Foster a classroom culture of critical thinking through collective responsibility, trust norms, multiple perspectives, scaffolding, and frequent argumentation opportunities¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The primer lists essential practices for fostering a culture of critical thinking and communication: "treating argumentation as a collective responsibility for building knowledge, building a classroom culture and norms of trust and respect, incorporating multiple perspectives, scaffolding discussion and reflection, and providing frequent opportunities for engagement in collaborative argumentation". It recommends building this culture early, with reciprocal dialogue, curiosity, and play, so students can give and receive critical feedback as teachers gradually release interpretive authority.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Teachers shift pedagogical practice toward student-led systems, gradually releasing interpretive authority to students

Constraints¶

• Comfort increases only in environments where mistakes are expected and encouraged; trust-based feedback cultures take time to develop

Target Learners¶

• K-12 STEM students, especially middle school science

Target Learning Goals¶

• Critical thinking
• Productive collaborative discourse
• Giving and receiving critical feedback

Affordances¶

• Collaborative Argumentation Knowledge Building

Related Strategies¶

• Build Community Through Peer Feedback
• Building a Trusting Community
• Building Community Through Peer Feedback in PBL

Examples¶

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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