Reading, annotation and production of an argumentative text written by higher education students in a blended-learning situation

Abstract

Argumentation has been acknowledged as increasingly important for both academic writing and on-line communication. This study combines some of the main results and conclusions of two different, yet complementary, research studies. Here, we aim at illustrating the contribution of the use of a plat-form (SCALE) conceived for the development of argumentative skills for Higher Education students in argumentative and negotiation on-line interactions and as well as written productions (opinion articles and taking notes). For the compilation and discussion of the results, we analyzed the students' on-line argumentative diagrams and interactions, as well as their individual written productions. We also analyzed the questionnaires they answered before and after the experiment, regarding their attitudes towards Information Communication Technologies (ICT), reading, annotation and writing texts, including argumentative texts. Results suggest differences related to the type of interaction in free versus structured chats. The interactions are richer and more profound in the free chats. The annotation and the graphic representation of argumentative maps, in diagrams, seem to provide evidence of the students' learning, especially as far as the argumentative structure is concerned. Also, students' performance was more productive in the on-line environments in compari-son with the off-line situations.