Student Motivations for Participating in Policy or Parliamentary Debate.
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| Title: | Student Motivations for Participating in Policy or Parliamentary Debate. |
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| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Kuper, Glenn |
| Peer Reviewed: | N |
| Page Count: | 13 |
| Publication Date: | 2000 |
| Document Type: | Reports - Research Speeches/Meeting Papers |
| Descriptors: | Content Analysis, Debate, Debate Format, Higher Education, Student Motivation, Student Participation, Student Surveys |
| Abstract: | Over the past five years, many forensics programs and students have been undertaking competition in parliamentary debate. During the same period, policy debate has seen a decline in the number of schools participating. A survey of students participating in debate tournaments asked their reasons for choosing one type of debate over another: Why do some students choose to do policy debate, while others choose to do parliamentary debate? Written surveys were distributed at a major tournament in the Northwest offering both debate types. After students were asked why they participated in policy or parliamentary debate, they were asked whether they were satisfied with the type of debate in which they were participating. Of those given surveys, 83 returned them--59 parliamentary debaters and 24 policy debaters. Class standing was fairly well distributed among the students, but policy debaters were a little more concentrated among freshmen. Surveys were then content analyzed. Responses fell into 18 different categories, with six categories receiving most frequent mention: research, high school participation, education, depth, analysis, and community. Findings suggest that the unique characteristics of each event seem to be of primary importance to students when choosing their debate event. Policy debaters enjoy its research emphasis, while parliamentary debaters enjoy the opportunity to debate many current, relevant issues over the course of a tournament. In addition, there are some possible modifications that could make each debate more attractive to its participants, such as preventing burnout to retain policy debaters. (NKA) |
| Entry Date: | 2000 |
| Accession Number: | ED440414 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | Over the past five years, many forensics programs and students have been undertaking competition in parliamentary debate. During the same period, policy debate has seen a decline in the number of schools participating. A survey of students participating in debate tournaments asked their reasons for choosing one type of debate over another: Why do some students choose to do policy debate, while others choose to do parliamentary debate? Written surveys were distributed at a major tournament in the Northwest offering both debate types. After students were asked why they participated in policy or parliamentary debate, they were asked whether they were satisfied with the type of debate in which they were participating. Of those given surveys, 83 returned them--59 parliamentary debaters and 24 policy debaters. Class standing was fairly well distributed among the students, but policy debaters were a little more concentrated among freshmen. Surveys were then content analyzed. Responses fell into 18 different categories, with six categories receiving most frequent mention: research, high school participation, education, depth, analysis, and community. Findings suggest that the unique characteristics of each event seem to be of primary importance to students when choosing their debate event. Policy debaters enjoy its research emphasis, while parliamentary debaters enjoy the opportunity to debate many current, relevant issues over the course of a tournament. In addition, there are some possible modifications that could make each debate more attractive to its participants, such as preventing burnout to retain policy debaters. (NKA) |
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