“Reading philosophy is valuable, but students can struggle to keep track of the reasoning. That’s why displaying the map of a philosophical argument can make the subject so much more accessible—especially to students new to the discipline.” Many philosophy instructors find argument-mapping an effective way of teaching reasoning. If you’re interested in learning more about it, and trying out some software that you and students can use to map arguments, read the following guest post by Jonathan Surovell (Texas State University) and Dona Warren (University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point). Two Argument Mapping Tools by Jonathan Surovell and Dona Warren Reading philosophy is valuable, but students can struggle to keep track of the reasoning. That’s why displaying the map of a philosophical argument can make the subject so much more accessible—especially to students new to the discipline. By clearly stating the claims that compose an argument, and graphically displaying the connections between those claims, argument mapping makes reasoning more legible. And that, in turn, allows students to grapple with the arguments instead of getting lost in them. A small number of simple conventions enable argument maps to represent a wide variety of argumentative structures beyond linear lists of premises, lemmas, and conclusions. Students can, therefore, practice analyzing and evaluating more varied forms of argument and discourse. As the academic year approaches, we draw teachers’ attention to two online argument mapping tools that are available for use: Argumentation.io and Because. Jonathan Surovell created and maintains Argumentation.io and Dona Warren has worked with Simon Cullen on accessibility testing and feature development for Because. Argumentation.io allows unlimited mapping with the free account. A paid account grants users access to instructional materials and allows users to save, export, and share maps, as well as collaborate on them in real time. Argumentation.io now also includes an initial set of integrated practice-and-feedback tools for efficiently creating questions, quizzes, and reusable question banks. Students can submit answers directly in the app and receive automated feedback, making frequent practice with argument mapping easier to provide. Because is free to use, with no paid tier, supports .mup files created in programs like MindMup, and stores maps on the user’s own device or Google Drive. Both Argumentation.io and Because provide learners with an..
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