Encouraging Critical Thinking Through Expert Panel Discussions

Encouraging critical thinking in classroom discussions when the class consists of students with similar backgrounds and professional experience can be challenging. This article reports on one method for introducing multiple viewpoints into discussions by requiring students to represent views from well-known personalities who are vocal in current controversies. This activity has improved student involvement, animated discussions and created high levels of interaction between students, and encouraged deeper levels of thinking and familiarity with important issues under public debate.