Structured Academic Controversy

        Structured Academic Controversies are a fantastic way to allow students to interact with history.  November 10th is the anniversary of the sinking of the famous Edmund Fitzgerald on Lake Superior. The kids had a great time researching, supporting, and debating how the Edmund Fitzgerald sunk.  It was exciting to see them so engaged right up until the end of the day on Friday.  Most kids didn't even notice it was time to go home for the weekend.  These experiences are fundamental for students to begin the inquiry process.  They need to have authentic questions to research and support their thinking.  These experiences cement the learner and engage them in the content.  I have been a long time fan of John Dewey and his work with experiential learning.  When we return from Thanksgiving Break we will be learning about several different types of Social Scientists (Historian, Political Scientist, Economist, Geographer), and how they look at the world.  Through these hands on, engaging experiences students can build a framework by which to ask deeper questions and respond to them with experience and examples. 

        As stated,  Dewey advocated that education be based upon the quality of experience. For an experience to be educational, Dewey believed that certain parameters had to be met, the most important of which is that the experience has continuity and interaction. Continuity is the idea that the experience comes from and leads to other experiences, in essence propelling the person to learn more (Experience & Education, Dewey).

Description:

The SAC (Structured Academic Controversy) was developed by cooperative learning researchers David and Roger Johnson of the University of Minnesota as a way to provide structure and focus to classroom discussions. Working in pairs and then coming together in four-person teams, students explore a question by reading about and then presenting contrasting positions. Afterwards, they engage in discussion to reach consensus. 

Rationale:

By the time students reach adolescence, many believe that every issue comes neatly packaged in a pro/con format, and that the goal of classroom discussion, rather than to understand your opponent, is to defeat him. The SAC method provides an alternative to the "debate mindset" by shifting the goal from winning classroom discussions to understanding alternative positions and formulating historical syntheses. The SAC's structure demands students listen to each other in new ways and guides them into a world of complex and controversial ideas.