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Australasian Journal of
Educational Technology
2009, 25(2), 268-291
Improving critical thinking using web based argument
mapping exercises with automated feedback
Sam Butchart, Daniella Forster
Monash University
Ian Gold
McGill University
John Bigelow, Kevin Korb, Graham Oppy
Monash University
Alexandra Serrenti
National University of Singapore
In this paper we describe a simple software system that allows students to practise
their critical thinking skills by constructing argument maps of natural language
arguments. As the students construct their maps of an argument, the system provides
automatic, real time feedback on their progress. We outline the background and
theoretical framework that led to the development of the system and then give a
detailed example of how a student would work through a particular argument
mapping exercise using the software. We then describe how the system was used in a
single semester undergraduate critical thinking course. We evaluated the course using
a standardised critical thinking test and measured an improvement in critical thinking
skills of 0.45 standard deviations from pre-test to post-test; a modest, but encouraging
result for a single semester course. We compare these results to those obtained in a
number of other critical thinking courses, incorporating a variety of teaching methods.
We conclude the paper with some comments on the limitations of the system and
ways in which it might be improved and extended.
1. Background
A goal of higher education acknowledged by many educators is to train students to be
critical thinkers. We would like our students to be able to think critically about the
increasing amounts of information they are presented with from a variety of sources.
Graduates should be skilled in evaluating claims, policies, decisions and arguments,
not only in academic contexts but also in everyday life and the work place.
A necessary component of the ability to think critically about a claim, policy or
decision is the ability to assess the evidence or reasons which might count for or against
it. For that reason, the ability (and disposition) to analyse, construct and evaluate
arguments is often considered to be a core component of critical thinking. (see Ennis,
1987 for a detailed analysis of the skills and dispositions commonly supposed to be
involved in critical thinking).
Is it possible to improve students’ ability to analyse and evaluate arguments? Some
evidence suggests that this it is possible, and that what is required is extensive practice
Butchart, Forster, Gold, Bigelow, Korb, Oppy and Serrenti 269
with appropriate feedback (see section 1.2). This raises a practical problem however.
Higher education in Australia, as elsewhere, has become a mass education system;
more people than ever before are now entering the universities (Australian Bureau of
Statistics, 2009). At the same time, funding to universities has not kept pace with this
increase in student numbers. There is pressure to teach more and more students with
fewer and fewer resources. Gone are the days, if ever they existed, when students
could be given much one on one personal tutoring.
Yet, if students are to improve their argument analysis skills they need a large amount
of practice, with useful and timely feedback on their efforts. In these circumstances,
some kind of automated feedback would clearly be very useful. How can this been
done, when the task is as complex as identifying the structure of an argument? In this
paper we describe a modest first step in the direction of providing useful automated
feedback on students’ attempts to map out the structure of arguments.
1.1 Computer assisted argument mapping software
Many universities in Australia and elsewhere now offer undergraduate courses in
critical thinking (also known as critical reasoning and informal logic). Typically, the focus
is on the analysis and evaluation of real arguments taken from articles, books, opinion
pieces, editorials, letters to the editor and so on. Students are taught to identify the
components of an argument (premises, main conclusion, intermediate conclusions,
unstated premises), analyse their structure (how the components fit together) and
evaluate them using a variety of informal and semi-formal methods.
Figure 1: An example argument map
A tool that is often used in such courses is the argument map. An argument map is a
graphical representation of the logical structure of an argument – the ways in which
premises, intermediate steps and the final conclusion all fit together. Consider, for
3. There is still plenty of
uranium and other
radioactive elements
around.
C. Matter has not always
existed.
2. If matter has always
existed there should be no
radioactive elements left.
1. Radioactive elements
disintegrate and eventually
turn into lead.
270 Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 2009, 25(2)
example, the argument (from Fisher, 2001, p. 42) in Figure 1. In this ans similar
diagrams that follow, boxes represent the premises and conclusions and arrows
indicate logical support. So in this case, premise 1 supports the intermediate
conclusion 2, which in conjunction with premise 3 (shown by the line connecting 2 and
3) supports the main conclusion C.
Such diagrams have been used in critical thinking courses and textbooks since at least
the 1950s (for example; Beardsley, 1950; Toulmin, 1958; Scriven, 1976; Fisher, 1988;
LeBlanc, 1998). Students are given an argumentative text to analyse and must create an
argument map to represent its structure. This may sound like a trivial task, but it is
not. Many students initially find it very difficult. It is in fact no easy task, when faced
with even a short passage of ordinary argumentative text, to ‘extract out’ the core
components of the argument. Even when students are able to do this, they can find it
hard to see how the components fit together. Asking them to produce an argument
map can provide the teacher with valuable insights into the student’s ‘mental model’
of the argument in question.
A recent innovation has been the use of computer software such as Araucaria, Athena
and Reason!able, which help students create and manipulate argument map diagrams
(Reed & Rowe, 2006; Rolf & Magnusson, 2002; Austhink, 2006; see Kirschner,
Buckingham & Carr, 2002 and Harrell 2005 for an overview and comparison of these
argument mapping software applications). Such software allows students to easily
create, manipulate and share complex argument maps – something which is not so
easy using pencil and paper methods. Text can be typed into boxes and edited,
supporting premises can be added, deleted or moved around and so on. In some
systems, evaluations of the argument (assessments of the truth of premises and
strength of inferential connections) can also be incorporated into the argument map.
The results can be saved, printed out, shared online or pasted into a word processing
document.
1.2 The quality practice hypothesis
Assuming that critical thinking is a skill that can be taught and improved, how can
argument mapping software help achieve that goal? One view about how critical
thinking skills can be improved is represented by the quality practice hypothesis (van
Gelder, 2001; van Gelder, Bissett & Cumming, 2004; van Gelder, 2005). According to
this theory, acquiring expertise in critical thinking, as in other areas, requires large
amounts of deliberate practice. The concept of deliberate practice is based on research in
cognitive science on how expertise is acquired in a variety of cognitive domains (see
Erricsson & Charness, 1994 and references cited in van Gelder, Bissett & Cumming,
2004).
Deliberate practice must be motivated (the students should be deliberately practising in
order to improve their skills), guided (the students should have access to help about
what to do next), scaffolded (in the early stages, it should be impossible for the students
to make certain kinds of mistake) and graduated (exercises gradually increase in
difficulty and complexity). In addition, for practice to be effective, sufficient feedback
must be provided – students should have some way of knowing whether they are
doing the right thing or not. The quality practice hypothesis states that critical thinking
practice must be deliberate in this sense to have any chance of substantially improving
students’ performance (van Gelder, Bissett & Cumming, 2004, p.143).
Butchart, Forster, Gold, Bigelow, Korb, Oppy and Serrenti 271
The use of computer assisted argument mapping exercises can help support extensive
deliberate practice without expensive one on one tutoring. Students can be provided
with a sequence of exercises of increasing difficulty in which they have to create a map
of an argument. Computer software can support the creation of these argument maps
in a way that is both guided and scaffolded. Scaffolding can be provided by building
certain constraints into the kind of diagram that can be produced (for example, every
argument must have one and only one main conclusion). Guidance can be provided by
context sensitive help – when the students select a component of the argument map
they are constructing, the system might provide some advice as to what to do next (see
van Gelder, 2001).
Using this approach to teaching critical thinking, van Gelder and others at the
University of Melbourne have achieved impressive results, using the Reason!able
argument mapping software (since superseded by Rationale, see Austhink 2006). Over
a single semester, 12 week course, they have recorded significant improvements in
critical thinking, as measured by a standardised multiple choice test (the California
Critical Thinking Skills Test). Effect sizes for the mean gain from pre-test to post-test
range from 0.8 to 0.89 standard deviations (van Gelder, Bissett & Cumming, 2004; see
also section 5.4).
1.3 The problem of feedback
A significant problem remains however – that of providing appropriate feedback to the
student. Marking and grading argument maps produced by students is a time
consuming process and requires a fair amount of expertise. In class, tutors can provide
feedback to students on whether their argument maps are correct or not. With large
classes of course this can be difficult – there may not be enough time for tutors to give
every student the feedback they need. One approach (adopted by van Gelder) is to
provide model answers, so that students can assess themselves. Students compare
their maps of a given argument to completed maps provided by the instructors. One
problem with this is that students may not be able to work out why their answer is
wrong and the model answer correct. Another problem arises from the fact that there
is often more than one correct way to map a given argument. That being so, students
may not be able to tell when a difference between their map and the model answer is
an important difference.
Can good quality feedback be automated? If it could, this would represent a
substantial advance in the use of argument mapping software, by allowing for
deliberate practice in a way that does not require a very low student-tutor ratio or
hours of difficult marking.
In what follows, we describe one solution to this problem – a simple argument
mapping software system which is able to automatically provide instant feedback to
the students as they construct a map of a given argument. A prototype of the system
was implemented in 2004 and incorporated into the Monash University critical
thinking course. The system was implemented as a Java Applet (a program that can be
included in a web page) so that the argument mapping exercises could be provided to
students online. We used WebCT for this purpose, but the system can be used to embed
argument mapping exercises in any web page (see section 3, ‘Implementation’ for
further details).
272 Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 2009, 25(2)
We will first describe the system, giving an example of how a student would work
through one argument mapping exercise. We will then report on how the system was
used in the critical thinking course and the results from a pre- and post-test study
using a standardised critical thinking test. We then compare these results with those
obtained in a number of comparable critical thinking courses, taught with and without
argument mapping software. Finally, we comment on some of the limitations of the
system described here and some possibilities for future enhancements.
2. An example automated argument mapping exercise
Figure 2 shows a simple example of an automated argument mapping exercise in
progress. The window in the top left hand corner contains the text of a simple
argument (taken from LSAC 2002). The student’s task is to construct a map of the
argument, using the mouse to select the appropriate segment of text and then clicking
on the buttons below.
Figure 2: Student selects the main conclusion
In Figure 2, the student has selected the segment of text that they take to represent the
conclusion of the argument. The student then clicks on the button labelled
‘Conclusion’ to indicate their choice. The result is shown Figure 3. A green tick has
appeared in the progress pane, so that the student knows they have correctly identified
the conclusion. A box representing the conclusion appears in the argument map pane
and the text of the conclusion is highlighted in red.
This illustrates the mechanism for providing automated feedback to the student. The
system knows which segment of the text represents each component of the argument,
so it can instantly inform the student whether they have correctly identified that
component or not. To avoid unnecessary frustration, the system allows for a fair
amount of leeway in the selection of text. Notice, for example, that in Figure 2, the
student has not selected all of the word ‘democracy’. The system automatically
expands selections to the nearest word. If the student had only selected up to the word
‘true’ however, this would have been marked as incorrect – a premise or conclusion
must always be a complete sentence.
Butchart, Forster, Gold, Bigelow, Korb, Oppy and Serrenti 273
Figure 3: Conclusion correctly identified
Notice also that the ‘Conclusion’ button has now been disabled, since every argument
has only one main conclusion. The previously disabled ‘Add Premise’ button is now
enabled. This is one mechanism used to provide scaffolding and guidance – by
selectively enabling and disabling buttons the student is guided as to what to do next
and prevented from making mistakes.
Figure 4: A premise indicator identified
The next step for the student is to identify the premises supporting the main
conclusion of the argument. In Figure 4, the student has correctly identified the word
‘since’ as a premise indicator. Again, a green tick has appeared in the box to the right of
the first tick, to indicate that this identification is correct (the word is then also
underlined). The identification of the premise indicator provides a clue that that the
text immediately following is a premise. The use of premise and conclusion indicators
(words like ‘since’, ‘because’, ‘therefore’, ‘hence’, ‘it follows that’ and so on) to help
students identify the components of an argument is a standard part of most critical
thinking textbooks and courses (e.g. Fisher, 2001, pp. 22-32; LeBlanc, 1998, pp. 2-3).
274 Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 2009, 25(2)
Figure 5: One premise correctly identified
In Figure 5, the student has correctly identified one of the premises, by selecting the
appropriate text and clicking on the ‘Add premise’ button. A tick appears to indicate
that this is correct and a box representing that premise is added to the argument map.
The fact that one box has yet to be ticked off tells the student that there is one more
component of this argument to identify. Since only two buttons remain enabled, the
student knows that the remaining item is either a co-premise or a supporting premise.
Figure 6: Final premise misidentified as supporting premise
In Figure 6 the student has selected the appropriate segment of text and clicked on the
‘Add premise’ button. The function of this button is to add the selected text as a
supporting premise under the currently selected box in the argument map pane. In this
case, the selected box is the premise ‘Wealth is the basis of political power’. This choice
is incorrect however. The selected text does not support that premise, but rather acts as
Butchart, Forster, Gold, Bigelow, Korb, Oppy and Serrenti 275
a co-premise supporting the main conclusion. So a red cross appears in the final box, to
indicate that the student has made a mistake.
Finally, in Figure 7, the student has correctly identified the selected text as a co-
premise, by clicking on the ‘co-premise’ button. The co-premise is added to the
argument map and a green tick appears in the final box, informing the student that this
exercise is completed, proceed to the next one.
Figure 7: The argument fully mapped
It is worth noting that there is a fair amount of flexibility in the order in which
components of the argument can be identified. In this example, the student could have
selected the text ‘true democracy depends on the equal distribution of power ...’ first
and then added the co-premise ‘wealth is the basis of political power’. However, the
system does enforce a ‘top down’ method of working – claims must always be
identified before any premise that supports them. This may actually be an advantage
however, since it is one way of providing scaffolding and guidance to the student.
The system can handle maps of any degree of complexity, so that exercises can become
more complex as students progress. The distinction between linked premises (co-
premises) and independent or ‘convergent’ premises can also be represented. An
additional feature is the ability to incorporate unstated premises (‘assumptions’) into
the argument map. This is done by clicking on the ‘Assumption’ button and selecting
the assumption from a multiple choice list.
It is also possible to include a multiple choice question as part of the exercise. Students
must first create a map of the argument and then answer a question about it. For
example, the question might ask the student to identify a flaw in the argument. Again,
instant feedback is given on whether the answer is correct. Further details and screen
shots are given on the web page http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/philosophy
/research/thinking/04webmap.php
The interested reader might care to try out some sample exercises using the system.
These are available at http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/philosophy/research/think
ing/argumentmaps/
276 Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 2009, 25(2)
3. Implementation
The system was implemented in the Java programming language by one of the
authors. Each argument mapping exercise runs inside a web page as a Java applet. An
applet is a Java program embedded in a web page. When a user accesses a web page
containing an applet, the program is automatically downloaded from the server and
then runs locally, inside the user’s web browser (see Sun Microsystems, 2008). Since
Java is a platform independent programming language, the very same program will
run on any supported operating system and in any web browser that supports the Java
plugin. We used the standard Java compiler and libraries (Java Development Kit
version 1.4.1) which are available free from the Sun Microsystems website. We also
made use of JGraph, an open source graph drawing Java library (JGraph Ltd, 2001).
Each argument mapping exercise consists of a web page incorporating an instance of
the argument mapping applet. A few lines of HTML are all that is necessary to include
an applet in a web page. The text and structure of the argument is also embedded in
the HTML for the web page and is passed as an input parameter to the applet.
How does a lecturer who wants to create an argument mapping exercise create these
web pages? For this purpose, we implemented a separate Java application (the
Question Builder) which makes use of exactly the same basic user interface. A lecturer
wishing to create an argument mapping exercise begins by typing (or pasting in) the
text of the argument (Figure 8). Then, by highlighting segments of the text and clicking
on the appropriate buttons, the lecturer specifies which segments of the text are the
conclusion, premises and indicators.
Figure 8: The Question Builder application
The lecturer can create any number of these argument maps and save them as a single
database file. Once an exercise has been completed, the lecturer simply selects ‘Export
Butchart, Forster, Gold, Bigelow, Korb, Oppy and Serrenti 277
to HTML’ and the application automatically creates all the HTML files (one for each
argument map in the database) which can then be uploaded to a web server or
provided directly to students. An exercise consisting of 8-10 argument maps typically
takes no more than a few hours to create in this way.
The system we have described was implemented as an experimental prototype, as part
of a project to evaluate and compare techniques for teaching critical thinking (see
section 5). For that reason, there is no open source distribution and the system is not
currently available to the general public. We have some plans for future development
(see section 6) and a version of the system may then become publicly (and we
anticipate, freely) available in the near future.
4. Using the system in a critical thinking course
In first semester 2004, we incorporated these argument mapping exercises into a single
semester critical thinking course, run by the School of Philosophy and Bioethics at
Monash University (PHL1030 Thinking: Analysing Arguments).
4.1 Overview of the course
The unit is a single semester course, with 12 weeks of instruction, consisting of one 60
minute lecture and one 2-hour tutorial session each week. The course falls into two
main parts. First, there is a section on argument analysis (identifying conclusions,
premises, unstated assumptions and structure of arguments). This is followed by a
section on argument evaluation (evaluating arguments, criticising arguments,
identifying fallacies). A study guide (The Elements of Argument) was written by one of
the authors to go with the course. This was a short textbook covering the basics of
argument analysis and evaluation.
Assessment took the form of eight homework exercises. There was no final exam. Each
homework exercise consisted of two sections; a set of LSAT multiple choice logical
reasoning and reading comprehension questions, followed by written analysis and
evaluation of a short argumentative text. Tutorials for the course took place in
computer labs. Students spent the first half hour of each tutorial working on argument
mapping exercises using the software. The remaining tutorial time was spent on
further practice at analysing and evaluating example arguments. For this purpose,
students were required to read one fairly short passage (essay or book extract) each
week. The passages were on a wide variety of topics: philosophy, evolutionary theory,
psychology, law, politics and so on. There were four tutorial groups, taught by two
different tutors. Class sizes ranged from 12 to 17 students. For a week by week outline
of the course, see Table 1.
4.2 Argument mapping exercises
Ten sets of exercises, consisting of 5-10 arguments for analysis were provided. These
were made available on the course website, provided by WebCT. Students worked at
their own pace and none of the exercises were graded. Students worked on the
exercises by themselves, rather than in pairs or groups, but students were not
prevented from discussing their work with their neighbour. On average,
approximately 30-40 minutes each week were spent working on these exercises. The
tutor was present to offer help if required. Since all the exercises were available online,
278 Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 2009, 25(2)
students were able to complete the exercises at home if they did not finish them in
class. Many students took advantage of this opportunity.
Table 1 lists the type of exercise used in each tutorial for the course. Note that the first
exercise did not involve any argument mapping. In this exercise, students were given a
collection of passages and had to say which ones were arguments. The pre-test and
post-test are explained in the following section.
Table 1: Course outline and argument mapping exercises used
Week
Lecture topic
Tutorial exercise
1
Why study argument?
Pre-test
2
Introduction to reason and
argument
1. Identify arguments
Distinguish arguments from non-arguments. 10 multiple
choice questions (no argument mapping exercises).
3
Argument analysis 1
2. Identify conclusions
Identify the main conclusion of the argument. 12 argument
mapping exercises.
4
Argument analysis 2
3. Map simple arguments
Create a map of the argument. 11 exercises.
5
Argument evaluation: Truth,
justification
4. Map complex arguments
Create a map of the argument. 14 exercises.
6
Argument evaluation:
Clarity, relevance, strength
5. Argument structure
Map the argument and identify the role played by a
particular statement or the argumentative strategy used. 14
exercises with multiple choice questions.
7
Criticism: Objections and
replies
6. Argument structure
As above. 14 exercises with multiple choice questions.
8
Criticism: Assumptions
7. Assumptions
Map the argument, selecting the correct assumption from a
list. 8 exercises.
9
Fallacies (ambiguity)
8. Fallacies of ambiguity
Map the given argument then answer the question to
identify the flaw. 8 exercises with multiple choice questions.
10
Fallacies (relevance)
9. Fallacies of relevance
Map the given argument then answer the question to
identify the flaw. 8 exercises with multiple choice questions.
11
Fallacies (truth, ambiguity)
10. Fallacies of truth
Map the given argument then answer the question to
identify the flaw. 8 exercises with multiple choice questions.
12
Fallacies (strength)
11. Fallacies of strength
Map the given argument then answer the question to
identify the flaw. 8 exercises with multiple choice questions.
13
Reason and happiness
Post-test
5. Gains in critical thinking skills
As part of a three-year project to evaluate and compare different methods of teaching
critical thinking, students enrolled in this course were pre- and post-tested using a
standardised test of critical thinking ability, the California Critical Thinking Skills Test.
This is a commonly used test in critical thinking research (see section 5.4). It is a timed
(45 minute) multiple choice test, coming in two equivalent forms: A and B. Each form
consists of 34 items which test students’ ability to clarify the meaning of claims,
analyse and evaluate arguments, and draw correct conclusions from given information
(Facione & Facione, 1992).
Butchart, Forster, Gold, Bigelow, Korb, Oppy and Serrenti 279
5.1 Sample and procedures
The final sample consisted of 43 undergraduate students (16 men and 27 women).
Ages ranged from 17 (1 student) to 55 (1 student). The mean age was 21.5 years, while
the mode was 18 years (30.2%). All students taking the course were required to
complete the pre- and post-test. They were informed about the purpose of the study
and asked to sign a consent form giving permission for their test scores to be used. Test
scores did not count towards the students’ final grade.
Out of an initial enrolment of 63 students, 52 (82.5%) consented to be part of the study.
Of the students who consented 50 (96%) completed the pre-test and 43 (83%) also
completed the post-test. Of the 9 students who failed to complete both tests, 7
completed the pre-test but not the post-test and 2 completed neither test. When
calculating gain scores, only students who completed both pre- and post-test were
included.
Students completed the CCTST during the first half of the scheduled 2-hour tutorials
for the course. The pre-test was completed in the first tutorial (week 1) and the post-
test in the final tutorial (week 13). The tests were completed under examination
conditions, as outlined in the test manual. Students were not informed of their test
scores until after the end of the course. All students were given form A of the CCTST
for the pre-test and form B for the post-test.
5.2 Teaching methods
In the following semesters, we used the same procedures described in section 5.1 to
evaluate and compare several other methods of teaching critical thinking. As far as
possible, the course structure and content were kept the same, while new techniques
and exercises were introduced in the 2-hour tutorials or (in the case of the Peer
Instruction method) in the lectures. Table 2 shows the teaching methods we
investigated in each semester.
Table 2: Teaching methods investigated
Semester
Method
Description
1 (2004)
Web based argument
mapping exercises.
Online argument mapping exercises with
automated feedback.
2 (2004)
Standard version.
A ‘control’ version of the course, taught
without using any special techniques or
exercises.
1 (2005)
Argument mapping exercises
using Reason!able.
Argument mapping exercises using the
Reason!able software were used in tutorials.
(No automated feedback).
2 (2005)
Actively open minded
thinking (AOMT) exercises.
A variety of strategies aimed at increasing
AOMT were incorporated into the course.
1 (2006)
Peer Instruction.
Peer Instruction was used in the lectures
for the course.
Actively open minded thinking (AOMT) can be defined as the ability and disposition to
avoid what is sometimes called ‘myside bias’ or ‘confirmation bias’. It is “the
willingness to search actively for evidence against one’s favoured beliefs, plans or
goals and to weigh such evidence fairly when it is available” (Baron, 2002, p. 1; see also
Baron, 1991, 1994).
280 Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 2009, 25(2)
In this version of the course, we attempted to incorporate a variety of exercises and
teaching strategies aimed at improving students’ levels of AOMT. These included
teaching students about some of the empirical evidence for myside bias and the
evidence that AOMT reduces bias and improves thinking; exercises that focus on the
ability of students to find alternative explanations or counter-evidence for a given
claim; and exercises in ‘considering the opposite’, in which students must criticise
arguments in support of their own position on the topic under discussion and suggest
evidence or arguments against their position (see Lord, Lepper & Preston, 1984;
Budesheim & Lundquist, 1999).
We also investigated a general purpose pedagogical strategy, which might be expected
to improve student performance on critical thinking tasks. This was Peer Instruction
(PI). PI is a simple technique that can be incorporated into lectures. At various points
during the lecture, the instructor stops and asks a multiple choice question that all
students must respond to using flash cards or an audience response system (we used
flash cards). If most students have the right answer, the lecturer confirms it and moves
on. If there is a mixture of right and wrong answers, the lecturer asks the students to
spend 1-2 minutes trying to convince a neighbour that their answer is correct. Students
then ‘re-vote’ on the answer. Typically, more students have the right answer after these
peer discussions – students who have just mastered the material are able to explain it
effectively to their peers (see Mazur, 1997; Butchart, Handfield & Restall, forthcoming).
Further details of the teaching methods and more information about the study can be
found at the project website (Butchart et al. 2006):
http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/philosophy/research/thinking/
5.3 Results
The results are shown in Table 3 and Figure 9. A standardised effect size for gains in
critical thinking ability was calculated by dividing the mean gain in raw CCTST score
by an estimated population pre-test standard deviation of 4.45 (this is the value used in
other studies using the CCTST, such as van Gelder et al., 2004). We also calculated a
‘normalised’ gain score for each student (Hake, 1998). This is the difference between
pre- and post-test score expressed as a percentage of how many points each student
could have earned (or lost).
Table 3: Improvement in critical thinking scores on the CCTST
Teaching method
N
Effect
size
95% conf.
interval
Mean
gain (%)
S.D. of
gain
95% conf.
interval
1.
Argument mapping exercises
with automated feedback
43
0.45
± 0.29
13.70
21.08
± 7.39
2.
Standard course
65
0.19
± 0.20
7.85
22.36
± 5.54
3.
Argument mapping exercises
with no automated feedback
41
0.22
± 0.26
7.10
20.27
± 6.39
4.
AOMT exercises
49
0.14
± 0.74
6.63
23.93
± 6.88
5.
Peer Instruction
40
0.40
± 0.25
17.23
26.64
± 8.5
When the automated argument mapping exercises described in the present article
were used, students showed an improvement in critical thinking ability of 0.45
standard deviations. Since the 95% confidence interval for this improvement does not
overlap zero, the result is statistically significant at the 0.05 level. The mean percentage
improvement was 13.7%. By contrast, the standard version of the course (in which no
Butchart, Forster, Gold, Bigelow, Korb, Oppy and Serrenti 281
special teaching methods were used) resulted in average gain of just 0.19 standard
deviations, while argument mapping exercises with no automated feedback resulted in
a comparable gain of 0.22 standard deviations.
Figure 9: Gains in critical thinking scores on the CCTST
AOMT exercises did not seem to have much of an effect on students’ critical thinking
skills either; here the average gain on the CCTST was 0.14 standard deviations. We
think it is worth pointing out that since AOMT exercises focus mainly on critical
thinking dispositions rather than specific skills it is perhaps not too surprising that we
discovered little ‘transfer effect’ in terms of improved test scores on the CCTST.
Interestingly, the only other teaching method to have a statistically significant effect
was Peer Instruction, where the gain was 0.4 standard deviations, significant at the 0.,05
level. This suggests that simply improving the standard of teaching and lecturing in a
critical thinking course (by incorporating Peer Instruction in the lectures for example)
can be just as effective at improving student performance as critical thinking specific
techniques such as computer assisted argument mapping exercises.
5.4 Comparison with other studies
In the semester in which we used automated argument mapping exercises, we
measured an improvement of 0.45 standard deviations in critical thinking skills. Just
how much of this improvement is due to the exercises themselves is of course unclear -
we discuss that issue further in section 5.6. In the present section, we want to put the
result in perspective by comparing it to other studies.
Many studies have been carried out attempting to determine the impact of a university
education on students’ critical thinking skills. In their review of the research literature,
Pascarella and Terenzini estimate that the total effect of the first three years of college
is 0.55 standard deviations (Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005, p. 205). This is their estimate
of the amount of change in critical thinking skills which is uniquely attributable to
282 Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 2009, 25(2)
exposure to university education. Hence, the critical thinking gains measured during
our 12 week course are close to that which could be expected to result from three years
of undergraduate education.
To get an idea of how our results compare with other single semester critical thinking
courses, Figure 10 shows results from a number of studies, all of which used the
CCTST as a pre- and post-test measure of critical thinking ability. Study 1 is typical of
the amount one might expect students to improve over a single semester of university
study, without any specific critical thinking instruction. These are the results from 90
students enrolled in a single semester introductory philosophy course at California
State University at Fullerton (Facione, 1990). The mean gain for these students was 0.14
standard deviations on the CCTST. Based on a meta-analysis of studies of gains in
critical thinking at university (Alvarez, 2007), van Gelder estimates that without
explicit instruction in critical thinking, students typically improve by approximately
0.1 of a standard deviation over a single semester (van Gelder, 2007, p. 29).
Figure 10: Gains in critical thinking ability for single semester critical thinking courses.
Bars show 95% confidence intervals. 1, 3: Facione (1990);
5: Hitchcock (2004); 6: van Gelder et al. (2004).
At California State University at Fullerton, a single semester critical thinking course
lead to a gain of 0.32 standard deviations (Study 3, Facione, 1990). At McMaster
University, Hitchcock measured a similar gain to ours of 0.49 standard deviations for a
13-week course using the LEMUR software (Study 5, Hitchcock, 2004). The LEMUR
software accompanies LeBlanc’s textbook (Le Blanc, 1998) and incorporates numerous
multiple choice quizzes and exercises. The software also includes some simple
argument mapping exercises in which students can drag component sentences of a text
into a pre-structured argument map diagram (see Hitchcock, 2004, pp. 186-187).
Using these and other studies incorporated into the Alvarez (2007) meta-analysis, van
Gelder estimates that the average gain for students enrolled in a single semester critical
thinking course is 0.3 standard deviations (van Gelder 2007, p. 29). The gains in critical
thinking obtained using extensive practice with the Reason!able argument mapping
software are significantly higher, at 0.8 standard deviations (Study 6, van Gelder,
Bissett & Cumming, 2004).
Butchart, Forster, Gold, Bigelow, Korb, Oppy and Serrenti 283
Our results therefore sit somewhere in the middle of the range. The effect size of 0.45
SD is more than four times greater than the expected gain of 0.1 SD for a single
semester of university with no critical thinking instruction. It is only marginally higher
than the average gain of 0.3 SD for students taking a single semester critical thinking
course. But it is about half the size of the largest known effect of 0.8 SD obtained using
the van Gelder group’s argument mapping approach.
5.5 Feedback from students and tutors
We did not carry out any formal evaluation of students’ opinions about the use of the
argument mapping software. Instead, we report here some informal feedback from
students and the tutors.
The tutors reported that student response to the system was not uniform. Many
students liked the argument mapping exercises and found them useful. This group of
students appreciated the exercises because they targeted specific skills and gave
immediate feedback when they went wrong. These students also liked the scaffolding
provided by the system, in particular, the way it forced them to analyse the arguments
in a systematic fashion; starting with the conclusion and then working down through
the premises.
For another group of students however, this last feature was actually a disadvantage.
These students sometimes found it frustrating to have to work through the analysis of
the argument in specific steps. They wanted to work piecemeal at different sections of
the argument at one go. These students were encouraged to use pen and paper before
using the software, and this solution seemed to work quite well. Another group of
students who did not respond as positively were older students and students who
were not as proficient or comfortable with computers in general. These students were
sometimes handicapped by their anxiety about using the software and this affected
their ability to learn from the exercises.
Some students worked on the exercises by themselves and found that the feedback
helped them to work out problems on their own. Other students preferred working on
the exercises in pairs and talking it through. Students also enjoyed discussing the
exercises as a class after completing the exercises and this was found to be an
important follow up activity.
Although we did not use a questionnaire to evaluate the software specifically, students
did complete a standard evaluation of the course as a whole. This was a 14 item Likert
style questionnaire, completed anonymously. 50 students out of the final enrolment of
60 completed this questionnaire (a response rate of 83%). None of these items were
particularly pertinent to the use of the argument software. Overall satisfaction for the
course was somewhat below average at 78%, compared to an average of 82% for the
following semesters. We suspect this has to do more with various administrative
problems with the course (changes in due dates for homework exercises for example),
rather than the argument mapping exercises themselves (many students complained
about these changes on their questionnaires).
The questionnaire also contained a ‘General comments’ section. 34 (68%) of the
students who completed the questionnaire wrote additional comments. Of these, a
small proportion (7 students) mentioned the argument mapping software specifically.
Three students said they did not find the argument mapping exercises useful. The
284 Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 2009, 25(2)
other four comments were less about the software itself and more about the necessity
of holding the tutorials in computer labs. The lab we used had the computers set up in
long rows and these students complained that this isolated students from each other
and impeded participation and discussion in the classroom. This was a problem also
noted by the tutors.
Despite these problems, many students took up the opportunity of completing the
online argument mapping exercises from home, suggesting that these students at least
found the exercises to be valuable.
5.6 Discussion
Although we found a statistically significant improvement in students’ critical
thinking test scores, caution is clearly required in interpreting this result. It is unclear
how much of that improvement was due to the use of the automated argument
mapping exercises and how much due to other aspects of the course or to factors not
directly related to teaching, such as student maturation.
A comparison with the studies described in section 5.4 is suggestive however. Firstly,
the improvement in critical thinking scores of 0.45 standard deviations is more than 4
times greater than the 0.1 estimate for the change in critical thinking scores to be
expected during a single semester of university with no specific instruction in critical
thinking. This suggests that the improvement we measured was at least partly due to
the instruction students received, rather than simply to maturation. Furthermore, the
improvement is more than twice as large as that obtained the following semester,
teaching the same course without the automated argument mapping exercises (0.19
standard deviations), suggesting that some of the improvement is in fact due to the
argument mapping exercises. These comparisons are no more than suggestive
however; due to the small sample sizes involved, no statistically reliable inference can
be drawn from these comparisons.
Nonetheless, the gains in critical thinking for the course as a whole are encouraging
and compare favourably to gains obtained in similar studies. The result certainly
seems consistent with the quality practice hypothesis, even if it does not strongly
support it. Students using the system certainly got a lot more guided and scaffolded
practice than students the following semester and the students who had more practice
showed a statistically significant improvement in critical thinking scores, while the
latter group did not. Again however, no reliable inference to the conclusion that the
practice caused the improvement can be drawn.
The mean gain in critical thinking scores obtained using our automated argument
mapping system is significantly lower than that obtained using the Reason!able
argument mapping software at the University of Melbourne – a difference of 0.35
standard deviations (95% confidence interval = 0.026, 0.675). How can this difference
be explained? We can do no more here than offer some possible explanations.
Firstly, the Reason!able software is much more flexible than our system in several ways.
Most obviously, it allows students to put any text at all into argument map boxes,
rather than requiring them to select a segment of text. It also allows students to edit the
structure of their maps as they build them, by moving and dragging boxes into new
positions. Students can also build up their argument maps in any order they like; they
can start with the conclusion and work down to the premises, or they can start with
Butchart, Forster, Gold, Bigelow, Korb, Oppy and Serrenti 285
the premises and build up to the conclusion. This extra flexibility may well make a big
difference to how much students can learn from argument mapping exercises. Finally,
the software allows students to incorporate evaluations of premises and inferences into
their argument maps.
Secondly, there are additional factors, not directly related to the software itself, which
may account for the difference between the Melbourne results and our own. One
difference is that at Melbourne, students work together in groups of two on their
argument maps. In the present study, students typically worked on the argument
mapping exercises on their own (although some students sometimes worked in pairs).
It may be that the collaboration and peer interaction that become possible when
students work together provides a significant boost to the power of the argument
mapping method.
Finally, the sheer number of hours of practice with argument mapping exercises is
somewhat greater for the Melbourne university course. Students at Melbourne spent
(on average) a total of 10 hours on argument mapping using the Reason!able software
over a 12-week period (van Gelder, Bissett & Cumming, 2004, p. 147, Table 1). The
Monash students, on the other hand, spent a total of 5-7 hours working on automated
argument mapping exercises over the same period (30-40 minutes on argument
mapping exercises for each of ten tutorials). It seems quite possible then that the
difference between the Melbourne University result and the Monash result is due to
the amount of quality practice provided. Indeed, van Gelder’s study found a positive
correlation (r = 0.31) between the number of hours of practice (as measured and logged
by the software itself) and gains in critical thinking as measured by the CCTST (van
Gelder, Bissett & Cumming, 2004, pp. 147-8).
6. Limitations and future development
We conclude with brief comments on the limitations of the system and possibilities for
future extensions and improvements.
6.1 Making the feedback more informative
One obvious way in which the system could be improved would be to make the
feedback to the student more informative than a simple ‘correct’ or ‘incorrect’. In
particular, since the system has a complete representation of the correct argument
map, it would be possible to distinguish between various kinds of common mistake
that students make when constructing argument maps. For example, students will
often make the mistake of placing a claim underneath a given premise, when the claim
should be a co-premise. The opposite kind of mistake – representing a claim as a co-
premise, when it should be a supporting premise – is also possible. All these sorts of
mistakes and others could be captured by the system quite easily and a more
informative message delivered to the student. One way to do this is shown in Figure
11.
Instead of a sequence of ticks and crosses, we now have a text pane which displays
information to the students on their progress with the argument map. In this example,
the student has correctly identified the main conclusion and one of the premises. But
the student has then misidentified the claim ‘If matter has always existed there should
be no radioactive elements left’ as providing support for that premise. The system has
identified the mistake and displays an appropriate message and a hint.
286 Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 2009, 25(2)
Figure 11: More informative feedback
In addition to giving more informative feedback about the student’s mistakes, this text
pane could also be used to display context sensitive help about what to do next as the
student constructs an argument map. There could also be an option to turn off the
hints and the help once students feel they no longer needed it. In this way, a further
aspect of quality practice would be incorporated – gradually removing scaffolding as
the student becomes more expert.
6.2 More flexibility in constructing maps
The current system enforces a fairly strict ordering on the way students construct
argument maps. The conclusion must be identified first, followed by premises that
directly support it, followed by premises that support those premises, and so on.
Sometimes however, it is more natural to construct an argument map from the bottom
up, starting with the premises and building up to the main conclusion. The system
could be made more flexible by allowing students to construct their maps in either of
these two ways.
Indeed, as already noted, one group of students found this aspect of the ‘scaffolding’
provided by the software frustrating. They wanted to work on different parts of the
argument in their own order, and then put the final argument together after that. The
system could quite easily be modified to allow for this. In conformity with the idea of
gradually removing the scaffolding however, it might make sense to start students off
with exercises in which they must work in a systematic, pre-defined order and only
later allow students to turn off this restriction, if they choose.
6.3 Objections
In addition to premises that support a claim, argument mapping systems often include
the concept of an objection to a claim. This is especially useful when mapping a
complex debate, consisting of arguments, counter-arguments, rebuttals, and so on. It
would be straightforward to add objections to argument maps in the current system.
An ‘Add objection’ button could be used to add an objection, rather than a supporting
Butchart, Forster, Gold, Bigelow, Korb, Oppy and Serrenti 287
premise under the currently selected node in the argument map pane. Objections
could then be distinguished from supporting premises in the argument map using
different colours or by adding a simple prefix to the text.
6.4 Evaluations
Another limitation of the system described here is that it does not allow students to
include evaluations of arguments directly in their maps (instead, we included multiple
choice questions asking students to identify flaws in the argument). There are two
aspects to argument evaluation; evaluation of premises and evaluation of inferences.
Both aspects can be incorporated into argument maps. One way to do this is to ask
students to rate premises and inferences on a scale. For premises, the scale might range
from ‘definitely false’ to ‘probably false’ to ‘probably true’ to ‘definitely true’. For
inferences, the scale might range from ‘definitely does not support’ to ‘weak support’
to ‘strong support’ to ‘conclusive support’. These judgements could then be shown in
the argument map diagram itself, by attaching labels to the arrows or boxes.
This capability could be added to the system described here by adding ‘evaluate
premise’ and ‘evaluate inference’ buttons. The student selects a box in the argument
map pane and then clicks on the ‘evaluate premise’ button. A dialog box then appears
from which the student can select one of range of possible evaluations from a fixed
scale. If appropriate, the system can then provide feedback on the student’s selection.
Evaluating inferences would work in a similar way.
The system might also enforce rules relating to the internal consistency of students’
evaluations. One such rule might be that a conclusion cannot be any more acceptable
than the premises used to support it. This rule would be violated if, for example, a
student evaluated a conclusion as ‘definitely true’, while the premise that supports that
conclusion was evaluated as only ‘probably true’. The system could automatically pick
up on mistakes like this, and provide the student with appropriate feedback.
6.5 Throwing away the scaffolding: Free form maps with a model answer
Finally, we will mention one further limitation and possible extension of the system.
Building automated feedback into the system in the way we have done places some
constraints on the text of arguments that can be mapped. Firstly, conclusions and
premises must be represented by complete sentences that can be selected as a
continuous block of text using the mouse. Secondly, the system does not give students
practice at an important skill of argument analysis; that of paraphrasing claims made in
an argumentative text.
One way in which the system might be made more flexible then is to allow exercises
where the automated feedback is turned off. Instead of selecting a block of text for the
conclusion of the argument, the student clicks on the ‘Conclusion’ button and an
empty box would appear in the argument map. The student then types the text of the
conclusion into the empty box. Adding premises and assumptions would work in the
same way. This would allow students to paraphrase conclusions and premises that
appear in the text, ensuring that they are represented by complete sentences. Instead of
selecting unstated assumptions from a multiple choice list, students would be able to
enter them directly onto their maps.
288 Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 2009, 25(2)
Feedback could then be provided by means of the traditional ‘model answer’. One way
this could be incorporated into the current system is shown in Figure 12. Here the
student is typing in the text of a premise of an argument. When they have finished
constructing their map they click on the ‘Model answer’ tab, which shows a completed
model map for the argument. The student can then compare their own map to the
model. The system might even keep track of how many elements (conclusion, premises
and assumptions) the student has added to their map and only allow the model
answer to be viewed when a sufficient number of elements have been added.
Figure 12: A free form argument map under construction.
Clicking on the ‘Model answer’ tab displays a completed map for the argument.
The idea is that the system could operate in two different modes. In one mode,
automated feedback is turned on and the student receives instant feedback on their
progress as they construct their map. In the second mode, automated feedback is
turned off and students construct their maps by typing directly into the boxes, rather
than selecting text. Feedback is then provided by allowing students to compare their
map to a model answer.
Automated feedback and ‘free form’ argument mapping exercises could then both be
incorporated into a critical thinking course. Early in the course, automated feedback is
turned on, providing students with scaffolding and feedback. As the course
progresses, the argument mapping exercises should become gradually more complex.
Gradually, the scaffolding is removed by turning off the automated feedback and
using more free form exercises. Here again, quality practice would be further
supported by allowing scaffolding to be removed as the student becomes more expert.
7. Summary
We have described a simple system for creating argument mapping exercises
incorporating automated feedback. A prototype of the system was implemented and
used in a single semester undergraduate critical thinking course at Monash University.
Students spent approximately 30-40 minutes each week working on argument
mapping exercises using the system. The results were encouraging; students showed
Butchart, Forster, Gold, Bigelow, Korb, Oppy and Serrenti 289
an average improvement of 0.45 standard deviations on a standardised test of critical
thinking over the course of the semester. These results compare favourably to those
obtained in other studies of critical thinking courses and are significantly higher than
the expected gain of 0.1 standard deviations expected to result from a single semester
of university without critical thinking instruction. Although the system is clearly
limited in various ways and certainly no substitute for good classroom teaching, it
does show great potential for supporting and enhancing quality deliberate practice in
an important critical thinking skill.
Acknowledgments
The research described here was funded by an Australian Research Council Linkage
Project grant, (LP0346935; Effective Pedagogy for Improving Critical Thinking) and by
a grant from the Australian Government Department of Education, Science and
Training (DEST). The research was carried out in collaboration with DEST and the
Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER).
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Sam Butchart, John Bigelow, Graham Oppy
School of Philosophy and Bioethics
Monash University, Clayton Victoria 3800, Australia
Email: Sam.Butchart@arts.monash.edu.au, John.Bigelow@arts.monash.edu.au,
Graham.Oppy@arts.monash.edu.au
Daniella Forster, School of Education
Faculty of Education and Arts, The University of Newcastle
Email: Daniella.Forster@newcastle.edu.au
Alexandra Serrenti, Department of Philosophy
National University of Singapore, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
3 Arts Link, Singapore 117570. Email: phisam@nus.edu.sg
Kevin Korb, School of Information Technology
Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia
Email: Kevin.Korb@infotech.monash.edu.au
Ian Gold, Department of Philosophy, McGill University
Leacock Building, 855 Sherbrooke St. W., Montreal, Quebec H3A 2T7, Canada
Email: Ian.Gold@McGill.ca