One of those habits is to start with questions, not answers.
So, for the sake of strengthening these habits, your initial and subsequent posts in this discussion board will use the “habits of mind” to explore and search for answers to (rather than directly answer) the following question:
Should college tuition be free at all public colleges and universities?
In your post, explore possible answers to this question and exercise one or more of the “habits of mind” described in our textbook. What does that mean?
That means that you definitely should NOT start by giving us your answer to this question since one of the habits of mind is to suspend judgment. You need to start by honestly not knowing what the answer should be. The goal is to figure out the answer by the end of the week, if even then.
Don’t be afraid to write poorly or make mistakes. Don’t wait until you know exactly what you want to say and how you want to say it. Jump right in and start writing in order to figure out–right before our eyes–what you want to say. It is all right to sound confused and unsure and to raise more questions than you can answer.
Work on defamiliarizing the topic. Challenge the veracity of any assertion you are tempted to make. (For instance, is it true that to get a good job, you need a good education?) Search for surprises.
Be sure to monitor what others are posting and help them avoid familiarizing or leaping to conclusions too soon or dismissing contrary points of view without analyzing them. Challenge one another and keep the exploration going as long as you can.
