Persuasive Discussion Outline – 9/25/2019

Markets and Morals was the class I was most worried about first semester of freshman year because it was a 300 level class, an honors section, and I had no background knowledge in philosophy. However, it ended up being one of my favorite classes of the semester! The structure of the class put us in a position to learn outside of the classroom first and then discuss and ask questions in class to help clarify what didn’t make sense. What I enjoyed most was that the class would mostly consist of discussion between each other and with our professor as opposed to a lecture and note-taking dynamic. As a result, we had oral exams as opposed to written ones where we would go for a 15 minute discussion and be prepared to argue one side of the material. We had to be prepared to answer any question or rebuttal our professor offered. I had never experienced an exam like this before, so I knew preparation was key. My artifact above is an outline of my argument I used for the first exam. The outline helped organize all of my notes into a way that was easier to remember, so by the time I had my discussion I felt prepared.

The persuasive discussions helped me learn the importance of knowing the material in a deeper way. Instead of just knowing the facts, the type of exam made me have to know all aspects of the material, in addition to possible objections one could make against my argument and how to properly respond. This is a skill I hope to use more in the future, because it is a much more meaningful way to learn. It’s also beneficial because I connected with the material and formed my own opinions on a topic that I previously had no knowledge of whatsoever. Lastly, It put me in a position where I wanted to discuss the topic with others outside of the classroom and keep developing my own opinions, demonstrating the purpose of a Perspectives course.