ARGUMENTUM - Argumentum

Argumentum is a project on Argumentation Theory, which provides customized autonomous blended eLearning Courses for different educational purposes and targets (Swiss universities, postgraduate education and continuing education). Each Course within the project is focused on an application of Argumentation Theory in a specific context (financial communication, pedagogical communication, intercultural communication, business argumentation, institutional communication, etc.). Each Course is designed selecting materials from a Learning Objects Repository, conceived as a resources warehouse containing objects of different dimensions and formats available to Course Authors, and adding some specific contents required by the particular application concerned. The contents of each Course are structured through the use of multilayer content maps, which each student can explore according to her/his learning style. The quality of such a flexible and learners-tailored learning environment is also enforced by the translation of contents into four languages (English, French, German and Italian).The pedagogical objectives of the project concern mainly students acquisition of skills of analysis/evaluation and production of argumentative texts, especially in Computer Supported Collaborative Environments. As argumentative skills can be better achieved through a process of learning by doing, tools for argumentation visualization, collaborative tools for promoting peer interactions and argumentative discussions, examples and case studies are provided to enhance students active learning experience through problem-solving.