Debating in Geochemistry III

Dr Yvonne Bone
Department of Geology and Geophysics

There are only a few hours for practical work for this section of the course. There is fair amount of material, and I wanted students to get involved, so I tried a debating model that ultimately proved to be very successful.

I begin by telling the class that we are going to divide into 4 groups of 5, and debate some controversial geochemical topics. The students self select their groups. Then each group nominates two people to speak for the affirmative and two to speak against, and who will be the MC/arbitrator/conclusion discussion leader for the topic. The topics are:

1: Proterozoic primary fluid inclusions give trustworthy data.

2: Calcretes are significant in the rock record.

3: Groundwater is a reliable geochemical exploration pathfinder.

4: Tourism and cave preservation are incompatible.

Only one group per topic is allowed, so as soon as the students have made their decision they print their names underneath the topic on a form on the wall. The next week we hold the debates. Each speaker has 3 minutes, starting with the affirmative side. The MC then does the wrap-up for a further 5 minutes. Assessment may be partially or wholly peer driven. I use an assessment sheet, which allows the class to allocate marks for (a) content and (b) presentation, including for the MC.

I make myself available to each group for 20 minutes, in my room, for help with references for the topics.