Claim-Evidence-Reasoning (CER) framework and The Argumentation Toolkit¶

Element · All elements
Evidence · 1 claim (1 for) · 1 study (1 review), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 1 claim rests on one study

Description¶

The CER framework (McNeill & Krajcik, 2011) has students "formulate a claim, provide evidence, and offer reasoning for how the evidence logically connects to their claim", as instantiated in The Argumentation Toolkit resource. The primer notes CER is one of the most common classroom argumentation frameworks but has been critiqued as too simplistic; researchers report reducing fuller Toulmin-style structures to these three essential elements is just as useful and more manageable for representing the core of an argument.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Teacher familiarity with the framework and materials such as The Argumentation Toolkit videos

Constraints¶

• CER has been critiqued as being too simplistic relative to argument structures with backings, warrants, grounds, rebuttals, and modalities

Target Learners¶

• Grade 5-8 and middle school science students

Target Learning Goals¶

• Constructing scientific arguments
• Connecting evidence logically to claims

Affordances¶

• Collaborative Argumentation Knowledge Building

Claims¶

• Prompts and scaffolds for paraphrasing, criticizing, questioning, and synthesizing arguments produce significantly more domain-specific and domain-general knowledge [+W]

Related Elements¶

• ArgumentPeer project: argument diagramming with peer review and intelligent help
• Justification & Argumentation

Examples¶

• Explicit Instruction: Argumentation with Evidence

Key Sources¶

• Schank, P., Barth, C., Crawford, V., and Fusco, J. (2025, May). Collaborative Argumentation for Learning. Digital Promise. https://doi.org/10.51388/20.500.12265/251