538B Distributed Systems Abstractions: Advocate/Skeptic roles

Fall 2021

In this course we will be using advocate/skeptic roles to discuss each assigned reading. What this means is that for each reading one person would sign up as an advocate and some other person would sign up as a skeptic. These two people do not need to write a response for this reading. Instead, they are tasked with (1) having a good understanding of the reading, (2) reading all the other student reading responses to prepare for discussion, (3) helping Ivan to generate a productive discussion in class, (4) helping to provide a range of opinions on the reading, reflecting their advocate/skeptic role names.

Your primary job as a skeptic/advocate is to help shepherd the in-class discussion, regardless of whether or not you actually have skepticism or can advocate for the paper. This is especially true for some of the more fundamental readings. It is great if you can bring more skepticism/advocacy to discussion, but do not force it if you cannot come up with anything.

To prepare for an advocate/skeptic role I highly recommend carefully reading over the posted responses on piazza and making notes that you can use in class to promote discussion, raise questions, etc. The review deadline of 24-hours before class is for you -- so that you have time to read and think about the responses.