Learning Argumentation through Diagramming AWS
Learning Argumentation through Diagramming Allison Escher, Ph.D. Sara DeMartino, Ph.D.
Goals • Goal of the project: – Learn how an instructional technique—argument diagramming (AD)—helps high school students read and write arguments. • Goals for today: – Experience how AD helps to make an argument’s structure, as well as the relationships between and among the argument’s components, visible or transparent.
Context
© University of Pittsburgh
3
West Allegheny High School • Suburb of Pittsburgh, PA • 94% White, 3% Black, 1% Asian, 2% other • 15% of students qualify for free and reduced lunch. • Four 10th grade teachers, including one pull-out special education teacher.
© University of Pittsburgh
4
Number of Agreements with “Expert” Normalized by Unique Spans 12.00 10.00 8.00 6.00 4.00 2.00 0.00
Does Trying to Be Happy Make Us Unhappy?
Normalized
Pursuing the Science of Happiness
The Track-Star Economy
Normalized (ignore category)
Normalized Agreement 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 Does Trying to Be Happy Make Us Unhappy?
Pursuing the Science of Happiness
Agreement Among Students
The Track-Star Economy
Agreement © University of Pittsburgh with Instructor
5
Argument Diagrams Created by Students
© University of Pittsburgh
7
Argument Diagramming Example in Special Education Classroom
Argument Diagramming Example
Example of Student’s Using AD in Writing
Example of Student’s Using AD in Writing
Give it a Go: Argument Diagramming
The Pursuit of (Un)Happiness “Does Trying to Be Happy Make Us Unhappy?” by Adam Grant “Pursuing the Science of Happiness” by Andrew Guest
© University of Pittsburgh
13
Working in Two Ways
As
As
Learners
Educators
“Does Trying to be Happy Make Us Unhappy?” Adam Grant
Task 1.2: Comprehension
Task 1.2: Comprehension Individual & Pair Work
Please read “Does Trying to Be Happy Make Us Unhappy?” • What do you learn about happiness from this text? • What’s Grant’s overall argument? When you’re finished, turn to a partner and share what you learned about happiness. Be sure to talk from specific moments in the text.
Task 1.2: Comprehension Whole Group
• What do you learn about happiness from this text? • What’s Grant’s overall argument?
Task 1.3: Analysis • What are Grant’s claims? • How does Grant support his claims with reasons and evidence?
Components of an Argument Individually, please read the argument components definitions. Make note of questions.
Task 1.3: Argument Diagram Whole Group
Quick review: What are claims? How do YOU determine the claims in an argument?
Tips for Determining Claims
© University of Pittsburgh
23
Task 1.3: Argument Diagram Individual & Pair Work
Step 1: Please revisit “Does Trying to Be Happy Make Us Unhappy?” As you revisit, mark the claims that support Grant’s overall argument. When you’re finished, turn to a partner and share your markings.
Ways to Mark Claims • Highlight with color. • Underline with a pencil as you read; go back and label when you’re finished. • Write claims on another sheet of paper or on post-it notes. Use the method that works best for you.
Task 1.3: Argument Diagram Whole group discussion: What are Grant’s claims? How do you know these are claims? Step 2: Each pair takes one claim. • Highlight the evidence that supports the claim. • Highlight the reasons that connect the evidence to the claim. Step 3: With your partner, create an argument diagram for your claim. *You will have many sentences that are not highlighted.
Tips for Identifying Evidence Evidence: A collection of data, such as observations, examples, or information gathered through reading texts, which supports a claim. • Evidence is often introduced by referring to a specific author, study, experiment, or other source. • Evidence is often introduced with “For example” or “For instance.” • Look for the claims and see what data supports them.
Tips for Determining Reasons Reasons: Statement(s) that may explain how or why the evidence supports a claim. • Reasons often paraphrase, generalize, explain, or comment on the evidence. • Reasons often appear between evidence and claims or between claims. • Reasons often explain how or why the evidence supports or contradicts a claim. Reasons provide the glue that connects the evidence to the claim. • Ask yourself, what connects the evidence back to the claim?
Argument Diagramming Overarching Argument: We overlook or fail to recognize happiness because we are busy pursuing it. Claims: 1. One mistake we make in pursuing happiness is trying to figure out if we are happy. 2. An error that can be made is overestimating the impact of life circumstances on happiness 3. Pursuing happiness alone is a misstep. © University of Pittsburgh
30
Your Task Step 2: Each pair takes one claim. • Highlight the evidence that supports the claim. • Highlight the reasons that connect the evidence to the claim. Step 3: With your partner, create an argument diagram for your claim. *You will have many sentences that are not highlighted. © University of Pittsburgh
31
“Does Trying to Be Happy Make Us Unhappy?” Adam Grant
EV: Maus: more value people place on being happy, the less happy they are
RE: When we try to figure out if we’re happy, we stop experiencing. Interrupt the flow.
CL: Tom 1st mistake: trying to figure out if he was happy
CL: Tom made 4 common mistakes
EV: Grant saw it happen to Tom
CL: Tom’s 3rd mistake: pursuing happiness alone; makes us selfcentered, which undermines happiness
CL: Tom’s 4th mistake: looking for intense happiness
RE: By trying to figure out if he was happy, Tom never engaged & became depressed
EV: Salmela-Aro and Nurmi: depression leads people to evaluate their daily projects as less enjoyable, and ruminating about why they’re not fun makes the depression worse EV: Gilbert-we tend to overestimate the emotional impact of positive life events
CL: Tom’s 2nd mistake: overestimating impact of life circumstances on happiness AG: Quest for happiness might be recipe for misery
EV: Csikszentmihalyi’s flow; people in flow state don’t report being happy
RE: Each time Tom moved to a new job & country, he was excited but then reality of the daily grind set in.
RE: Tom left people behind in every move.
RE: Aiming for intense + emotions makes it easier to be disappointed.
RE: intense positive makes ordinary less positive
CL: To be happy, need projects & relationships that bring happiness
EV: Classic study: winning lottery didn’t appear to yield lasting gains in happiness
EV: Mauss & colleagues: greater value people placed on happiness, more lonely they felt every day for the next two weeks EV: study-randomly assigned people to value happiness, and it backfired: people reported feeling lonelier and also had a progesterone drop in their saliva EV: Diener: happiness driven by the frequency, not intensity, of positive emotions RE: Tom looked for ideal so didn’t appreciate good; happy now because he’s not bouncing and searching. Has flow.
EV: Kay: best things in life can only be pursued indirectly
EV: Mill: “Those only are happy who have their minds fixed on some object other than their own happiness.”
EV: Mauss &colleagues: people explicitly searching for happiness experienced less joy in watching a skater win a gold
Step Back as Learners Reflect on AD • What did you do to determine the claims? Evidence? Reasons? • What did you do to construct an AD? What did you learn by doing it? • What difficulties did you encounter? How did you deal with them?
Step Back as Educators Reflect on AD • What do you think your students will find easy about – identifying the components of an argument and – creating an argument diagram? • What do you anticipate they’ll find difficult? • What are some ways we can help students persist through the difficulty?
Please complete the online reflection: http://bit.ly/2zRNMBh
Sara: [email protected] Allison: [email protected]
Goals • Goal of the project: – Learn how an instructional technique—argument diagramming (AD)—helps high school students read and write arguments. • Goals for today: – Experience how AD helps to make an argument’s structure, as well as the relationships between and among the argument’s components, visible or transparent.
Context
© University of Pittsburgh
3
West Allegheny High School • Suburb of Pittsburgh, PA • 94% White, 3% Black, 1% Asian, 2% other • 15% of students qualify for free and reduced lunch. • Four 10th grade teachers, including one pull-out special education teacher.
© University of Pittsburgh
4
Number of Agreements with “Expert” Normalized by Unique Spans 12.00 10.00 8.00 6.00 4.00 2.00 0.00
Does Trying to Be Happy Make Us Unhappy?
Normalized
Pursuing the Science of Happiness
The Track-Star Economy
Normalized (ignore category)
Normalized Agreement 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 Does Trying to Be Happy Make Us Unhappy?
Pursuing the Science of Happiness
Agreement Among Students
The Track-Star Economy
Agreement © University of Pittsburgh with Instructor
5
Argument Diagrams Created by Students
© University of Pittsburgh
7
Argument Diagramming Example in Special Education Classroom
Argument Diagramming Example
Example of Student’s Using AD in Writing
Example of Student’s Using AD in Writing
Give it a Go: Argument Diagramming
The Pursuit of (Un)Happiness “Does Trying to Be Happy Make Us Unhappy?” by Adam Grant “Pursuing the Science of Happiness” by Andrew Guest
© University of Pittsburgh
13
Working in Two Ways
As
As
Learners
Educators
“Does Trying to be Happy Make Us Unhappy?” Adam Grant
Task 1.2: Comprehension
Task 1.2: Comprehension Individual & Pair Work
Please read “Does Trying to Be Happy Make Us Unhappy?” • What do you learn about happiness from this text? • What’s Grant’s overall argument? When you’re finished, turn to a partner and share what you learned about happiness. Be sure to talk from specific moments in the text.
Task 1.2: Comprehension Whole Group
• What do you learn about happiness from this text? • What’s Grant’s overall argument?
Task 1.3: Analysis • What are Grant’s claims? • How does Grant support his claims with reasons and evidence?
Components of an Argument Individually, please read the argument components definitions. Make note of questions.
Task 1.3: Argument Diagram Whole Group
Quick review: What are claims? How do YOU determine the claims in an argument?
Tips for Determining Claims
© University of Pittsburgh
23
Task 1.3: Argument Diagram Individual & Pair Work
Step 1: Please revisit “Does Trying to Be Happy Make Us Unhappy?” As you revisit, mark the claims that support Grant’s overall argument. When you’re finished, turn to a partner and share your markings.
Ways to Mark Claims • Highlight with color. • Underline with a pencil as you read; go back and label when you’re finished. • Write claims on another sheet of paper or on post-it notes. Use the method that works best for you.
Task 1.3: Argument Diagram Whole group discussion: What are Grant’s claims? How do you know these are claims? Step 2: Each pair takes one claim. • Highlight the evidence that supports the claim. • Highlight the reasons that connect the evidence to the claim. Step 3: With your partner, create an argument diagram for your claim. *You will have many sentences that are not highlighted.
Tips for Identifying Evidence Evidence: A collection of data, such as observations, examples, or information gathered through reading texts, which supports a claim. • Evidence is often introduced by referring to a specific author, study, experiment, or other source. • Evidence is often introduced with “For example” or “For instance.” • Look for the claims and see what data supports them.
Tips for Determining Reasons Reasons: Statement(s) that may explain how or why the evidence supports a claim. • Reasons often paraphrase, generalize, explain, or comment on the evidence. • Reasons often appear between evidence and claims or between claims. • Reasons often explain how or why the evidence supports or contradicts a claim. Reasons provide the glue that connects the evidence to the claim. • Ask yourself, what connects the evidence back to the claim?
Argument Diagramming Overarching Argument: We overlook or fail to recognize happiness because we are busy pursuing it. Claims: 1. One mistake we make in pursuing happiness is trying to figure out if we are happy. 2. An error that can be made is overestimating the impact of life circumstances on happiness 3. Pursuing happiness alone is a misstep. © University of Pittsburgh
30
Your Task Step 2: Each pair takes one claim. • Highlight the evidence that supports the claim. • Highlight the reasons that connect the evidence to the claim. Step 3: With your partner, create an argument diagram for your claim. *You will have many sentences that are not highlighted. © University of Pittsburgh
31
“Does Trying to Be Happy Make Us Unhappy?” Adam Grant
EV: Maus: more value people place on being happy, the less happy they are
RE: When we try to figure out if we’re happy, we stop experiencing. Interrupt the flow.
CL: Tom 1st mistake: trying to figure out if he was happy
CL: Tom made 4 common mistakes
EV: Grant saw it happen to Tom
CL: Tom’s 3rd mistake: pursuing happiness alone; makes us selfcentered, which undermines happiness
CL: Tom’s 4th mistake: looking for intense happiness
RE: By trying to figure out if he was happy, Tom never engaged & became depressed
EV: Salmela-Aro and Nurmi: depression leads people to evaluate their daily projects as less enjoyable, and ruminating about why they’re not fun makes the depression worse EV: Gilbert-we tend to overestimate the emotional impact of positive life events
CL: Tom’s 2nd mistake: overestimating impact of life circumstances on happiness AG: Quest for happiness might be recipe for misery
EV: Csikszentmihalyi’s flow; people in flow state don’t report being happy
RE: Each time Tom moved to a new job & country, he was excited but then reality of the daily grind set in.
RE: Tom left people behind in every move.
RE: Aiming for intense + emotions makes it easier to be disappointed.
RE: intense positive makes ordinary less positive
CL: To be happy, need projects & relationships that bring happiness
EV: Classic study: winning lottery didn’t appear to yield lasting gains in happiness
EV: Mauss & colleagues: greater value people placed on happiness, more lonely they felt every day for the next two weeks EV: study-randomly assigned people to value happiness, and it backfired: people reported feeling lonelier and also had a progesterone drop in their saliva EV: Diener: happiness driven by the frequency, not intensity, of positive emotions RE: Tom looked for ideal so didn’t appreciate good; happy now because he’s not bouncing and searching. Has flow.
EV: Kay: best things in life can only be pursued indirectly
EV: Mill: “Those only are happy who have their minds fixed on some object other than their own happiness.”
EV: Mauss &colleagues: people explicitly searching for happiness experienced less joy in watching a skater win a gold
Step Back as Learners Reflect on AD • What did you do to determine the claims? Evidence? Reasons? • What did you do to construct an AD? What did you learn by doing it? • What difficulties did you encounter? How did you deal with them?
Step Back as Educators Reflect on AD • What do you think your students will find easy about – identifying the components of an argument and – creating an argument diagram? • What do you anticipate they’ll find difficult? • What are some ways we can help students persist through the difficulty?
Please complete the online reflection: http://bit.ly/2zRNMBh
Sara: [email protected] Allison: [email protected]
