Run dialogic argumentation interventions on low-affect neutral topics first, then transfer to sensitive local issues¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 2 claims (2 for) · 1 study (1 causal), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 2 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The intervention strategy sequences argumentation practice on topics with minimal personal and affective investment before addressing emotionally charged local controversies. The authors "choose topics for the intervention in which the participants were likely to show limited affective engagement, given empirical evidence suggesting that high negative affect toward a topic is not conducive to effective thinking," hypothesizing that reasoning gains would transfer to a more personal topic. Sessions used electronic dialogues, Q&A evidence cards, reflection sheets, and a class showdown, with a final transfer session on Turkish settlers.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Topics must be genuinely neutral for the learners, with roughly equal initial split of positions, and evidence in Q&A form must be available.

Constraints¶

• Transfer was only partial: some transfer took place, but not fully in terms of approaching an issue in a balanced way.

Target Learners¶

• 6th-grade elementary students

Target Learning Goals¶

• argumentation skills, evidence evaluation, two-sided reasoning, transfer to controversial local topics

Claims¶

• Students made more evaluative comments after the dialogic argumentation intervention, but their evaluations still favored their own position [+W]
• After the intervention, some students shifted from one-sided to two-sided reasoning: comments against their own side doubled and own-side support halved when reading the other-side text [+M]

Related Strategies¶

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Iordanou, K., Fotiou, C., Manoli, A., & Zembylas, M. (2025). Examining myside bias on a controversial historical event after engagement in dialogic argumentation: Insights from a think aloud study. Learning and Instruction. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2025.102209