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427 Creating experiential learning through roundtable discussion and debate exercises in an animals and society course


 An Animals and Society (AS) course has been in place departmentally for over 20 years. Similar courses and resource materials across academia are found in liberal arts arenas and may have titles of Anthrozoology, Human Animal Studies or Human Animal Interactions, among others. An examination of texts and learning resources for these classes reveal substantial depth and breadth and pervasiveness of the biases toward animal activism and anti-animal agriculture sentiments. Collectively, these indicators support the need for pedagogy to deeply investigate and deliberate ethical aspects of topics within AS courses. In our present course design, students participate in an in-class discussion activity, designed to simulate a well-informed town hall meeting where discussion and active participation are expected. Roundtable Discussion Panel exercises (RTDPs) and debates around a pre-determined topic were evaluated on exchange of ideas, information, cooperativity and solutioning using rubrics. A 20 question survey was administered to ascertain students’ perceived value and impact of the Debate vs RTDP exercises for dimensions of experiential learning. Participants built basic discussion skills, developed keen understanding of important animal issues and explored how groups can pool knowledge to reach consensus and solve problems. Participants were more engaged productive thinkers rather than emotional persuaders and assisted the larger group in creating ways to implement solutions discussed and highlighted organizational involvement in those actions/steps. Sixty-four percent preferred debate and 68% found it most challenging yet learned most from the RTDP. For debates, students saw themselves as cooperators but in panels, a majority viewed themselves as leaders. Well-designed RTDP’s and debates are a valuable pedagogy for animals and society courses.