Welcome to Using Taking Sides Online, a resource for instructors who would like to share methods, systems and techniques for teaching with the Taking Sides® approach.
In this site we share some of the basic techniques that have been given to us by instructors who use pro/con readers in their classrooms. We supplement these techniques with a number of printable handouts that can be freely distributed to students. In the appendix you can view a sample course outline from a professor who teaches with Taking Sides.
The precedent for this site was established by our general guidebook Using Taking Sides in the Classroom, which is available at no cost to instructors who teach with a Taking Sides volume. For more information on the Taking Sides® approach, please read The Taking Sides® Program.



Part 1: Background and Basics
Part 2: Student Handouts
Part 3: Appendix

Online PDF Version

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    • Part 1: Background and Basics

    *  Approaching the Classroom with Taking Sides
    Teaching Students to Think Critically
    Discussing Controversies with Your Students
    Teaching Through Formal Debate

    *  Evaluation and Grading


    Part 2: Student Handouts


    *  Questions to Ask When Examining a Position
      Critical thinking questions developed by the psychology department at Salisbury State University.
    *  Propaganda Alert
      Writers' propaganda techniques; taken from Analyzing Controversy: An Introductory Guide
    *  Opinion-Assessment Pretest
      Available for ...
    *  Taking Sides Analysis Report
      Questions for students that demand an understanding of the skills and techniques needed for analyzing an argument.
      Long Form - Diablo Valley Community College
    *  Role Description for Informal Debates
      Brent Slife and Joseph Rubinstein, while teaching at Purdue University, developed this handout for their students.
    *  Preparing for a Formal Debate
      Dan Gallagher, Salisbury State University, describes debate rules and roles to his students with this handout.
    *  Debate Preference Survey
      Kurt Finsterbusch, University of Maryland, allows his students to select the issues they wish to debate.
      Available for ...
    *  Guidelines and Format for Simple Debate
      M. Riess, Ph.D., Middlebury College, outlines a simple debate system for his students with this handout.
    *  Class Evaluation Scale
      Dan Gallagher, Salisbury State University, developed this handout to help students to evaluate team debates.
    *  Instructor Evaluation Scale
      Dan Gallagher, Salisbury State University, developed this form to evaluate class team debates.
    *  Issue Evaluation Form
      James M. Kilbride, Miami-Dade Community College South, developed this handout to evaluate students who are not debating.


    Part 3: Appendix

    *  Sample Course Outline for Teaching with Taking Sides






    Online PDF Version

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