"Vote with Your Feet" Discusison

“Vote with Your Feet” Discusison

I was reading a forum in the Chronicle of Higher Education, in which a poster asked for tips on teaching long night classes. I came across a reference to a “‘vote with your feet’ discussion.”

I’d never heard the term before, but I gather it means you say “Everyone who supports proposition X stand on this side of the room; everyone who’s against it, stand on the other side. If you’re not sure, position yourself somewhere in the middle.”

Then I’d probably ask students who have a strong opinion to justify their position. I’d also carefully introduce new bits of evidence to see whether that changes anyone’s position. And I’d ask the ones who’ve stayed in the middle to explain what it would take for them to take a step in one direction or the other.

During a 2 1/2 hour class, that might be good for a post-break “let’s get back on track” activity.