Debate Club is the most academic club in the GEO program. Here, students prepare their opinions on a previously given topic and try hard to persuade the opponents. I interviewed some students in this club to hear their impression about this club and also met professor Alice Park to ask some questions. After meeting them, I found out that the impression and opinion about this club are quite different between the professor and students.
Prof. Alice Park, the moderator of our Debate Club, with her students
According to some students, the reason why they chose this club is that they had expected this club would be the place where they could debate with other students and share their opinions. In the reality, however, students are divided into 4 groups and they have to persuade other team members with their opinions. Da-bin, Kim(20, International studies) said that the topic is a little abstract, so it's difficult to express the opinion in English, and students have difficulties in communicating and discussing for they are all from different levels.
Debate Night Fever
The professor's plan is quite different from the students'. Alice Park, the moderator of Debate Club, said, "the purpose of this club is to make a chance to discuss with other people and to learn team work." She said that the plan for three weeks is like this: first, students should know each other with simple communication as a icebreaker. Second, using a peer learning, students learn how to show their opinions as a team, to listen to others and to prepare the real debate. Lastly, students have to do the real debate. In addition to this, according to Ms. Park, the biggest difficulty in running this club is the fact that students are from so various levels that they could hardly do the real debate in the beginning. Moreover, it was hard for Park to control her students as well. A two-hour-long club activity is not long enough for Alice and her debaters.
Debate Club is one of the new clubs showing up from this winter camp, thus it's true there are many problems and weaknesses. Yet if they find solutions for current problems and improve the system, I am sure that this will develop as a better club.
Would you like to join our club...?
Reporter: Woo-in Lee
Photographer: Ji-hye Oh
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