With Good Reason

An Introduction to Critical Thinking and Argument Mapping

Download Table of Contents and Chapter 1

With Good Reason comes bundled with a six-month Argumentation.io subscription. Subscribe through the website and you can download the book.

You can also order it at your university bookstore and we'll include an Argumentation.io subscription code with it. Students can similarly purchase a book/app subscription bundle through Perusall.

ISBN: 979-8-9890054-0-6

Publisher: Argumentation

If you'd like an instructor's copy and argumentation.io subscription, write me at jonathansurovell[@]gmail.com.

Features

Argument Mapping

Argument mapping is a powerful teaching method for improving critical thinking skills, essay writing, open-mindedness, recall of course content, and more.

Philosophical Diversity

Many examples drawn from a diverse group of classic and contemporary thinkers, including Al-Ghazali, Anscombe, Arendt, Aristotle, Astell, Bolìvar, Dkarmakitri, DuBois, Epicurus, Elisabeth of Bohemia, Mencius, Mill, Mozi, Sartre, Shankaracharya, Solomon, Yacob, Tochihuitzin, and many more.

Authentic Examples and Exercises

“Authentic” examples and exercises about college life, relationships, career, and more. Authentic content “makes sense to” and “engages” today’s college students, leading to better learning outcomes (Abrami et al. 2015, p. 290). Each chapter has over 30 practice exercises, thereby facilitating lots of deliberate practice.

Accessibility

Each image of an argument map has below it a link to the map in Argumentation.io, an accessible argument mapping app.

Efficient Feedback and Instruction

Section headings make it easy to refer the student to relevant sections in feedback. Common student mistakes have their own sections with descriptive headings. Explanations of relevant Argumentation.io functions are integrated into the text and are given for both mouse and key command users. Instructors will spend less time explaining the technology and replying to student questions about it.

Argumentation.io's Inference Box

Maps are made with Argumentation.io, the only kind of argument map with a single, distinct object representing an inference. With a simple and clear representation of inferences, students will gain a better understanding of what an inference is, inference rules, and objections to inferences. The inference box also makes the concept of an inference a tool for clarifying other difficult critical thinking concepts. We use the inference box to clarify independent reasons, arguments for premises of inferences to the best explanation, and objections to analogical inferences.

Scaffolding

The book begins with simple concepts and adds complexity slowly and gradually. This gives students a chance to start off with some succes, build confidence, and feel motivated to take on the next challenge.

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