Will Structuring the Collaboration of Students Improve Their Argumentation?

Learning to argue in a computer-mediated and structured fashion is investigated in this research. A study was conducted to compare dyads that were scripted in their computer-mediated collaboration with dyads that were not scripted. A process analysis of the chats of the dyads showed that the scripted experimental group used significantly more words, engaged in significantly more broadening and deepening of the discussion, and appeared (in a qualitative sense) to engage in more critical and objective argumentation than the non-scripted control group