Students get started by either working on an instructor-provided claim or inventing their own claim.
Students develop Pro reasons that support the claim. They can click on “ADD PRO REASON” to create each pro reason panel.
To address counterarguments, students are encouraged to add Con reasons that oppose the main claim. They can click on “ADD CON REASON” to create each Con reason panel.
For each reason added to the DMap, a student will need to add Evidence. They can click on “ADD EVIDENCE” to create one or more evidence boxes.
In addition to presenting evidence, the student will have to explain why or how the evidence supports or opposes the reason. The explanation goes into the warrant location within the evidence box.
When adding evidence to a reason, the student can decide whether the added evidence supports or opposes the reason.
As the student continues to work on their DMap, they may delete or add reason and evidence boxes.
Students are encouraged to link pro and con reason boxes that are directly opposing each other.
The conclusion box prompts students to revisit the DMap and ensure they have developed both sides of the argument; i.e. have included all the substantial pro and con reasons. They write a conclusion which integrates the strongest pro and con reasons. The conclusion tends to be a more detailed, qualified, and nuanced elaboration of the main claim that takes account of both sides of the argument.
