and flowing smoothly.
I think that the debates were productive and entertaining. We were given space to freely express our ideas about interesting topics I've personally never really put much thought into. Issues like space exploration, the role of UN, and marriage proposals are matters we rarely doubt or think about in ways contrary to the norm. So it's always effective to consider these topics we unconsciously dismiss, expand our knowledge about them, and form solid standpoints based on facts and logic. The information and personal opinions shared in class have definitely served those purposes. I personally enjoyed the class' involvement in all the debates and my classmates' enthusiasm about their arguments. Living in a country where people are so diverse, it is crucial that we acquire the skills that enable us to effectively argue with people in a civilized manner, without triggering the chaos our people tend to cause. So activities such as the debates we've conducted give us the experience we need to deal with such situations in the real world.
I found the debate to be a fun and interesting experience which allowed the class to interact as a whole. The debates were very coherent and there was clearly a lot of appropriate communication between the members of each team. At the end of each debate the entire class would start to add personal inputs and thoughts. The only thing I did not enjoy was that at the end of our debate the positive team attached our negative team in a sort of aggressive and violent manner. All in all it was a pleasant experience and most would agree to participate again.
The debate was really beneficial. I learned new aspects about the topic discussed, and I benefited from my own research on my argument. The debate helped communicate better with my classmates especially my friendly teammates. The only annoying thing was some childish comments and aggressive manners in arguing.
The topics of the debates were good, but the problem we all faced was the redundancy of arguments. Also, when I listened to an opinion I didn't think of before-I found that opinion also legitimate and worthy of taking into consideration. I started asking myself and doubting my previous ideas and managed to have a clearer picture of many issues(the topics of the debates). In addition, the debates were entertaining and not too formal which makes it unappealing. The reactions of some classmates and the way they argue each other was a fun and beneficial experience.
To me the debate was so much fun! Everyone had a chance to talk freely about a topic he was interested in. We learned more about the topics discussed in class, and we benefitted from the team work to come up and look for arguments. I liked the fact that some classmates also participated in the debates even if they were not part of the teams.
The debates that have taken place in class were really interesting. It was an opportunity to express our opinions orally; contrary to the other assignments we used to do. The topics were not the stereotypes kind of topics. This is why listening to the arguments each team had to say was not boring at all. Moreover, the arguments given by the teams were not arguments a person would predict. For example, as part of an affirmative team, I was really impressed by our opponent’s ideas since we were not expecting those types of arguments. That made our debate more interesting and spontaneous since we were not prepared to oppose to such things. However, in every debate, we were not able to come up with a “solution”; both teams kept arguing till the end of the hour and were not able to convince each other.
The debate week was interesting and fun; everyone had the chance to defend their opinion on a subject even when they weren’t in any in the teams discussing the topic. The part of the debate where each one of us could talk freely without obeying the rules was the most interesting part because all the class participated and sometimes it went out of control. All the debates did not go as everyone thought it would; for example before the debate began for each topic I would be convinced of my opinion toward this topic but at the end I would feel that also the other side was right in some way. And this also happened in our debate where I really did not expect this type of arguments from the other team.
The debate was a useful experience. I know our topic about the United Nations was a little bit boring but I really benefited a lot after reading different facts and events concerning this issue. The last debate about "women should propose to men" was the most interesting one. All of my classmates showed their interest in this social topic. After all, we all shared our opinions and it was a good idea to be involved in such debates.
Talking about issues and trying to figure out how to solve them, make people smarter for they will be reading, researching and learning how to respond quickly and sharply. My personal experience has been that spending money on space exploration is worth it. The most important thing that made our debate worth it was the cooperation among our team members. I recognized that debate teaches you how to think outside the box, how to stand up for yourself without relying on violence. It also helps in improving the speaking skills, and helps you release your fear in speaking in public. The topics that the teams discussed in class were very interesting also the way each side expressed its point. Although I think at the end, the debates went aggressive. The bulk in the debate is to be fully equipped with information. It is important to be attentive for every word the opponent states.
Preparing for the debate wasn’t as easy as I thought, especially when we had to support a viewpoint that we didn’t agree with. Finding the sources wasn’t a hard job, but organizing them among all our team speakers was rather difficult to keep our ideas coherent and in a logical flow. For me, memorizing my speech didn’t go very well, since I spent more than an hour reading it over and over without fully memorizing it. Probably next time I should focus on preparing the outline cards rather than wasting my time memorizing. Generally, the debate was a good experience both in the preparation and debating stages. Listening to other teams debates was great as well. The way topics were being tackled from two sides in the same time was fun, especially when the debates became a little bit intense and went off script.
The debate was useful and interesting. Everyone had the chance to defend his/her own point of view and we were able to know our classmates personalities from their discussions and experiences. However, i think that even though their where many convincing ideas, we can still see that people don't change their minds toward many topics.
The debate that has taken place was an interesting experience that reflects what we will encounter later in life. We will have to face many who will oppose to our points of view and will have to diplomatically convince them of ours and this is exactly what happened during debate week. This debate was a fun experience because it allowed interaction between students. It also widened my view on many topics thanks to the arguments given by both affirmative and negative teams. It also taught me how to respond under pressure in a clever and calm way. Not to forget that doing a debate requires understanding of both point of views and looking at things from the other person's eyes which is brain stimulating. But most importantly,this debate helped me gain confidence in expressing my opinion orally and taught me how to work as a team.
The debate was a very useful experience in our debate and some other ones , but many debates weren't that pleasing because a lot of groups didn’t exchange opinions in proper way , since they were all talking at the same time to prove their point. But it is a good experience for our futures since we will encounter debating a lot. The subjects that was very interesting was money is a source of happiness .
The debate was a very fun experience for me. I got to make more friends in class and play a role that I don’t usually play. It was exciting, the fact that we had to defend our points of view to the very end and be quick thinkers. It was a good practice for our next presentation that I now look forward to.
The debate was lots of fun for me. Not only did i learn many new facts and ideas about a variety of different and very interesting subjects, but also i got to get to know each and every person in class better, especially Mark and Majd who were on my team in the debate. We learned how to argument and comment on our ideas and also how to counter our opposition with opposing ideas. It was a unique opportunity for me personally because it was the first time that i participated in a group debate. The primary objective of group debate is to work together with the members of your group to try and get the most concrete examples and arguments on the subject you are defending or opposing. So you learn also how to listen to the ideas of the other people in your group and work together with them in a way so that all the members in your group agree on the different ideas you are going to use to defend your subject in a debate. In the end what i realized is that everyone has his or her point of view on a topic and that no matter how good the opposition's arguments are, that person will always keep the same point of view in the end.
The debate that was held in class was actually an interesting experience. We got to know each others personality better and how each one of us thinks and perceives a certain concept in our own way. The topics that were held for the debate were rather interesting and intriguing in a way that i actually changed my mind about a couple of things. In my opinion, i think that this debate was useful because im not the type of person who feels 100% comfortable in front of an audience, but this experience basically enhanced the way i perform in front of an audience.
The debate was very interesting and entertaining. In fact, we worked together as a team and each one of us had to defend his team line. Some of the speakers spoke a lot while keeping the same monotonous and dull tone whereas some others were very confident and knew how to speak to the audience and how to clearly communicate their ideas; in fact, I find it really important to know how to properly deliver an oral presentation since I usually enjoy watching TED speakers, plus I was amazed when many of my friends developed this skill when they participated last year in the GC LAU Model United Nations. In addition, the debate ended up with the intervention of the audience and then both sides had to argue again without reaching a clear conclusion since every team had their valid arguments.
Although some of the topics discussed in the debate were a bit boring but the students proved to be entertaining in the sense that they could make you think about what they are saying and become interested in the topic even though at first you were uninterested. The nature of the debate on the other hand was boring to be honest. Having participated in several conferences such as MUN and MAL where arguments can heat up and there is a real sense of debate and disagreement on a topic the debate in class seemed boring and needed to be livened up. Finally I can say that the debate actually helped in increasing our knowledge of some things such as organ donation and fast food which are topics that we are exposed to in our lives.
The debates we had going on during class were very interesting, a very positive experience indeed. I learned a lot of things and became more accepting of different points of view. Nevertheless, these debates fueled a lot of animosity and negative energy directed towards my beloved colleagues. We should be more civilized next time and not take things too personally. All the topics were nice but the one that stood out for me was when we discussed issues concerning fast food. I think that this type of activities will help us improve our English skills.
I really loved participating in the debate. It was such a fruitful, entertaining and unique experience. Not only we've got the chance to work on and study our topics deeply, but we've also learned new things about other subjects. I’ve enjoyed working on the topic "why women shouldn't propose to me?", and listening to my classmate discussing space exploration and the role of UN made me change my opinion and my perception concerning several points in these subjects. The debate has taught me how the coordination with my teammates should be, and how to respond properly and respectfully to someone opposing my arguments. Finally, the fact that we haven't reached an agreement at the end shows that both the affirmative and the negative team were right, and that claiming that one team’s arguments were better than the other is wrong.
We always have debates where we start yelling at each other to prove our points and to rebut others'. I actually really like that I now know how to debate in a formal way where we can all express our ideas freely and respectfully. Although my team's topic for the debate was a subject that I didn't find interesting, I liked the overall experience and I had the chance to get to know what my classmates had to say about the different topics discussed. I enjoyed the enthusiasm that some showed about certain topics, and I think that every now and then we should have debates about different topics so that we could learn new things and most importantly to learn how to respect others' ideas.
For me, writing a debate was a new experience. It was hard and challenging.It is easier for me to write my argument than arguing with my colleagues verbally. The hardest part of the debate was to expect the unexpected The best way to refute the claims of an opponent is by knowing their ideas. So I had to predict the claims the other group is going to know. I also have to know them very properly to know how to refute them. In general the debates were good ;however, everyone ,including my group, failed in accepting some convincing points that cannot be refuted. Instead, we focus on criticizing the other members by focusing on words they mention and not the meaning as a whole.
The topic that i was debating was the legalization of soft drugs, mainly recreational marijuana. Normally i am pro legalization but in this situation i was put in a situation where i had to counter this stance, in the process i had to search for convincing arguments that would not only convince others but to also convince me because if they didn't convince me personally then how could i transmit the message to others while being confident? The debate ended without any real conclusion and with both groups staying firm on their initial stance, but to be honest this was expected. If the governments of the world can't come to a solution about legalization then i don't think 7 college kids would be able to do it in an hour long debate.
I personally liked the debates due to the fact that each person was able to express his opinion and prove his point, convincing others along the way. It was a fun experience especially seeing my team mate Mariam Dimachk get impatient :P, but I agree with Ahmad Abdallah. Since my teammates and I were the opposing team, how were we to come up with the conclusion if not even the government can?
The debate was actually really fun and a unique experience
ReplyDeleteThe debates that were discussed in class made me change my opinion on many things. They made me realize the importance of the issues argued and thats why in my opinion that experience was very useful. The facts stated during the disputes made me perceive things in a different way than i used to
ReplyDeleteThe activity that took place in class was but a mere introduction to the domain of debates and the charismatic characteristics a participant in a debate is required to possess. I found it quite demanding and exhausting, and no matter how many times (or how few) I rehearsed my speech and arguments, I failed to recite them, when facing the opposition, without having to refer solely to my prepared paper.
ReplyDeleteI found it pleasing tackling another side of the english course through debates. However, I did not really like the way in which they were conducted. The majority of times, all hell broke loose when an argument did not please the affirmative or negative team although the instructions clearly stated that a party could not intervene until the other had finished talking. On top of that, none of the debates actually ended at some point because of the inexhaustible supply of arguments each team kept pouring out and that caused a bit of boredom and dullness towards the end of each debate. None of the informations given contributed to changing my point of view towards a certain subject but it was certainly interesting listening to all the different facts presented. Finally, I do not think there is a team that completely outshone the others. Each one had his strengths and weaknesses. However, if I must choose, I would favour the negative team that opposed my own affirmative team in "Organ donation should be compulsory for all citizens" because, although they did state some irrelevant arguments, they had nevertheless an amazing attitude and showed great interest towards the topic they were discussing. (Written by Marc Rajji).
ReplyDeleteI found the debate quite entertaining to be honest. After two weeks of hard work on an essay I thought the debate came in the perfect time. This debate taught me a little about team work, how to coordinate between me and my teammates, how to respond to others correctly without offending anyone and most importantly how to manage my timing in order to convey the largest amount of information with no more than 5 minutes. The topic I liked the most was “Women should not propose to men” and I’m pretty sure it showed during the debate. I thought the arguments of every team for any topic were very strong and convincing and I really enjoyed how, at the end, we never reached a solution since all negative and affirmative teams made sense one way or another. I found the debate truly helpful and I think we should do it more often.
ReplyDeleteThe debate was a good idea , but at some points it reflects the problem of our society ( no one was convinced at the end , everyone thinks that his point of view is the right one and wasn't at all flexible to the others ideas )
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the debates that took place in class, both in terms of content and presentation, for all teams provided logical and strong arguments. Working in a group and learning how to support our arguments properly and how to respond to our opponents in a clever way are a bit of what I learned through this experience. However, what I liked even more are the arguments that started after the formal debates were over, when we were free of all the technique and order limitations (although we sometimes went a bit out of control and off topic).
ReplyDeleteThe preparation of the debate was somewhat smooth as my teammates and I had very good communication and had the same work ethics adding the fact that the arguments we extracted, after hours of research, were very solid. Thus we came to the debate very enthusiastic and thinking that it would go a certain way but it went in a completely opposite direction. As the position we were in favor of was “junk food should be banned from schools” we expected that we would get a strong opposition because our audience consists of students and students are very attached to junk food. However, all hell broke loose when we started talking and that was very disruptive to the debate. The audience started participating in an unorganized manner and attacking us on every single word we said without letting us defend ourselves properly. The opposing team wasn’t any better since it started behaving in a very unprofessional way while we were talking and didn’t hear us out till the end. Instead, they only took parts of our arguments and started twisting these parts to their own favor and whenever we tried to explain to them what we meant they asked us to stop repeating ourselves. Moreover, this team and the class didn’t allow us the chance to disprove some of the arguments the opposition stated. So overall, the outcome of this debate was mostly negative and I exited the debate very angered and somewhat hurt of the way everyone behaved although I did gain experience in teamwork and communication. From this post I probably sound like a Debbie downer but I couldn’t be fake in my writing.
ReplyDeleteAs for the other debates that were held I'd say that both teams in each case had very strong arguments so it was interesting to listen to them bicker.
I really liked the debates that took place in class.
ReplyDeleteI'm usually not good at oral presentations but this time it worked and i was able to do my part right.
I think that's because the people surrounding me made me feel comfortable so i argued in a proper way.
I honestly liked the topic, "Should women propose to men?" because it was interesting, and a nowadays trend.
It made all the students argue, give their opinions and points of views because it revolves around the gender roles that we are mostly concerned with during this stage of our lives.
I disliked the scientific topics because they consisted of a lot of statistics and boring information. Nevertheless, i know that they play an important role as supporting evidence to one's opinion.
Reading from papers also made topics boring and less interesting.
The members in my group were prepared well which drew the attention of the students in class and made the presentation enjoyable and flowing smoothly.
I think that the debates were productive and entertaining. We were given space to freely express our ideas about interesting topics I've personally never really put much thought into. Issues like space exploration, the role of UN, and marriage proposals are matters we rarely doubt or think about in ways contrary to the norm. So it's always effective to consider these topics we unconsciously dismiss, expand our knowledge about them, and form solid standpoints based on facts and logic. The information and personal opinions shared in class have definitely served those purposes. I personally enjoyed the class' involvement in all the debates and my classmates' enthusiasm about their arguments. Living in a country where people are so diverse, it is crucial that we acquire the skills that enable us to effectively argue with people in a civilized manner, without triggering the chaos our people tend to cause. So activities such as the debates we've conducted give us the experience we need to deal with such situations in the real world.
ReplyDeleteI found the debate to be a fun and interesting experience which allowed the class to interact as a whole. The debates were very coherent and there was clearly a lot of appropriate communication between the members of each team. At the end of each debate the entire class would start to add personal inputs and thoughts. The only thing I did not enjoy was that at the end of our debate the positive team attached our negative team in a sort of aggressive and violent manner. All in all it was a pleasant experience and most would agree to participate again.
ReplyDeleteThe debate was really beneficial. I learned new aspects about the topic discussed, and I benefited from my own research on my argument. The debate helped communicate better with my classmates especially my friendly teammates. The only annoying thing was some childish comments and aggressive manners in arguing.
ReplyDeleteThe topics of the debates were good, but the problem we all faced was the redundancy of arguments. Also, when I listened to an opinion I didn't think of before-I found that opinion also legitimate and worthy of taking into consideration. I started asking myself and doubting my previous ideas and managed to have a clearer picture of many issues(the topics of the debates). In addition, the debates were entertaining and not too formal which makes it unappealing. The reactions of some classmates and the way they argue each other was a fun and beneficial experience.
ReplyDeleteAgreed :)
DeleteTo me the debate was so much fun! Everyone had a chance to talk freely about a topic he was interested in. We learned more about the topics discussed in class, and we benefitted from the team work to come up and look for arguments. I liked the fact that some classmates also participated in the debates even if they were not part of the teams.
ReplyDeleteBefore the debate, a lot of topics had a very specific and clear response for me. But I realised that debates could be based on those same topics, and not only on clichés. Another thing I liked was that in many times both teams were right and I felt like I didn't know if I was completely with or against the topic discussed. But something I didn't like was that a lot of teams, not knowing what to say, started to act in very childish way.
ReplyDeleteThe debates that have taken place in class were really interesting. It was an opportunity to express our opinions orally; contrary to the other assignments we used to do. The topics were not the stereotypes kind of topics. This is why listening to the arguments each team had to say was not boring at all. Moreover, the arguments given by the teams were not arguments a person would predict. For example, as part of an affirmative team, I was really impressed by our opponent’s ideas since we were not expecting those types of arguments. That made our debate more interesting and spontaneous since we were not prepared to oppose to such things. However, in every debate, we were not able to come up with a “solution”; both teams kept arguing till the end of the hour and were not able to convince each other.
ReplyDeleteThe debate week was interesting and fun; everyone had the chance to defend their opinion on a subject even when they weren’t in any in the teams discussing the topic. The part of the debate where each one of us could talk freely without obeying the rules was the most interesting part because all the class participated and sometimes it went out of control. All the debates did not go as everyone thought it would; for example before the debate began for each topic I would be convinced of my opinion toward this topic but at the end I would feel that also the other side was right in some way. And this also happened in our debate where I really did not expect this type of arguments from the other team.
ReplyDeleteThe debate was a useful experience. I know our topic about the United Nations was a little bit boring but I really benefited a lot after reading different facts and events concerning this issue. The last debate about "women should propose to men" was the most interesting one. All of my classmates showed their interest in this social topic. After all, we all shared our opinions and it was a good idea to be involved in such debates.
ReplyDeleteTalking about issues and trying to figure out how to solve them, make people smarter for they will be reading, researching and learning how to respond quickly and sharply. My personal experience has been that spending money on space exploration is worth it. The most important thing that made our debate worth it was the cooperation among our team members. I recognized that debate teaches you how to think outside the box, how to stand up for yourself without relying on violence. It also helps in improving the speaking skills, and helps you release your fear in speaking in public. The topics that the teams discussed in class were very interesting also the way each side expressed its point. Although I think at the end, the debates went aggressive. The bulk in the debate is to be fully equipped with information. It is important to be attentive for every word the opponent states.
ReplyDeletePreparing for the debate wasn’t as easy as I thought, especially when we had to support a viewpoint that we didn’t agree with. Finding the sources wasn’t a hard job, but organizing them among all our team speakers was rather difficult to keep our ideas coherent and in a logical flow.
ReplyDeleteFor me, memorizing my speech didn’t go very well, since I spent more than an hour reading it over and over without fully memorizing it. Probably next time I should focus on preparing the outline cards rather than wasting my time memorizing.
Generally, the debate was a good experience both in the preparation and debating stages. Listening to other teams debates was great as well. The way topics were being tackled from two sides in the same time was fun, especially when the debates became a little bit intense and went off script.
The debate was useful and interesting. Everyone had the chance to defend his/her own point of view and we were able to know our classmates personalities from their discussions and experiences. However, i think that even though their where many convincing ideas, we can still see that people don't change their minds toward many topics.
ReplyDeleteThe debate that has taken place was an interesting experience that reflects what we will encounter later in life. We will have to face many who will oppose to our points of view and will have to diplomatically convince them of ours and this is exactly what happened during debate week. This debate was a fun experience because it allowed interaction between students. It also widened my view on many topics thanks to the arguments given by both affirmative and negative teams. It also taught me how to respond under pressure in a clever and calm way. Not to forget that doing a debate requires understanding of both point of views and looking at things from the other person's eyes which is brain stimulating. But most importantly,this debate helped me gain confidence in expressing my opinion orally and taught me how to work as a team.
ReplyDeleteThe debate was a very useful experience in our debate and some other ones , but many debates weren't that pleasing because a lot of groups didn’t exchange opinions in proper way , since they were all talking at the same time to prove their point. But it is a good experience for our futures since we will encounter debating a lot. The subjects that was very interesting was money is a source of happiness .
ReplyDeleteThe debate was a very fun experience for me. I got to make more friends in class and play a role that I don’t usually play. It was exciting, the fact that we had to defend our points of view to the very end and be quick thinkers. It was a good practice for our next presentation that I now look forward to.
ReplyDeleteThe debate was lots of fun for me. Not only did i learn many new facts and ideas about a variety of different and very interesting subjects, but also i got to get to know each and every person in class better, especially Mark and Majd who were on my team in the debate. We learned how to argument and comment on our ideas and also how to counter our opposition with opposing ideas. It was a unique opportunity for me personally because it was the first time that i participated in a group debate. The primary objective of group debate is to work together with the members of your group to try and get the most concrete examples and arguments on the subject you are defending or opposing. So you learn also how to listen to the ideas of the other people in your group and work together with them in a way so that all the members in your group agree on the different ideas you are going to use to defend your subject in a debate. In the end what i realized is that everyone has his or her point of view on a topic and that no matter how good the opposition's arguments are, that person will always keep the same point of view in the end.
ReplyDeleteThe debate that was held in class was actually an interesting experience. We got to know each others personality better and how each one of us thinks and perceives a certain concept in our own way. The topics that were held for the debate were rather interesting and intriguing in a way that i actually changed my mind about a couple of things. In my opinion, i think that this debate was useful because im not the type of person who feels 100% comfortable in front of an audience, but this experience basically enhanced the way i perform in front of an audience.
ReplyDeleteThe debate was very interesting and entertaining. In fact, we worked together as a team and each one of us had to defend his team line. Some of the speakers spoke a lot while keeping the same monotonous and dull tone whereas some others were very confident and knew how to speak to the audience and how to clearly communicate their ideas; in fact, I find it really important to know how to properly deliver an oral presentation since I usually enjoy watching TED speakers, plus I was amazed when many of my friends developed this skill when they participated last year in the GC LAU Model United Nations. In addition, the debate ended up with the intervention of the audience and then both sides had to argue again without reaching a clear conclusion since every team had their valid arguments.
ReplyDeleteAlthough some of the topics discussed in the debate were a bit boring but the students proved to be entertaining in the sense that they could make you think about what they are saying and become interested in the topic even though at first you were uninterested. The nature of the debate on the other hand was boring to be honest. Having participated in several conferences such as MUN and MAL where arguments can heat up and there is a real sense of debate and disagreement on a topic the debate in class seemed boring and needed to be livened up. Finally I can say that the debate actually helped in increasing our knowledge of some things such as organ donation and fast food which are topics that we are exposed to in our lives.
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ReplyDeleteThe debates we had going on during class were very interesting, a very positive experience indeed. I learned a lot of things and became more accepting of different points of view. Nevertheless, these debates fueled a lot of animosity and negative energy directed towards my beloved colleagues. We should be more civilized next time and not take things too personally. All the topics were nice but the one that stood out for me was when we discussed issues concerning fast food. I think that this type of activities will help us improve our English skills.
ReplyDeleteI really loved participating in the debate. It was such a fruitful, entertaining and unique experience. Not only we've got the chance to work on and study our topics deeply, but we've also learned new things about other subjects. I’ve enjoyed working on the topic "why women shouldn't propose to me?", and listening to my classmate discussing space exploration and the role of UN made me change my opinion and my perception concerning several points in these subjects. The debate has taught me how the coordination with my teammates should be, and how to respond properly and respectfully to someone opposing my arguments. Finally, the fact that we haven't reached an agreement at the end shows that both the affirmative and the negative team were right, and that claiming that one team’s arguments were better than the other is wrong.
ReplyDeleteWe always have debates where we start yelling at each other to prove our points and to rebut others'. I actually really like that I now know how to debate in a formal way where we can all express our ideas freely and respectfully. Although my team's topic for the debate was a subject that I didn't find interesting, I liked the overall experience and I had the chance to get to know what my classmates had to say about the different topics discussed. I enjoyed the enthusiasm that some showed about certain topics, and I think that every now and then we should have debates about different topics so that we could learn new things and most importantly to learn how to respect others' ideas.
ReplyDeleteFor me, writing a debate was a new experience. It was hard and challenging.It is easier for me to write my argument than arguing with my colleagues verbally. The hardest part of the debate was to expect the unexpected The best way to refute the claims of an opponent is by knowing their ideas. So I had to predict the claims the other group is going to know. I also have to know them very properly to know how to refute them. In general the debates were good ;however, everyone ,including my group, failed in accepting some convincing points that cannot be refuted. Instead, we focus on criticizing the other members by focusing on words they mention and not the meaning as a whole.
ReplyDeleteThe topic that i was debating was the legalization of soft drugs, mainly recreational marijuana. Normally i am pro legalization but in this situation i was put in a situation where i had to counter this stance, in the process i had to search for convincing arguments that would not only convince others but to also convince me because if they didn't convince me personally then how could i transmit the message to others while being confident? The debate ended without any real conclusion and with both groups staying firm on their initial stance, but to be honest this was expected. If the governments of the world can't come to a solution about legalization then i don't think 7 college kids would be able to do it in an hour long debate.
ReplyDeleteI personally liked the debates due to the fact that each person was able to express his opinion and prove his point, convincing others along the way. It was a fun experience especially seeing my team mate Mariam Dimachk get impatient :P, but I agree with Ahmad Abdallah. Since my teammates and I were the opposing team, how were we to come up with the conclusion if not even the government can?
ReplyDeleteAt first, I thought the ideas chosen were boring and and a bit cliché. However, the students debating for/against these topics proved it to be very entertaining and enlightening me with new information I had never considered. A debate is a chance to show democracy, which is why I think it was an important experience. I personally enjoyed these debates and would love to do one again.
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