Teaching and Learning Anthropology

The debate technique has the potential to encourage students to critically think and engage in anthropology courses in higher education. But debates can be challenging, especially when taking place in an online environment. This article presents the implementation of a debate in a high-enrollment, online archaeology course. Mainly, we seek to answer these questions: (1) How did students perceive their critical thinking, engagement, and interaction while participating in the online debate? (2) What was the instructor’s experience related to the quality of student responses as well as the grading time and effort? At the conclusion, we offer recommendations for educators interested in incorporating debates into their own practice.