This paper examines how meaning making influences the content and currency of the evidence used to shape and support policy proposals. It does this by answering three linked questions: (1) How does context influence the forms of evidence employed in policy advocacy? (2) What practices are initiated by reference to the perceived need for evidence…

We combine Peirce's rule, case, and result with Toulmin's data, claim, and warrant to differentiate between deductive, inductive, abductive, and analogical reasoning within collective argumentation. In this theoretical article, we illustrate these kinds of reasoning in episodes of collective argumentation using examples from one…

In this paper we report our findings from a study, in which 177 undergraduate pre-service teachers had to verify a statement of elementary number theory at the onset of a lecture serving as a bridging course. The answers were categorized to investigate the qualities of the given argumentations. We also separated the results of three different…

This article focuses on using sociocultural theory to support student engagement with mathematics. The sociocultural approach used, collective argumentation (CA), is based on interactive principles necessary for coordinating student engagement in the discourse of the classroom. A goal of the research was to explore the affordances and constraints…

This article describes the ENGL 1023 Composition II course at the University of Arkansas, generally taken in the second semester of a student's first year and is taught within the context of literary studies or as a special topics section approved by the program in rhetoric and composition (PRC). The course is meant to be an introduction to…

Reform initiatives around the world are reconceptualising science education by stressing student engagement in science practices. Yet, science practices are language-intensive, requiring students to have strong receptive and productive language proficiencies. It is critical to address these rigorous language demands to ensure equitable learning…

The use of argumentative strategies that promote the defense of well-grounded personal arguments contributes to the development of a critical, ethical and political thought that leads to responsible and socially committed people. Based on the quality of the produced arguments in philosophical essays, this work evaluates the potential application…

In this essay, I reflect on over 15 years of experience in the field of special education to explore diverse ways of engaging students in opinion and argument writing. I outline, according to the Common Core standards, the progression of writing in the early years with an emphasis on opinion writing through the later elementary, middle, and high…

The paper discusses argument pedagogy for graduate and professional students with learning disabilities (LD) in the context of academic writing. To understand the nature and types of writing problems that graduate and professional students with LD experience, the author presents results of a university-wide survey with the students who did and did…

This paper investigates the long-term outcomes of a general education course on digital technologies. Through conducting cross-sectional and longitudinal interviews with students, the authors found that non-engineering students who took this course had notable noncognitive, long-term outcomes. A primary focus of the work reported in this paper was…

Distinguished from other teaching-learning tools, such as mind and concept mapping in which students draw pictures and concepts and show relationships and correlation between them to demonstrate their own understanding of complex concepts, argument mapping is used to demonstrate clarity of reasoning, based on supporting evidence, and come to a…

Attending to practice has become a significant topic in science education today. As scientific argumentation is a typical form of scientific practice as well as an important educational practice, more and more attention has been paid to it by science education researchers. Evaluating students' competence in scientific argumentation is one of the…

This study investigated the value of using a scaffolded critique framework to promote two different types of writing--argumentative writing and explanatory writing--with different purposes within an argument-based inquiry approach known as the Science Writing Heuristic (SWH) approach. A quasi-experimental design with sixth and seventh grade…

Summarization and persuasive writing are important in postsecondary education and often require the use of source text. However, students entering college with low literacy skills often find this type of writing difficult. The present study compared predictors of performance on text-based summarization and persuasive writing in a sample of…

Education for citizenship is more important than ever. The author describes a technology-supported curriculum that engages young teens in electronic discourse with peers on significant personal and societal issues and assists them in decision making on topics ranging from their personal futures to the futures of their communities, nation, and…