Electronic Mail as a Pedagogical Delivery System: An Analysis of the Learning of Argumentation

The article reports a study in which 31 volunteered Finnish undergraduate students practiced argumentation by electronic mail (e-mail). Generally argumentation refers to grounding of stated claims. The study seeks to clarify the feasibility of e-mail study environment for practicing argumentation and compares a tutor-led seminar mode and self-directed student discussion mode, using e-mail as the study tool in both modes. The data consisted of the students' 441 e-mail messages. The content analysis of the data focused on the level and development of argumentation and counterargumentation in the messages. The results indicated that the messages' level of argumentation improved during the experiment and was higher in those messages that included counterargumentation targeted against others' standpoints. In addition, the students engaged in the student-led mode of e-mail study presented more and higher-level counterargumentation compared to the students engaged in the tutor-led mode. The results suggested that e-mail is a feasible study tool in practicing academic argumentation and that, given that this is an important aim in higher education, students' self-direction and debating should be encouraged.