Guidance and Prompts for a More Fun, Active, and Sticky Learning Experience
Adapted from “Use AI-Assisted Flash Debates to Engage Students” by Hussna Azamy, information sciences and technology instructor at George Mason University, United States Full article available here. |
One of my favorite ways to get students interacting both with the material and with each other is to conduct flash debates: a short series of five- to 10-minute debate rounds that have students spontaneously prepare and argue a position for course-related topics.
| Flash debates don’t just require recall; they demand deeper analysis, critical thinking, and communication skills that make learning stick. I run them four times per term, but you can easily customize them to suit your timeframe and discipline. These steps will show you how. |
1. Prepare a basic flash debate
| Using the prompt below, ask gen AI for a list of opinion-splitting statements or questions related to your course content—I’ll use AI consciousness as an example. I stick to two or three topics, keeping debate sessions to 30 minutes. |
| Create three debate-worthy statements about AI consciousness that would genuinely divide a room. Make them specific enough to require deep content knowledge about consciousness, cognition, and AI to argue effectively. Present the statements in a bulleted list. |
Create three debate-worthy statements about AI consciousness that would genuinely divide a room. Make them specific enough to require deep content knowledge about consciousness, cognition, and AI to argue effectively. Present the statements in a bulleted list.
| … Assess the statements for clarity, accuracy, appropriateness, and relevance, and then you’re ready to conduct simple flash debates in your next session. |
2. Facilitate the debate(s) in class
In class, present the first statement and have students move to either side of the room—or use a thumbs-up or thumbs-down gesture online—based on whether they agree or disagree. Students take a side, then spend two minutes preparing their defense.
Students can use their notes and AI, if you allow it, but only to brainstorm counterarguments, surface evidence, or stress-test reasoning. Make it clear that students must adapt and respond in their own words during the debate.
Start the debate with a 10-minute timer, then have students raise their hands to take turns making arguments. Depending on class size, give students a minute or two each to defend their position before moving on.
When the timer is up, you can move on to the next debate statement and repeat the cycle. Or, should you wish to dig deeper, have students switch sides and argue the opposite of their initial choice.
3. Reflect on what happened
To close the debate session, have the class reflect on the experience to consolidate their learning and recognize topics’ complexity. This can be done as a group discussion or a brief written exercise.
You can use the questions I suggest below, develop them with AI, or create your own:
- Which debate statement felt most challenging to argue and why?
- What evidence or reasoning most surprised you across the debates?
- What assumptions did you realize you were making about these topics?
Student feedback speaks volumes
When I run flash debates, the energy is electric. Students are so engaged that my biggest challenge becomes getting them to stop participating when time is up. In feedback surveys, students have reported that the short timeframe kept the debates lively and low-pressure, and the rotating topics ensured a variety of perspectives were explored.