THE SIDE SWITCH, KPR Institute Engineering and Technology, Autonomous Engineering Institution, Coimbatore, India

The event was promoted among students through direct canvassing, which helped create awareness about the activity and encouraged students to participate. An online registration process through Google Forms was also conducted for interested participants. A total of 48 participants took part in the event. Participants were provided with five debate motions and were required to select one topic for the activity.

1. AI should be widely used in schools and colleges → should not be widely used in schools and colleges.

2. Government services should become mostly digital → should continue to provide offline access.

3. India should become a completely cashless economy → should continue to play a major role in India.

4. Mandatory 75% attendance in colleges → should not be mandatory.

5. Voting should be compulsory for all → should remain a personal choice.

The activity witnessed active participation and enthusiastic involvement from the students. Participants demonstrated their ability to think quickly, adapt their arguments, and communicate effectively even when required to change their stance unexpectedly. One of the key highlights of the event was the participants’ quick response to the “SWITCH” instruction. The sudden change in perspective created an engaging and interactive environment while encouraging students to analyse the same issue from different viewpoints.

The “SWITCH” element added an unexpected challenge to the debate, requiring participants to quickly adapt their arguments and defend an opposing viewpoint. This made the activity highly interactive and encouraged students to think beyond their initial perspective. Overall, The Side Switch provided an engaging platform for students to develop their communication, debating, critical thinking, adaptability, and spontaneous reasoning skills.