Cheryl Willard - Lee College

Practice #1:
Considering the Opposite Point of View
At the beginning of the semester, students will complete a “Fact or Falsehood”
questionnaire (see next page) containing items about which students often have erroneous
ideas (e.g., “Advertisers are able to shape our buying habits through subliminal messages”).
They will indicate whether they believe the item to be true or false and the degree to which
they agree or disagree with the item on a scale from 1 to 6. Afterward, I will assess the
questionnaires and make note of those items with which students’ opinions were the most
incompatible with existing scientific knowledge as indicated by their ratings (e.g., Agree or
Strongly Agree).
In the last two weeks of the semester, after relevant content has been covered and
students have been exposed to critical and scientific thinking, they will be given a take-home
assignment in which they will write an essay on one of the above topics supporting a position
opposite of their own. The topics will be pre-assigned to students based on their responses to
the questionnaire but they will be allowed to choose from among three. According to Miller
et. al. (1996), the technique is most effective if students have an element of free choice in the
assignment. The instructions for writing the assignment will be as follows:
Choose one of the topics below and write a persuasive essay in support of
the position. Support the position with as many valid arguments as you
can think of using both your textbook and other outside sources to reinforce
your case. Essays should be type-written – one page in length, one-inch
margins (top, bottom, right, and left), double-spaced, Times New Roman, 12-
point font. Use a second page to document all of the sources that you used,
including your textbook, internet sources, and other books or journals.
During the last class day, I will again administer the “Fact or Falsehood” questionnaire
noting any change in beliefs and paying special attention to the items for which students had
written an essay. This will provide an informal assessment the effectiveness of this technique
to alter students’ mistaken beliefs.
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