Past research suggests that student writing typically expresses what a student favours about one position or perspective. Students may string together a set of reasoned statements but have been found to be careful “not to include anything that anyone might challenge”.

All learners.

Past research suggests that student writing typically expresses what a student favours about one position or perspective. Students may string together a set of reasoned statements but have been found to be careful “not to include anything that anyone might challenge”.

Features of the approach include:

• a contentious topic that offers a high likelihood of disagreement,
• resources that provoke student interest in the topic ,
• an online discussion board for students to post comments in response to the topic.

You can find out more about online argumentation here.