The present study investigated students' (N = 404) interpretations of the main message and use of modes in a persuasive multimodal video on vaccines. It also examined whether students' topic knowledge, language arts grades, and self-identified gender were associated with their interpretations. Students analyzed a YouTube video in which two…

This study investigated upper secondary school students' skills in evaluating the credibility and argumentative content of a blog text and a YouTube video. Both sources concerned child vaccination, the blog text opposing and the YouTube video supporting it. Students rated each source as credible, fairly credible or non-credible, justified their…

This study investigates the quality of the critical thinking skills of applicants (n = 77) seeking entry to the faculty of educational sciences in a Finnish university and how these skills are associated with the applicant's age, previous higher education experience, and matriculation and entrance examination scores. The data consist of the…

Joint construction of new knowledge demands that persons can express their statements in a convincing way and explore other people's arguments constructively. For this reason, more knowledge on different means to support collaborative argumentation is needed. This study clarifies whether structured interaction supports students' critical and…

Argumentation skills of secondary school students were evaluated in Finland (n = 290), France (n = 54), and England (n = 41). The data were collected from 4 tasks comprising 7 variables. The results indicated that most of the students had correctly justified arguments and conclusions, and composed clear claims and relevant arguments. However, many…

This study clarifies whether secondary school students develop their argumentation skills through reading and collaboration. The students first constructed an individual argument diagram on genetically modified organisms, read three articles, and improved their diagrams. Next, they engaged in a chat debate, reflected on their debate by…

A teaching experiment in Finland was designed to clarify ways to teach argumentation in Finnish higher education and how to motivate students to participate in critical content-area discussions. Finnish students traditionally hesitate to criticize each other's opinions or those of the teacher. The experimental teaching method gave them the…

Although there are earlier experiences from computer mediated communication (CMC) applications in which e-mail has been used as a forum for argumentation and debate, the literature lacks systematic analyses on the use of CMC for this purpose. This kind of analysis would produce knowledge on the relevance of CMC for practicing argumentation that is…

This study involved a teaching experiment in which academic argumentation was practiced during a ten-week email course in a Finnish university. During the course, two working methods were used: free debate and role play. The aim of the study was to clarify how these two working methods activated students in mutual argumentative dialogue and…

Thirty-one undergraduates and two tutors engaged in argumentative e-mail discussions related to texts on the sociology of education. Findings suggested that e-mail encouraged and stimulated students to engage in debates and that e-mail is an appropriate context for practicing argumentation. (SLD)

This paper describes a computer conferencing experiment carried out at the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland. The conference provided the students an interactive learning environment appropriate for practicing argumentation and developing their argumentation skills. Participants were 31 undergraduate students. Two tutors, who were top students in…

In this study, computer conferencing was applied in the field of university-level social studies and education to examine: (1) the extent to which it is possible to promote students' argumentation skills through computer conferencing; and (2) whether a tutor-led seminar mode or a student-led discussion mode is a more appropriate way to practice…

Reports on a study in which 31 undergraduate students practiced academic argumentation by e-mail. In the two "tutored" e-mail study groups, discussion topics were selected by the tutor, while in the two self-directed "student-led" groups, selection was by the students. Results support the superiority of the student-led mode over the tutor-led mode…

In a teaching experiment, 16 face-to-face and 11 e-mail Finnish university students studied academic debating in an argumentation course. Results indicated the e-mail students learned to identify and choose relevant grounds, while face-to-face students improved in putting forward counter-argumentation. The study suggests that argumentation skills…

An attempt was made to improve the argumentation skills and scientific thinking skills of 24 Swedish college students through argumentative on-line (computer-mediated) studying. Comparison with about 200 students studying in traditional ways reveals better learning outcomes for the traditional group but better argumentation by the on-line group.…