Argument Mapping Research Articles

A virtual reality-based collaborative argument mapping approach in the EFL classroom

ABSTRACT In language learning, it is important to foster students’ computational thinking and improve their skills of building arguments and dialectical structure, teamwork, and decision accuracy. This is especially so in English language courses which aim to promote students’ cultural learning interest, creative thinking, and oral presentation. Collaborative argument mapping is an appropriate strategy to elicit those objectives. However, in the emergency distance learning (EDL) context, when online instruction lacks real-world learning and face-to-face interaction, it is challenging to teach units on cultural issues in authentic contexts. Therefore, in this study, the virtual reality-based collaborative argument mapping approach was developed to address this problem. A quasi-experiment was designed with a total of 45 EFL (English as a Foreign Language) students. The experimental result showed that the virtual reality-based collaborative argument mapping approach (VR-CAM) improved the students’ English oral presentation more than did the non-virtual reality-based collaborative argument mapping approach (non-VR-CAM). Although the VR-CAM group scored higher than the non-VR-CAM group on cultural learning interest, the two groups did not significantly differ. Furthermore, in the computational and creative thinking aspects, students who learned with VR-CAM performed significantly better than those who learned with non-VR-CAM over time.

The effect of mobile Internet educational software applications on elementary school students' learning ability

With the continuing development of both science and internet technology, because of the growth of Internet software, several educational software is coming up. The application of those software makes a great impact on the learning ability of elementary school students. As a result, this article aims to give this impact a total summary by collecting and summarizing academic papers and searching for relevant information online. Throughout the whole paper, this research shows that the impact of learning software on elementary school students' learning ability is in three aspects, they are expression ability creative ability, and comprehension ability. Different software can help target different abilities. Firstly, this paper discusses the impact of mobile Internet educational software on students' expressive skills through three examples: online education software, online feedback software, and online discussion software. This paper shows that mobile Internet educational software is helpful to improve the expression ability of elementary school students because of its characteristic of breaking the time limit and being able to interact at any time. Secondly, this paper has discussed the impact of mobile Internet educational software on students' creativity and has demonstrated that teachers can use mobile Internet educational software to break space limitations and stimulate students' interest by using three examples: online experiment software, VR, and educational games. By using mobile Internet educational software, teachers can break the space limitation and stimulate students' interest in learning, and enhance students' creativity through this feature. Lastly, this paper discusses the role of using mobile Internet educational software in promoting students' comprehension, and uses three kinds of software: mind map concept map, and argument map, as examples to show how they can improve students' comprehension. The paper shows that mobile Internet educational software is very effective in improving students' comprehension skills.

Promoting Critical Thinking Through Argument Mapping: A Lab for Undergraduate Students

Aim/Purpose: In undergraduate training, helping students improve argumentative text comprehension (CoT) by identifying the elements of an argumentative text and critical thinking (CT) by reconstructing the meaning of the text and constructing their own reflections is relevant. Argumentative skills are essential on both the personal and professional levels. Background: In recent decades, concern has developed over undergraduates’ poor skills in reframing and articulating their thinking on a topic, which affects critical thinking and the ability to express unique perspectives. Customized interventions in higher education could develop argumentative abilities for professional and personal use. In this regard, argument maps (AM) could be a useful tool for the visualization of arguments. They provide logical relationships between statements to help understand the reasoning chain. Methodology: Hybrid presence-distance research was conducted over four days. A quasi-experiment with one group and three tests – S1, S2, and S3 – was conducted. Contribution: Our study aims to investigate and enrich the research landscape, especially in the Italian university context, regarding the use of AM to support text comprehension and the development of argumentative skills. Findings: Our preliminary descriptive analysis showed that AM improves students’ CoT and CT proficiency levels. These abilities improved from the beginning to the end of the experiment. Inferential analysis showed a beneficial pathway inflection on final learning improvement. Early encouraging results suggest that AMs can improve argumentation comprehension, production, and critical thinking in teaching and learning. Recommendations for Practitioners: The learner could better manage knowledge and understand different perspectives with AM usage rules. Recommendation for Researchers: It is essential to remember that critical thinking is a multifaceted and complex concept. This article examined it as a proxy variable for text comprehension and argumentation skills. The length of exposure to the method, contexts and instruments (analog or digital), and age/education of participants must be considered when doing AM research. Impact on Society: The method would improve awareness of shared ideas and make it easier to enrich and rethink one’s thoughts on the topic. Future Research: To study AM roles in diverse types of information, future research could incorporate quantitative and qualitative approaches. Cross-curricular learning for everyday life in digital and AI-driven environments, as well as text comprehension and critical thinking, could also be examined. Further research could cover other aspects of the topic of critical thinking.

Strategies for Promoting Critical Thinking in the Classroom

Critical thinking is a crucial skill that students need to develop to succeed academically and in life beyond the classroom. However, teaching critical thinking is challenging for educators, and there is a need for effective strategies to promote its development. This paper provides an overview of existing literature on critical thinking, including its definition, significance, and challenges in teaching. The paper identifies and describes six specific strategies that have been proven effective in promoting critical thinking: Socratic questioning, collaborative learning, inquiry-based learning, concept mapping, problem-based learning, and argument mapping. Additionally, the paper discusses how teachers can effectively implement these strategies in their classroom and highlights the importance of ongoing assessment in promoting critical thinking development. The paper provides examples of each strategy and discusses their potential benefits and limitations. The paper conducted and experimental study to elucidate the role of collaborative learning strategy in promoting critical thinking among 160 university students, and the findings reveal an association between the two variables. The findings of this paper suggest that promoting critical thinking through collaborative learning is essential for student success, and educators should incorporate this strategy into their teaching practice. Further research is needed to explore the effectiveness of this strategy in different educational contexts.

Having qualified arguments: Promoting Pre-service teachers’ critical thinking through deliberate computer-assisted argument mapping practices

This study aims to investigate whether deliberate computer-assisted argument mapping practices are effective for promoting pre-service teachers' critical thinking and helping them make better arguments over time within a fourteen-week online undergraduate course. A design-based study nested within a factorial repeated measures design with a single group of pre-service teachers is conducted to fulfill this aim. Thirty-eight junior pre-service teachers, enrolled in an early childhood education department at a middle-sized university in Turkey, were recruited for the study. The primary data collection tool in this study was argument maps generated by pre-service teachers on various pedagogical and authentic cases by using an online free tool. Assessing critical thinking and the quality of argument maps, two different types of rubrics (holistic vs analytic) that appear to have the face and construct validity were located. Experimental evidence supports statistically significant progress in pre-service teachers’ critical thinking scores after engaging in deliberate computer-assisted argument mapping practices regularly as homework assignments. There is also sufficient evidence to suggest a moderate relationship between critical thinking and argument quality. The study advances our knowledge of engaging in deliberate computer assisted practices to be an appropriate course of action for promoting critical thinking by helping pre-service teachers diagram qualified arguments. It is apparent in this study the success of the use of a computer assisted argument mapping tool for promoting CT depends on to what extend students are engaged in constructing better argument maps with each round of practice and scaffold.

Unfolding the potential of computer-assisted argument mapping practices for promoting self-regulation of learning and problem-solving skills of pre-service teachers and their relationship

The aim of this research is two-fold: to investigate (a) the potential of computer-assisted argument mapping practices for promoting pre-service teachers' self-regulation of learning and problem-solving skills; and (b) the link between these two higher-order thinking skills. To address this aim, a pre-test post-test quasi-experimental design with a control group was adopted. Sixty pre-service teachers enrolled in an early childhood education department at a middle-sized university in Turkey were allocated to one of two groups: A computer-assisted argument mapping group or a control group. A problem-solving inventory and an online self-regulation of learning scale were used as data collection instruments, before and after a 14-week intervention period. Statistical significance was analyzed by using a multivariate analysis of variance. The results depicted statistically significant progress in pre-service teachers’ self-regulation of learning and problem-solving skills of the students in the experimental group where computer-assisted argument mapping practices were used as homework assignments after the topics of the course were introduced by the instructor as compared to pre-service teachers in the control group who did not engage in any computer-assisted argument-based assignments. Experimental evidence further supported that self-regulation of learning skills are significantly positively correlated with problem-solving skills. This study advances our knowledge of engaging in computer-assisted argument mapping practices by using a free software tool (ARTOO) to be an appropriate course of action to encourage pre-service teachers to regulate their learning experiences and problem-solving processes.

Computer-Aided Argument Mapping for Improving Critical Thinking: Think Better! Discuss Better! Write Better!

The aim of this study is to investigate the impacts of the use of computer-aided argument maps as a tool to promote prospective teachers’ critical thinking skills and dispositions. In this regard, qualitative research method was used in the study. The data of the research were collected through semi-structured interviews. Study group consists of 30 senior prospective teachers from three different classes studying science teaching at a university in Turkey in 2017-2018 academic year. At these three classes mentioned, individual and collaborative argument maps were created in addition to the ABI (Argumentation-based inquiry) activities. The study group was formed on a volunteer basis with 10 students from each class who were selected from, their course performances into consideration. A computer software was used to create the argument maps. Data obtained from interviews were analyzed through NVIVO program. The results obtained indicated that critical thinking skill sub-dimensions such as explanation, analysis, interpretation, evaluation, Self-correction and critical thinking disposition sub-dimensions such as questioning the reliability of sources, being open and fair-minded, being respectful of differences were emphasized more in the group in which the prospective teachers performed computer-aided, individual and collaborative mapping rather than the group in which only ABI activities were performed.

The Effects of Software-Aided Mind and Argument Mapping on Learning in Higher Education

By carrying out software-aided mind/argument mapping applications in the “Theories of Learning and Teaching” course offered to post-graduate students completing a master's degree in education, the present research aimed to examine the effects of the applications on academic achievement, as well as explore students' opinions on these applications. The research followed a mixed-method design integrating quantitative and qualitative research methods. Participants consisted of post-graduate students (six students) who were taking the course titled “Theories of Learning and Teaching”. The experimental process lasted for 12 weeks. The experimental part of the research has been realized in two stages: In the first stage, the students were given the opportunity to learn about and practice preparing software-aided mind and argument mapping applications on computers and tablets for two weeks. In the second stage, participants were instructed about the theoretical dimension of teaching and learning processes and of the software-aided mind and argument mapping. Theories of Learning and Teaching Course Achievement Test, Reflective Diaries, Student Self-Assessment Forms and Semi-Structured Interview Schedules were utilized as data collection tools. The results suggested that the use of software-aided maps in learning and teaching processes has a considerably positive effect on students’ academic achievement. Besides, it has been observed that the students acquired various skills with regards to the use of such tools.

Logic Diagrams as Argument Maps in Eristic Dialectics

This paper analyses a hitherto unknown technique of using logic diagrams to create argument maps in eristic dialectics. The method was invented in the 1810s and -20s by Arthur Schopenhauer, who is considered the originator of modern eristic. This technique of Schopenhauer could be interesting for several branches of research in the field of argumentation: Firstly, for the field of argument mapping, since here a hitherto unknown diagrammatic technique is shown in order to visualise possible situations of arguments in a dialogical controversy. Secondly, the art of controversy or eristic, since the diagrams do not analyse the truth of judgements and the validity of inferences, but the persuasiveness of arguments in a dialogue.

Integrating peer feedback and instructor feedback to support the construction of bilingual scientific argument maps

ABSTRACT Recent studies show that the exploration of ways to involve students in effective bi/multilingual science education is gaining attention at all educational levels. Introducing students to the construction of bilingual scientific argument maps – visual representations of scientific argument structure using two languages – contributes to the quality of bilingual science education as they are a key aspect of bilingual scientific literacy; however, very little is known about how to promote the construction of these maps in bilingual science courses. Here we provide evidence for the claim that peer feedback and instructor feedback can be integrated to support the construction of bilingual scientific argument maps. A pedagogical strategy that integrates both peer feedback and instructor feedback was implemented in a university bilingual science course with 29 students (23 females and 6 males, 18–24 years-old) in Colombia. Results show that the strategy effectively supported the construction of scientific argument maps in Spanish and English. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

CD-SDN: Unsupervised Sensitivity Disparity Networks for Hyper-Spectral Image Change Detection

Deep neural networks (DNNs) could be affected by the regression level of learning frameworks and challenging changes caused by external factors; their deep expressiveness is greatly restricted. Inspired by the fine-tuned DNNs with sensitivity disparity to the pixels of two states, in this paper, we propose a novel change detection scheme served by sensitivity disparity networks (CD-SDN). The CD-SDN is proposed for detecting changes in bi-temporal hyper-spectral images captured by the AVIRIS sensor and HYPERION sensor over time. In the CD-SDN, two deep learning frameworks, unchanged sensitivity network (USNet) and changed sensitivity network (CSNet), are utilized as the dominant part for the generation of binary argument map (BAM) and high assurance map (HAM). Then two approaches, arithmetic mean and argument learning, are employed to re-estimate the changes of BAM. Finally, the detected results are merged with HAM and obtain the final detected binary change maps (BCMs). Experiments are performed on three real-world hyperspectral image datasets, and the results indicate the good universality and adaptability of the proposed scheme, as well as its superiority over other existing state-of-the-art algorithms.

The Effects of Concept Mapping, Argument Mapping and Mind Mapping on 6th Graders’ Vocabulary Production

As vocabulary is an important element in enhancing English knowledge, utilizing effective and novel vocabulary learning strategies help foster learners’ vocabulary production. The aim of this study is to present mapping techniques such as concept mapping, argument mapping, and mind mapping as innovative strategies to increase students’ vocabulary production. Several studies have been carried out on the impacts of concept mapping, argument mapping, and mind mapping techniques but there is no obvious comprehension of the supremacy of any of these strategies over the others. The present study investigated the impacts of the selected techniques on vocabulary production of 6th Graders. To this end, 90 female students (6th graders) studying in an English institute in Tehran, Iran were selected and categorized into three experimental groups. Each of these groups received one of the chosen techniques randomly. At the end of the instructional sessions, one post-test designed in fill-in-the-blanks format was performed to evaluate vocabulary production of the students. A One-Way ANOVA procedure was utilized to analyse the acquired results. The outcomes showed that the obtained differences between the groups of concept mapping, argument mapping and mind mapping were statistically significant. Those participants who used the concept mapping and mind mapping techniques performed better than their classmates of the argument mapping technique. It is worthy to note that learners, teachers, and materials’ designers can benefit from the findings of this study.

Identifying critical thinking skills used by experts versus novices to construct argument maps in a computer-aided mapping tool

Research shows that using computer-aided mapping tools improves critical thinking skills, but prior research provides limited evidence to show how the use of specific critical thinking skills increases map quality. This qualitative study observed 4 experts and 5 novices use a computer-aided mapping tool to construct argument maps. The analysis of video recordings with think-aloud protocols and retrospective interviews revealed the use of a five-step argument mapping process (read claims, position conclusion, position claims, link claims, revise links) with the experts using a more sequential application of the five-step process and producing more accurate maps than novices. The novices showed the tendency to position and link claims as a joint action, making map revision more cumbersome. The experts exhibited the tendency to work backward from conclusion to claim while the novices exhibited the reverse tendency. This study’s findings identify processes that differentiate experts from novices and validate specific thinking skills that can be used to improve map quality, and how these processes can be operationalized in terms of discrete mapping behaviors performed on screen that can be mined and analyzed in mapping tools to assess and diagnose students’ mapping skills.

Exploring the Effects of Argument Map-Supported Online Group Debate Activities on College Students' Critical Thinking.

Debate has been warranted as a meaningful activity to promote students’ higher-level thinking, such as critical thinking. However, traditional debate activities which are typically carried out in the physical classroom may meet some obstructions of limited time and space, which would result in the phenomenon that many participants act as silent watchers rather than mind exchangers. Moreover, it is hard to make a visualized record about the whole process and contents of the traditional debate activity. The current study aimed to explore the effects of argument map (AM)-supported online group debate activities on college students’ critical thinking, including their depth and phases of critical thinking, and the relationship between students’ depth of critical thinking and their number of speeches. In the study, an innovative argumentation construction way was designed. All students enrolled in a course could have a chance to attend the AM-supported online group debate activities and the whole process and outcomes of online group debate could be visualized by AM. At the same time, the effectiveness of the innovative activities was evaluated by content analysis of AM. A total of 42 sophomores in the undergraduate course named “Learning Sciences and Technology” were recruited to attend online group debate activities assisted by a web-based visualization tool named “ZJU Yuque” in 5 weeks. Newman’s framework about the depth of critical thinking and Murthy’s instrument of critical thinking phases were employed as guidelines. We found that 42 students’ overall depth of critical thinking was gradually improved in an obvious way during the five online debate activities. The most frequent phases for students in the first and second team in online group debate activities include Understand→Understand (U→U), Recognize→Understand (R→U), and Understand→Evaluate (U→E). However, students’ creating behaviors were not significantly generated. Teachers’ real-time feedback was helpful for students’ improvements of high-level thinking skills and their preparation for the next debate activity. Students’ interviews found that students highly valued such online group debate activities because every student could have a chance to express their thoughts and they had enough time to prepare debate contents. Based on the findings, some implications were proposed for the better design and implementation of online group debate activities.

Representational transformations: Using maps to write essays

Essay-writing is a complex, cognitively demanding activity. Essay-writers must synthesise source texts and original ideas into a textual essay. Previous work found that writers produce better essays when they create effective intermediate representations. Diagrams, such as concept maps and argument maps, are particularly effective. However, there is insufficient knowledge about how people use these intermediate representations in their essay-writing workflow. Understanding these processes is critical to inform the design of tools to support workflows incorporating intermediate representations.We present the findings of a study, in which 20 students planned and wrote essays. Participants used a tool that we developed, Write Reason, which combines a free-form mapping interface with an essay-writing interface. This let us observe the types of intermediate representations participants built, and crucially, the process of how they used and moved between them.The key insight is that much of the important cognitive processing did not happen within a single representation, but instead in the processes that moved between multiple representations. We label these processes ‘representational transformations’. Our analysis characterises key properties of these transformations: cardinality, explicitness, and change in representation type. We also discuss research questions surfaced by the focus on transformations, and implications for tool designers.

Using formal and informal formative assessment to support bilingual argument mapping in university bilingual science courses

ABSTRACT The rise in university bilingual science courses is explained by a certain phenomenon, the internationalization of higher education. Bilingual Argument Mapping (BAM) – the ability to construct argument maps using two languages – is a key aspect of bilingual scientific literacy. An argument map is a visual representation of argument structure. The problem is that little is known about how to foster BAM in this type of course. The goal of this study was to explore the possibility of using formal and informal formative assessment (FIFA) – a type of assessment for learning in which feedback is both preplanned and instantaneous –, to support undergraduates’ BAM. The data consist of the bilingual argument maps constructed by forty-four students (27 females and 17 males, 18–23 years old) in Colombia during a university Spanish-English bilingual science course. Results indicate that FIFA helped the participants’ creation of valid and coherent argument maps in Spanish, in English and in a hybrid version using code-switching as response to argumentative questions related to the scientific topics covered in the course. The potential contributions of FIFA and its implications are discussed in light of research and theory of bilingual science education.

Impact of Different Types of Argument Maps on Critical Thinking: A Quantitative Study with the Pre-Service Science Teachers in Turkey

The aim of the study was to examine the impact of the use of argument maps by final year students of the science-teaching program on critical thinking. In the research, out of experimental research models, quasi-experimental pre-test-post-test control group design was used. Sample of the study consisted of 84 final year pre-service science teacher studying in three different classes in the fall semester of 2017-2018 academic year. While one of these classes was identified as control group, the other two classes were determined to be experimental groups at the beginning of the study. In the control and experimental groups, lectures on the subject of “Optics” were held with the Argument Based Inquiry (ABI) approach for 8 weeks in total. Different from control groups, experimental groups created eight individual argument maps in total within the framework of weekly subjects. In addition to the individual argument maps, one of the experimental groups created collaboratively argument maps for 4 weeks. collaboratively argument map practices were performed with 17 small groups consisting of two persons. Researchers were involved in the collaboratively map creation process as guides. Critical Thinking Test was used as measurement tool at the beginning and end of the practices. Data were analysed through one-way ANOVA via the SPSS program. At the end of the analysis, it was concluded that individual and collaboratively argument mapping practices were effective in the development of critical thinking skills of the pre-service teachers.

Empowering the collective reflection-based argumentation mapping strategy to enhance students’ argumentative speaking

It is crucial to design learning strategies for English as Foreign Language (EFL) learners in the context of proliferating and cultivating argumentative speaking. Argumentation mapping aims to provide a visual depiction of collaborative arguments in order to unravel students' engagement in constructing argumentative discussion. The employment of argumentation mapping is fundamental to maintaining students' virtual social practice. However, in the conventional argumentation mapping approach, the acquisition of argumentation skills does not yield successful argumentative dialogue-to-speaking practice. The collective reflection aims to promote a group of learners’ reflective thinking and higher order thinking by way of collaborative tasks and group monitoring. This strategy allows students to reflect on their group works when dealing with argumentative knowledge. Hence, this study referred to the educational theory of collective reflection practice and proposed its practice in the Collective Reflection-based Argumentation Mapping (CR-AM) learning strategy. This strategy was applied to an EFL speaking course to enhance students' argumentative speaking. Twenty-four students were recruited as the CR-AM strategy group, with 22 in the conventional Argumentation Mapping (AM) strategy group. The findings indicated that the CR-AM learning strategy could significantly improve students' argumentative speaking performance and their lexical complexity. Although students' critical thinking was at an equivalent level in both groups, students' communication and collaboration tendencies were much higher in the CR-AM strategy group. Based on the argumentation mapping discourse, it was verified that instructing students to extend their activities of classifying collective arguments and monitoring group reflection could effectively support their engagement in argumentation mapping discourse and enhance their argumentation skill performance.

Using argument mapping to improve clarity and rigour in written intelligence products

ABSTRACT Intelligence products should be clear and rigorous. Intelligence organisations often attempt to improve clarity and rigour with training in thinking and writing. It is assumed that (1) training enhances clarity and rigour in products, and (2) greater clarity and rigour leads to better decisions. We describe three studies exploring these assumptions. These studies concern an initiative in a biosecurity context, based on a form of argument mapping. Results indicate that reports improved, but were inconclusive about the quality of decisions. We discuss implications of this research for intelligence.

Machine Translation: Friend or Foe in the Language Classroom?

Machine translation (MT) provides a seemingly accelerated alternative way to communicate in the target language (L2). A convenient service to the public, MT renders a potential disservice to language learners. In this pedagogically focused article, we show concrete and detailed examples of how language instructors can turn MT and other electronic tools such as translation memories, grammar- and spell-checkers, or mapping tools into virtual assistants to empower students to use them responsibly. Two classroom interventions, one at a large public research university on the West coast and the second one at a medium-sized public university in the Midwest, aimed to develop students’ awareness of the language learning process, while introducing them to various online tools that can help them communicate better in L2 without blindly using MT. The interventions were designed for intermediate level students. The first group of students were part of an advanced composition course who were shown limitations of MT and alternative editorial tools in L2, while the second group was part of an introductory literature course in which students were introduced to reasoning maps, such as mind, concept, and argument maps, to assist them with L2 communication. The main takeaways from these interventions were the need to readjust the students’ attitudes as much as the instructors’ mindsets if we want to make MT an ally. Shifting focus from accuracy to comprehensibility changes the stakes in L2 communication as the production of meaning becomes an exercise in student agency and leads to the satisfaction of being able to communicate spontaneously in the target language.