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Acceleration Debate: many connections to Earth Day

Laura Massa

This past week my students in Big History debated if innovation will solve the current problems of the world or if it will make them worse. My students were really motivated to debate and for these 9th graders this was their first debate experience. 

I used the Acceleration Debate and made some adaptations to streamline the process. I divided the class in two groups: green (acceleration will solve the problems) and red (acceleration will worsen the situation). I set up two tables and lit the classroom with the corresponding colors (I have to say that visualizing the groups really helped me to identify their arguments as I took notes).

Some groups were more passionate than others. One group said that it was easier to support arguments against acceleration because they are witnessing those effects in the world right now, whereas the possitive sides of acceleration are difficult to foresee. Arguments in favor and against were used to rebut their opponents and I believe this was a good practice in preparation for Investigation 9: To what extent has the modern revolution been a positive or a negative force?

Overall the debate worked very well and my students made many connections to Earth Day (we had the convocation last week). Here are some pictures and exemplars of their debate notes. Have you done it?    

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  • Laura Massa said:
    Some groups were more passionate than others. One group said that it was easier to support arguments against acceleration because they are witnessing those effects in the world right now, whereas the possitive sides of acceleration are difficult to foresee.

    Such a great point your students made,  ! Whenever we list out pros and cons of any historic or current event, I find that it is very easy to list the negatives. After all, a lot of times that is why we are discussing these topics in the first place (to not repeat the bad moments of history again). I do find that it is harder to list out or identify the positives. There isn't so much of a focus on that in society. 

    I wonder- did you have anyone bring up AI or cell phones? 

  • in reply to Adriane Musacchio

    Yes  AI was mentioned in all the groups as well as globalization and time-space compression due to instant communication, increasing the speed of collective learning. 

  • in reply to Laura Massa

    I might use a variation of this activity since AI fits so seamlessly into it! I planned on having a socratic seminar of sorts having students discuss whether or not AI will improve humanity or or have more negative impacts. This activity allows for this conversation to occur, while opening it up to other discussions about technology, interconnection, and globalization. Thanks for sharing  ! I'm sure it was a great discussion! 

    Do you think this would work as a seminar? (Not assigning students a side to represent but asking them to talk in a more open forum about what they believe using evidence) 

  • in reply to Adriane Musacchio

    I like the seminar format you propose  It seems more appropriate for the topic of AI. The use of evidence to support claims is a powerful skill to practice in class, be it in seminars, debates, investigations, or tests.

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