Community reviews for ProCon.org

ProCon can serve several purposes in the classroom. For myself, it has become a go-to resource when controversial topics pop up. I prefer to avoid situations where I might express my own opinions in the classroom (even when I'm right) and ProCon.org lets me give my students both sides. It has really helped to shut down outrageous arguments from students when things like welfare or gun control come up. More importantly, it encourages proper and healthy debate. ProCon makes it very difficult for students to throw a debate off the rails with wild manipulation of facts (or the absence of facts) and focuses the class on the true issues. All in all, ProCon.org is a great tool for research and argumentation, but it is also a wonderful resource for teachable moments.

I love the overview and extra resources that are included. After each side is presented, students can read other articles that give the history or background surrounding the issue and even watch videos that can extend their knowledge on the topic. I wish there was a wider variety of topics, although new topics are added frequently. For example, they have included resources relating to the Syrian refugee crisis and the 2016 election. Struggling readers may have problems accessing all of the information, but the videos can help with that.

I like it. Straight forward. No belles and whistles; but it is a good foundation upon which to build.

This is a wonderful tool to scaffold research and argument writing. Note, it is a scaffolding tool and not to be used as a sole source for teaching students how to research. It is extremely useful in getting students to look at the context of an issue and recognize that their are different perspectives on an issue. The one drawback of this site is that students may become too reliant on finding information in one spot and this may stunt their developing advanced researching skills.