Description

This class will help students sharpen their critical thinking skills and teach them how to make convincing arguments.

Horace, the Roman writer, declared, “Concordia discors”—Harmony in discord.

St. Augustine implored, “Audi partem alteram”—Hear the other side.

Fredrick Douglass proclaimed, “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”

Cicero stated, “Cedant arma togae; concedant laurea linguae”— Let arms yield to the toga; let the laurel yield to the tongue.

WHAT IS ARGUMENTATION?

Argumentation is often defined as the study of practical reasoning—the process of justifying decisions, in the presence of opposition, made under conditions of uncertainty (usually lack of complete information and conflicting viewpoints).

Although argumentation and persuasion are inextricably linked—one argues in order to persuade—the traditional assumption about argumentation is that it is addressed to knowledgeable audiences and tries to adhere to high standards of evidence of reasoning.

Oral defense of a PhD thesis/dissertation before a doctoral examination committee is perhaps our paradigm example of argumentation within the academic tradition, while political debates are good examples of persuasion, in that they are addressed to a very large audience with differing levels of knowledge, often oversimplify complex issues, and relying heavily on existing group prejudices and emotional associations.

WHY TEACH ARGUMENTATION?

Research shows that students who have difficulty constructing arguments also have difficulty writing academic essays. Without a solid understanding of how to construct arguments, students tend to make claims without supporting them with facts, documentation, or the perspective of authors. They also tend to accept facts or quotations from document sources unquestionably.

A GOOD WAY TO THINK ABOUT ARGUMENTATION IS AS A FORM OF INQUIRY.

This class will provide students with powerful argumentative thinking tools that will help them to develop an overall understanding of the concept of deliberative academic argumentation. Learning the skills of critical questioning has an encouraging effect on the quality of group discussions, learners’ involvement and engagement, and student-to-student interaction. This, in turn, helps students to use specific components of the argumentation process including: counterarguments, rebuttals, reservations, and collectively resolving to the most reliable conclusions. 

Teaching students the skills of collaborative discourse and argumentation in social science classrooms foster greater conceptual learning, the co-construction of knowledge, and content understanding. Research shows that this acquisition of knowledge is reflected in oral discussions and in students’ written arguments.

In this class, students will develop the skills to ask critical questions, take a clear stance in an argument, identify other-side arguments or counterarguments, and use rebuttals to weaken other-side arguments or counterarguments as a means to strengthen their stance. These skills will be utilized in both argumentative discussions (debate) and argumentative academic essays— both of which will involve document (source) integration and historical interpretation.