Thousands of students and hundreds of institutions participate in intercollegiate forensics competitions each year. Previous research has discovered instances of plagiarism by competitors on multiple occasions, despite this being against the rules of competition and a violation of academic norms. The purpose of this pragmatic qualitative research…

Numerous effective digital learning environments have evolved over the last few years built around video examples that follow an introduction phase and are often supplemented by prompts. The learning mechanisms behind these components remain subject to open questions, though. We thus conducted an online experiment with university students (N =…

This study examines how collective argumentation in the integration of the ACODESA method (collaborative learning, scientific debate and self-reflection) and GeoGebra can help students understand parametric equations. The participants of the study consist of 24 university students enrolled in a mathematics education programme at a state university…

In recent years, the challenges and lack of progress in writing argumentative essays in English have posed a pedagogical challenge for Chinese university students. To address this issue, this paper adopts an action research pedagogy and implements a 10-week intervention aimed at teaching argumentative writing based on the Toulmin model of…

The ability to comprehend informal arguments is essential for scientific literacy but students often lack structural knowledge about these arguments, especially when the arguments are more complex. This study used a pre-post-test design with a follow-up 4 weeks later to investigate whether a computerised training in identifying structural…

Writing argumentative syntheses based on multiple sources implies integrating ideas from different, often conflicting, positions. This can promote more constructive learning, especially when students undertake the task together with their peers. However, despite the importance of this activity in the university context, students generally lack the…

The objective of this research is to ascertain whether new instructional techniques can improve critical thinking. To achieve this goal, two different instruction techniques (ARDESOS--group 1--and DIAPROVE--group 2--) were studied and a pre-post assessment of critical thinking in various dimensions such as argumentation, inductive reasoning,…

Visual literacy was a stated learning objective for the fall 2009 iteration of a first-year seminar course. To help students develop visual literacy skills, they received formal instruction throughout the semester and completed a series of carefully designed learning activities. The effects of these interventions were measured using a one-group…

This study was based on the hypothesis that students' epistemological beliefs could become more expertlike with a combination of appropriate instructional activities: (i) preclass reading with metacognitive reflection, and (ii) in-class active learning that produces cognitive dissonance. This hypothesis was tested through a five-year study…

According to dual-process accounts of thinking, belief-based responses on reasoning tasks are generated as default but can be intervened upon in favor of logical responding, given sufficient time, effort, or cognitive resource. In this article, we present the results of 5 experiments in which participants were instructed to evaluate the…

In this study, the effects of argumentation-eliciting interventions on conceptual understanding in evolution were investigated. Two experiments were conducted: In the 1st, 76 undergraduates were randomly assigned to dyads to collaboratively solve and answer items on evolution; half of them were instructed to conduct an argumentative discussion,…

Presents transcripts, editorial analysis (case outlines), and judges' critiques in the final debate of the 37th National Debate Tournament between students from the University of Kansas and Dartmouth College. (PD)