Teaching Critical Thinking Through Argument Mapping TI3806
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TEACHING CRITICAL THINKING THROUGH ARGUMENT map- PING TI3806 FELIX AkkERMANS Robin Borst Boudewijn VAN Groos Jens LangerAK Teaching critical thinking through argument mapping TI3806 by Felix Akkermans Robin Borst Boudewijn van Groos Jens Langerak to obtain the degree of Bachelor of Science at the Delft University of Technology, Project duration: April 24, 2017 – July 4. 2017 An electronic version of this thesis is available at http://repository.tudelft.nl/. Preface This report concludes the Computer Science bachelor project of Delft University of Technology. This report aims to provide the reader information of the research, design, implementation and testing work done over the span of 10 weeks at the company FeedbackFruits. The project client, FeedbackFruits, is an education technology developer aimed at teachers and students from high school to university. By exploring various products it hopes to find ways to improve the learning experience of students and promote the cultivation of key cognitive traits like critical thinking. During our project we have introduced a solid basis for a new product that aims to promote critical thinking through argument-mapping-based debates. This report also contains recommendations on future work to develop this basis to a mature product. We want to express our gratitude towards our coach Catholijn Jonker for her guidance, Joost Verdoorn as the company supervisor and all the employees supporting us during the process with feedback, testing and technical support. Felix Akkermans Robin Borst Boudewijn van Groos Jens Langerak Delft, June 2017 i Summary During this project we have created a product for the company FeedbackFruits to promote critical thinking in education. Research has shown that argument mapping is a promising method to promote critical thinking. Several existing related platforms were analyzed to draw lessons from their experience. Literature research revealed that product interaction design is very important for teacher adoption and student engagement, which were are also identified as key factors for product success by the client company. We took steps to re- alize this requirement by researching student engagement and adopting company guidelines used to ensure quality design (e.g. use of company UI framework, internal design review, user testing). User tests indicated enthusiasm and high engagement by the participants, but also showed clear areas of improvement. Though comparable existing solutions are promising for teaching critical thinking, further development and testing would be needed to validate the didactic potential of this product. Considering the limited time available for the project, we have included this in the recommendations on future development and research. ii Contents 1 Introduction 1 2 Research 3 2.1 Problem definition and analysis..................................3 2.1.1 Problem definition.....................................3 2.1.2 Problem analysis......................................3 2.1.3 Teaching critical thinking.................................3 2.1.4 Student engagement....................................5 2.1.5 Existing solutions.....................................6 2.2 Software architecture.......................................8 2.2.1 Considerations.......................................8 2.2.2 FeedbackFruits platform..................................9 2.2.3 Back-end frameworks...................................9 2.2.4 Front-end frameworks................................... 10 2.2.5 Databases......................................... 10 2.2.6 Summary......................................... 11 2.2.7 Tools and Libraries..................................... 11 2.3 Design goals........................................... 11 2.3.1 Didactic value....................................... 11 2.3.2 User experience...................................... 12 2.4 Conclusions............................................ 12 3 Design REQUIREMENTS 13 3.1 Deriving requirements process.................................. 13 3.2 Requirements from the literature................................. 13 3.2.1 Roles............................................ 14 3.3 Functional requirements..................................... 14 3.3.1 Must haves......................................... 14 3.3.2 Should haves........................................ 15 3.3.3 Could haves........................................ 16 3.3.4 Won’t haves........................................ 18 3.4 Non-functional requirements................................... 20 3.4.1 Maintainability...................................... 20 3.4.2 Usability.......................................... 20 3.4.3 Performance........................................ 20 4 Process 21 4.1 Software development methodology............................... 21 4.1.1 Setup............................................ 21 4.1.2 Roles............................................ 21 4.2 Plans for quality control...................................... 21 4.3 Work distribution......................................... 21 4.4 Location............................................. 22 4.5 Getting started.......................................... 22 4.6 Design.............................................. 22 4.6.1 Literature research..................................... 22 4.6.2 Dedicated team member.................................. 22 4.6.3 Adherence to company practices............................. 22 iii Contents iv 4.7 Communication......................................... 23 4.7.1 Internal communication.................................. 23 4.7.2 Communication with FeedbackFruits........................... 23 4.7.3 Communication with TU Delft coach........................... 23 4.8 Learning goals.......................................... 23 5 Implementation 24 5.1 Implementation phase...................................... 24 5.1.1 Groups and roles...................................... 24 5.1.2 Backlog.......................................... 24 5.1.3 Overall impressions.................................... 24 5.2 Technical challenges....................................... 24 5.2.1 Performance........................................ 24 5.2.2 Modularity......................................... 25 5.2.3 Database tree traversal................................... 25 5.3 Product result........................................... 25 5.3.1 Schematic overview.................................... 25 5.4 SIG Feedback........................................... 26 6 TESTING 27 6.1 Automated tests.......................................... 27 6.2 User tests............................................. 27 6.2.1 Ethical concerns...................................... 27 6.2.2 Product user tests..................................... 28 6.3 Client response.......................................... 29 7 Discussion 30 7.1 Ethical implications........................................ 30 7.1.1 Benefits.......................................... 30 7.1.2 Risks............................................ 30 7.1.3 Conclusions........................................ 31 7.2 Comparing to existing solutions................................. 31 7.2.1 Deliberatorium...................................... 31 7.2.2 Argüman.......................................... 31 8 Conclusion 32 9 Recommendations 33 9.1 Applications........................................... 33 9.2 Future............................................... 33 9.2.1 Assumptions........................................ 33 9.2.2 Potential features..................................... 34 BibliogrAPHY 35 A Project DESCRIPTION 37 A.1 Reformulated project description................................. 37 A.2 Company description....................................... 37 B Project PLAN 38 B.1 Motivation and goal........................................ 38 B.2 Company and supervisors.................................... 38 B.3 Constraints............................................ 38 B.4 Schedule............................................. 38 B.5 Team process and structure.................................... 39 B.6 Testing and evaluation...................................... 40 Contents v C Product BACKLOG 41 D TRANSFER 43 D.1 Back end............................................. 43 D.2 Front end............................................. 43 D.3 Unresolved issues......................................... 43 E Product 44 E.1 Argument map.......................................... 44 E.2 Interaction............................................ 44 E.3 Overview............................................. 44 Infosheet 57 1 Introduction Recently, the 2016 US presidential elections and Brexit referendum left many in a state of shock. We witnessed a rising trend of misinformation and group polarization, visibly effecting the belief forming and political de- cision making of citizens and politicians alike. While our technological power is increasing rapidly, evidently our collective ability to self-correct and coordinate ourselves in time is not following equally. Consider cli- mate change as an example of the increasingly dramatic consequences of our technological nature that calls on our ability to adapt in time. Science advocates are recently often raising alarm on policymakers rejecting overwhelming scientific evi- dence on the grounds of mischaracterizing science as a partisan issue and hence “just another opinion”. If we neglect this trend we might find ourselves in a situation of epistemic relativism, unable to agree upon basic questions