Abstract

This project developed a process-based textbook and computer-based tools to help students leam to read and write arguments. The project used process-tracing methods to observe inexperienced and experienced writers at work and developed a model of the cognitive processes required to write original arguments. The project also used participant observation methods to observe a writing class as the teacher and students explored strategies for writing original arguments. These observations provided a rich source of data for identifying problems that learners encountered and the solutions that they and their teachers developed. The textbook, The Architecture of Argument: Exploring Issues through Reading and Writing, D. S. Kaufer, C. Geisler, & C. M. Neuwirth, (Harcourt, Brace & Jovanovich, in press), draws upon these observations to present a learner-centered curriculum, one based on learners’ observed needs. The computer tools, Notes and Comments, were developed to help students and teachers overcome problems they encountered and to facilitate reading and writing processes