As If You Weren't Having Enough Fun Already...
"Designated Devil's Advocate" or DDA
All students will play Designated Devil's Advocate (DDA). The role of Devil's Advocate is to challenge posts - be skeptical and find holes in the logic or facts - even if the DDA happens to agree with the poster's point. The purpose of the exercise is to make the posters and the DDA engage in deeper and more critical thinking. Devil's Advocates are used in business to prevent "groupthink".
Post as Anonymous Option
DDAs have the option to be anonymous when posting. There's an extra step to take before posting in order to be Anonymous - see the image below.
(Although your post will be anonymous to your fellow students, your professor can tell who has posted what, when, and where, so behave ;-)
If you forget and don't check the Post message as Anonymous box and you press submit, you can still edit your post after the fact, but anyone with the subscription feature turned on will see who is behind your DDA Secret Agent Code Name (explained below). That shouldn't be a problem (because we're all being polite :-) but it can be embarrassing. We had an Agent Piranha blow his cover after only 30 minutes one term and he needed to select a new DDA Secret Agent Code Name. A best practice is to check the box before typing in anything.
If you choose not to post as Anonymous it's helpful to your professor and your classmates if you can identify in your post that you are playing Devil's Advocate.
DDA Code Names - Now Required if Posting as Anonymous
If you have chosen to post as Anonymous, you are required to use your DDA Secret Agent Code Name (which you select through the "DDA Secret Agent Code Name Request" tool*, located in the main Assignments folder) when you are posting in your DDA capacity. This helps you keep track of how many DDA posts you've made, because you can search by that code name. This also adds more excitement to the class, as you can feel like a Cold War Spy. You may include the Secret Agent DDA Code Name in the subject line or in the body of the post (or both).
There is a list of suggested "dangerous critter" (animals, mythical characters, microbes, etc.) names in the DDA Secret Agent Code Name Request tool, but you are free to choose any name you want, dangerous or otherwise. If nothing on the list strikes your fancy, try this Code Name Generator: http://www.codenamegenerator.com/ - one probably doesn't want to run across an "Aurulent Titanium Hyrax" (in a dark alley, late at night, with a full wallet).
If your DDA post does not include your DDA Secret Agent Code Name you will NOT receive credit for the DDA post. You have the ability to edit your posts, so if you forget, you can go back and put in your identity.
*Your Secret Agent Code Name request needs to be confirmed by your professor (in case of request collisions). Please check the top of the gradebook for your code name.
Grading
An initial DDA post needs to ask a question. If there isn't a question it's not a DDA post. Subsequent dialog doesn't have to continue questioning.
When acting as DDA, it might be helpful if you think of how you would have answered the question and then find the difference between the two – ask if the original poster thought of x, y, and z. Or, you can find a current worthy article (Internet or the BRUIN library) that deals with the topic and ask if the original poster had run across that and if its information or conclusions would have altered his or her findings. You can always ask if the original poster has experienced the issue on his or her own. These are not the only types of DDA activities, by any means. Feel free to improvise!
It is perfectly acceptable to perform basic peer review observations in your DDA role. If someone needs to proofread better, you may address that. If you have questions about their sources and whether they are "worthy", you may address that. If you think someone hit the submit button accidentally early (i.e. the post isn't at least 250 words), you may address that.
Another option is to look at the tips for posts (see the Wikialien's Lair area of the classroom); if those weren't addressed, you, as the DDA, can ask:
- Why did it happen?
- How did it happen?
- What might have prevented it from happening?
- How did it affect other things?
- What are connections that most other people have missed?
- What will happen as a result of it?
- What might have happened if it didn't happen?
- What have you found out about it that nobody knew before?
- What are some unanswered questions that nobody thought of before?
Your DDA performance is 30% of your overall grade, so make it count! The base expectation is 20 DDA posts during the term (i.e. at least 20 times during the current term that you have posted a DDA post that includes at least one question per post), but you are welcome to make as many as you like. If you're having a blast posting as "Secret Agent Cholera" you don't have to stop when you reach 20!
Please try to read other DDA posts (you can tell because the posts will have Anonymous as the author and a DDA Secret Agent Code Name somewhere) before making your DDA post. It's not good if students start to feel like they are being tag-teamed by raptors ;-)
', BELOW, RIGHT, BORDER, 1, BGCOLOR, '#000000', FGCOLOR, '#ffffff', WIDTH, 400, TEXTSIZE, 2, TEXTCOLOR, '#000000');" xx="return overlib('Spanish Flu is the stuff that killed the wealthy young woman in Downton Abbey who was going to marry Matthew. If you wanted Lady Mary and Matthew to get together you probably appreciated the Spanish Flu..', CAPTIONBACKUP, '', CAPTIONSIZE, 2, CGCOLOR, '#000000', PADX, 5, 5, PADY, 5, 5, SHADOW, 0, SHADOWCOLOR, '#cccccc', CLOSECLICK, CLOSETEXT, '', BELOW, RIGHT, BORDER, 1, BGCOLOR, '#000000', FGCOLOR, '#ffffff', WIDTH, 400, TEXTSIZE, 2, TEXTCOLOR, '#000000');" xx="nd(0);" xx="nd(0);">
When someone has DDAed your post, understand that the DDA is not attacking you personally, but helping to strengthen your argument by pointing out how it can be better. It is not intended to be a comment on your value as a person and it is not intended to be rude or snarky or hostile.
It might be helpful for the class to see the DDAs as looking like this adorable giant panda cub (mouse over the cub):
(Yes, I recognize the inherent contradiction in directing you to pick dangerous critter names and then asking you to see each other as panda cubs...)
Tips from past DDAers
"Imagine debating against the point that was just made. Analyze the argument. Stretch the parameters - where does it break? What important considerations were left out? Did the poster make correct or fair assumptions? Try to make each participant in the discussion to think more critically. It also lies upon you to frame your response in a way that would make the discussion more intellectually stimulating. What other avenues of thought can be explored - especially ones that others may be reluctant to bring up without the veil of anonymity? You are the shadow on the wall with the power to ask any question and unravel more truths. Think."
"For me, the DDA assignment was a license to ask the questions that I would have otherwise filtered and/or avoided asking, even though they should be asked. Basically, if I felt any hesitation in a normal response, I would switch it to a DDA. When I first learned about DDA responses, I thought the idea was kind of corny, but quickly learned that they can really add spark to the conversation."
"There is nothing wrong with being a little bit of an antagonist. The DDA is intended to get people using their heads and stirring the pot a little. Post the questions that stir debate; the best ones are the ones that are completely contrary to what you believe is right. An extreme example: most people agree that stealing a car is wrong. So pose the question, 'If someone is dumb enough not to properly secure their car, would it not teach them a lesson by taking it? Besides, isn't that what insurance is for?'"
"A DDA must be willing to go against the grain of majority thinking. Simply arguing for the sake of it won't do; one must understand the problem and become the bad or unpopular solution. There will be those that will side with the DDA, and those that will argue against the DDA....to make someone believe the DDA is the "anti-them" and stimulate conversation at the same time should be the goal of the DDA. You are the bad-guy in wrestling. You are the guy played by James Woods in movies. You are the person that makes the other students remember you when you leave the class because of your comments against what they think. You must own the DDA position in order to perform it well!"
