Intel Education: Showing Evidence Tool: Overview and Benefits

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	Showing Evidence Tool: Overview and Benefits Benefits of the Showing Evidence Tool

Why Teach Argumentation in the Classroom?
Research shows that, regardless of grade level or subject, argumentation skills extend learning.

Prepare students for real-world problems. Argumentation is a significant part of higher-order thinking and reasoning (Kuhn, 1992), and is used across different content areas (Reznitskaya & Anderson, 2002). Arguments are constructed in all different disciplines and professions, and are an important part of everyday life. Argumentation is prevalent throughout students’ lives. They need to learn how to construct and evaluate arguments.

Help students develop higher-order thinking skills. Engaging in argumentation in the classroom can help students take a more critical stance when they are confronted with an argument; they will know how to evaluate the quality of what they read or hear (Reznitskaya & Anderson, 2002). If students receive explicit instruction and support in creating arguments, they are more likely to support their claims with the appropriate evidence and reasoning (McNeill, Lizotte, Krajcik, & Marx, 2004).

Increase students’ content knowledge. Creating strong arguments requires not only an understanding of argumentation, but also a strong understanding of the appropriate content knowledge. By engaging in argumentation, students can increase their content knowledge (Driver, Newton, & Osborne, 2000). Students need to think deeply about the content and construct their own understanding of the content as they construct their arguments.

Encourage thoughtful student discussions. Including argumentation in the classroom can result in an environment where students question each other’s claims and ask for appropriate evidence, warrants, and backing (Jiménez-Aleixandre, Rodríguez & Duschl, 2000). Student discussions can move beyond simply completing the current task to actively engaging and debating important ideas.

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