Learning from each other: Dialogical Argumentation in an Online Environment

This research builds upon past work exploring how an online academic website can provide a learning environment in which students engage in dialogic argumentation by voicing their diverse perspectives, challenging their peers through counterarguments, and articulating their positional differences. Drawing from two semesters of data from an academic website populated by three classes, we analyze 375 peer-to-peer responses for their argumentative interactions. Using a mixed methods approach, we find statistically significant evidence that argumentative interactions lead to deeper engagement across the classes. This study concludes that online discussions—a form of computer mediated communication (CMC)—are an innovative means to advance e-learning, a concern for educators across disciplines