Crafting Compelling Argumentative Writing for Undergraduates: Exploring the Nexus of Digital Annotations, Conversational Agents, and Collaborative Concept Maps

Abstract

Argumentative writing is a fundamental aspect of undergraduate students’ academic and scientific writing related to critical thinking and problem-solving skills. However, previous studies have shown that students face various difficulties with argumentative writing, such as unclear and illogical ideas, less-structured arguments, and unbalanced interpretation of issues, data, and evidence. This study aims to improve the argumentative writing skills of undergraduate students by integrating computer-supported argumentative writing tools, such as annotation, conversational agents (CAs), and collaborative concept maps, into an online learning management system. Since the study was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, these tools can support meaningful learning activities and investigation in argumentative writing. The researchers divided sixty participants into the experimental group ( N = 30) and the control group ( N = 30). The results showed that the experimental group’s writing achievements outperformed the control group, and the three tools effectively improved the five elements of argumentative writing, including claims, grounds, warrants, backings, and rebuttal. Furthermore, a deep analysis found that the number of annotations, valid CAs’ responses, and argument nodes on collaborative concept maps can significantly predict students’ argumentative writing development. Moreover, students perceived that the incorporated tools could effectively improve their argumentative writing skills.