Common Ground for Action Software and Professional Development to Support Online Deliberation in Classrooms

ABSTRACT

The Common Ground for Action (CGA) online deliberation platform is a dynamic tool designed to encourage diverse group members to identify collective responses to deeply controversial or “wicked” public problems that have no simple solution. The program promotes authentic deliberation, while minimizing the tactics of horse-trading and negotiating. We detail the structure of the CGA platform, including how deliberative talk is encouraged, outline a sample assignment that can be used with CGA, and professional training offered to faculty and Teaching Assistants.

KEYWORDS:

• Civic engagement
• deliberation
• deliberative democracy
• experiential learning
• online

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Andrea Christelle

Andrea Christelle is the cofounder of Sedona Philosophy Experience (SPEX) that combines philosophy and outdoor adventure for corporate clients and Sedona visitors. She teaches philosophy and the course Inequality, Social Justice and Global Citizenship in the 21st Century at Northern Arizona University, Yavapai. Andrea conducts National Issues Forums Institute (NIFI) forums and uses the CGA platforms both in her classes and the community.

Kara N. Dillard

Kara N. Dillard is a lecturer in the Department of Sociology at the University of Washington, Seattle, and the online moderator training specialist for the Kettering Foundation. Her research focuses on the impact of facilitation in face-to-face and online deliberative forums. She regularly uses CGA in large lecture, small seminar, and online sociology courses and in convening forums in her community.

Kara Lindaman

Kara Lindaman is a professor of political science and public administration at Winona State University in Winona, Minnesota. She is the campus coordinator for the American Democracy Project, an American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) initiative, which stresses the importance of civic education and engagement in higher education. As a National Issues Forum Institute Board member, she often uses deliberative forums in her classes and in the community.