#argumentativewriting

A millennial approach to argumentative writing

There’s a common understanding among writing teachers of how difficult it can be to present theories of argumentative writing to students in approachable, applicable ways.

Ashley Muchler has seen this first-hand and as a future high school teacher, knows she will face this hurdle on the other side of the classroom. So in true millennial fashion, she took to social media.    

For the past year the secondary education and English major has been researching approaches to argumentative writing in language arts classrooms. Her research — in collaboration with Timothy Oleksiak, Ph.D., assistant professor of English — has focused on using Twitter to teach argumentative writing.

This particular topic struck Muchler’s interest when she took English 306: Theory and Practice for Writing with Oleksiak. The class looked at theories of writing instruction and putting these theories into practice.

According to Muchler, her research of Thick Tweet Pedagogy focuses on one specific theory, Stephen Toulmin's theory of argumentation (1958), and motivates students to practice it via Twitter posts. Doing so provides an opportunity for students to adapt Toulminian concepts into real-world practice and supplies a comprehensive structure through which students can clearly understand these difficult concepts, she added.

“I stumbled upon David Silver's usage of thick Tweets, (in which he motivated students to layer their Tweets in order to motivate readers to respond) and thought the layout of Silver's thick Tweets mirrored that of an argumentative essay,” Muchler said.

Throughout the fall and spring semesters, Muchler’s research continued to build on its focus of:

teaching Toulmin concepts through thick Tweets

pushing students to adapt his theory outside of the classroom

providing teachers ways to integrate unique uses of technology into their current pedagogy