15, 16, and 17 (that is, Specialist knowledge and Skills, Logical thinking Ability,
and Critical thinking ability). The results overall indicated that debate can be an
effective activity for shedding light into, and for examining, social issues that
require specific background knowledge and judgment.
25.5 Issues for the Future
The results of this study suggest that when dealing in class with social issues such as
the disposal of high-level radioactive waste that require a certain level of basic
scientific knowledge, debate and other kinds of active learning may be more
effective than lecture-style, noninteractive pedagogical methods. When
implementing active learning, however, time and cost and many other factors
need to be considered. For the courses described in this chapter, the author was
Table 25.1 The fundamental social-literacy skills gained through this course
Increased
greatly
Increased
somewhat
No
change
Slight
decrease
Decreased
greatly
No
response
1. Independent
(autonomous)
learning
9
2 6
7
0
0
0
2. Initiation ability
9
23
10
0
0
0
3. Seeing-thingsthrough ability
9
1 4
1 9
0
0
0
4. Topic-finding
ability
10
23
9
0
0
0
5. Planning ability
7
21
13
0
0
1
6. Imaginative ability
4
22
16
0
0
0
7. Expressive ability
7
20
15
0
0
0
8. Listening ability
12
24
6
0
0
0
9. Flexibility
17
21
4
0
0
0
10. Grasping-the-situation ability
10
17
15
0
0
0
11. Discipline
9
16
17
0
0
0
12. Stress-control
ability
5
1 1
2 5
1
0
0
13. Sensitivity
11
22
9
0
0
0
14. A broad education 11
17
14
0
0
0
15. Specialist knowledge and skills
13
22
7
0
0
0
16. Logical thinking
ability
12
20
10
0
0
0
17. Critical thinking
ability
14
21
7
0
0
0
296
A. Yoshida