DEMO: Teaching the 21st Century Student

3.4

DILEMMAS: Binary analysis

What & Why BINARY ANALYSIS, commonly referred to as a PRO AND CON list, is an ap- proach related to counter perspectives. It applies to any discussion of a black and white problem, such as a dilemma, opposing or conflicting views, or a problemwith two or more alternatives standing strictly against each other. The problem typically debates between pros and cons, posi- tives vs. negatives, agreements and disagreements, advantages or disad- vantages, or weighs yes against no. The visual representation to binary analysis is a T-GRAPH or TABLE , both consisting of the dilemma as a heading and two columns for contrasting the entries. Binary analysis is a good preparation for defending argu- ments, opinions, or individual positions in a structured and professional manner.

How to set up The teacher identifies resources which set up the topic to be either black or white. It can be a problem or issue. Either a single resource or a set of varied materials can be used. 1 The learners are instructed to search for any reference related to ei- ther side of the problem. As a first step, an appropriate note-taking (Ch. 3.1) coding technique should be chosen, such as the P-M-I meth- od or a customized set of codes adjusted to the type of problem (A-D for advantages and disadvantages, Y-N for yes and no etc.). 2 The note-taking should be followed by developing a visual representa- tion of the analysis using a T-Graph or table. 3 The teacher provides support or feedback, gives hints, or discusses questions.

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