In this theoretical study, we examine how some basic philosophical concepts of Cultural-Historical Activity Theory can aid in understanding the essential peculiarities of debate. Drawing from the history of Activity Theory—that has its roots in Hegel and Marx, before Vygotsky and Leont’ev—we show how it leads us to investigate what constitutes the germ cell and unit of analysis of the debate itself. Having identified a candidate, we argue that it can function as a new lens for designing and analysing debate-based learning activities—e.g. in the collective evaluation of AI-generated outputs, as in our previously proposed activity model. We maintain that this approach also opens fresh avenues for future research, urging educators to harness debate as a transformative social and pedagogical tool.
I BEG TO DIFFER: THE GERM CELL OF MATHEMATICAL DEBATE
Matteucci A.
;Veronesi I.;Tortoriello F. S.
2025
Abstract
In this theoretical study, we examine how some basic philosophical concepts of Cultural-Historical Activity Theory can aid in understanding the essential peculiarities of debate. Drawing from the history of Activity Theory—that has its roots in Hegel and Marx, before Vygotsky and Leont’ev—we show how it leads us to investigate what constitutes the germ cell and unit of analysis of the debate itself. Having identified a candidate, we argue that it can function as a new lens for designing and analysing debate-based learning activities—e.g. in the collective evaluation of AI-generated outputs, as in our previously proposed activity model. We maintain that this approach also opens fresh avenues for future research, urging educators to harness debate as a transformative social and pedagogical tool.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
