Seminar 19

1. Seminar 19 – Arguments Part 1

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2. Agenda

What is an argument?
Claim/Reason/Evidence
Digital tool to find sources
Debate
Reflection
Different points of view
(Boisson, no date)
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3. Discuss

What is your favorite innovation? Why?
Can innovation ever cause harm? Examples?
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4.

Building an Argument: Claim + Reason + Evidence
CLAIM
REASON
EVIDENCE
The writer's MAIN
OPINION or argument —
what they believe is true.
WHY the writer believes
the claim — it explains or
supports the claim.
PROOF — facts, statistics,
or real examples that back
up the reason.
+
+
Example:
Example:
Example:
"Students should not be allowed
to use social media during
class."
"Social media distracts students
and stops them from focusing on
their learning."
"Students who used social
media while studying had
significantly lower GPAs."
(Junco & Cotten, 2012)
= ARGUMENT:
"Students should not use social media in class [CLAIM] — it distracts them from
learning [REASON] — students who used social media while studying had
significantly lower GPAs (Junco & Cotten, 2012) [EVIDENCE]"
Source: Junco, R. & Cotten, S.R. (2012). No A 4 U: The relationship between multitasking and academic performance. Computers & Education, 59(2), 505–514.

5. Discuss

• Has reading this article changed the way you will look at photos on social media? How?
• If you were a celebrity with millions of followers, would you post unedited photos of yourself?
What would stop you?
• Is this just a problem about photos — or is it a bigger problem about how society treats
people's bodies?
• Given these rapid developments, to what extent do you think current policies are keeping up?
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6. Choose one issue to debate

• Should the use of phones during class be
banned at Universities?
• Are security cameras in public places
necessary to ensure safety?
• Will the developments in AI result in more
jobs in the future?
• Was life better before the Internet?
• Should children be allowed to use smart
phones?
• Will AI make people less intelligent?
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7. Preparation Stage – 10 minutes

Develop 3 arguments as a team: Support your arguments with evidence
from credible sources. 10 minutes for preparation!
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8. Debate Structure

Stage 1: Both sides will present their arguments. - 4 minutes (2 minutes for each side).
Stage 2: Both sides will present their counterarguments. - 4 minutes (2 minutes for each team).
Stage 3: Both teams present their final thoughts. - 2 minutes (1 minute for each side).
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9. Perplexity.ai

Advantages
Limitations
• Real-time information — Unlike standard AI
chatbots, Perplexity searches the live web
and pulls current, up-to-date information with
direct source links.
• It can still produce incorrect or misleading
information even when citing sources —
always verify important facts independently
• Research with citations — Every answer
comes with numbered references so you can
trace exactly where the information came
from. Great for academic or professional
work.
• It sometimes misrepresents or oversimplifies
what a source actually says
• Quick fact-checking — Fast and reliable for
verifying statistics, dates, and current events.
• Sources it pulls from are not always the most
authoritative or peer reviewed
• Search results can be biased toward popular
or highly ranked websites rather than the
most accurate ones
• Academic research — It has a dedicated
Academic mode that searches only peerreviewed papers and scholarly sources.
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10. Reflections: Write a short reflective paragraph using the following prompts:

The seminars helped me realized that before forming an opinion, it is important to…
Before taking CTC, I usually provided arguments by…, but now I try to…
"I demonstrated progress in argumentation when I …“
In the future, I plan to use argumentation skill by …
Being able to construct arguments is important for citizens because …
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11. Step 2: Checklist

Reflecting on the development of argumentation(350 - 400 words)
I have …
…described how my argumentation skills developed over the course of the CTC module
with at least one specific example
… provided a concrete example of a task or activity where I demonstrated improvement in
constructing a claim, reason or evidence
... explained how at least one credible source helped me better understand what effective
argumentation looks like
… connected the skill of argumentation to at least one citizenship value (e.g. .g. fairness,
responsibility, respect, justice, etc.) and explained how
... shared a specific and realistic plan for how I will continue to use argumentation skills in
my studies, community or future career
… reflected critically on my progress rather than simply describing what I did in the module
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Yes / No

12. Homework

1. Read about argumentation from credible sources
2. Write Step 2
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