Scope and new tools for the development of debating skills

1. Scope and new tools for the development of debating skills SCALE Research and Development Program

2. A general overview of the SCALE project The name of the research programme • The research programme is called SCALE, with the symbolic meaning that opinions of both opposite sides are measured. • SCALE is an acronym word, from the English name (Internet-based Intelligent Tool to Support Collaborative Argumentation-based LEarning in secondary schools). • The objective of the research is to develop an internet-based tool to promote the development of the debating skills of 16-18 years old secondary school students, as well as the process of argumentation-based learning.

3. A general overview of the SCALE project What is the SCALE? • SCALE is a research project covering six countries, supported by the European Union. • Participants: United Kingdom, France, The Netherlands, Finland, Portugal and Hungary. • The objective of the research: to develop an internet-based tool to promote the development of the debating skills of 16-18 years old secondary school students, as well as the process of argumentation-based learning • The coordinator of the programme: London based Royal Holloway University • Hungarian participant: Számalk Education Ltd. and its. Specialized secondary school The software developed in the framework of the programme will be available free of charge for all secondary schools with access to the Internet.

4. Why is it a good idea to participate in this project? • The school becomes involved in wide-ranging international research expected to affect secondary school education all over Europe. • An opportunity opens for establishing contacts between participating schools. • The schools will be the first to use, free of charge, software to develop debating skills which applies new technologies, offers a new learning method, which is independent from specific subjects. • It supports the development and application of skills emphasised in NAT (National Curriculum) and in the frame curricula: • Critical approach • Well-founded expression of opinions • Acquisition and application of the different argumentation techniques.

5. General informations Web addresses • The pedagogical Web site of the project: http://www.euroscale.net/ • The home page of the project – used by the team - , that is the Scale Workgroup Centre: http://www.scale.szamalk.hu • Access to Hungarian-language information and documents relating to the project: http://www.scale.szamalk.hu/SCALE/Public/UK/results/Annexes.asp

6. The experts of the project I. Team leaders • Saeedi Masoud – project coordinator: Management School, Royal Holloway, University of London • Michael Baker – Lyon University Team • Jerry Andriessen – Utrecht University Team • Miika Marttunen – Jyvaskyla University Team • Antonio Moreira – Universidade de Aveiro • Annie Corbel-Bourgeat – Ecole Nationale Superieure des Mines de St. Etienne • Nyisztor József – SZÁMALK Oktatási Rt., Továbbképzés Igazgatóság

7. The experts of the project II. The participants of the Hungarian project • Dr. László Komáromi: the head of the Marketing and Quality Assurance Office of the SZÁMALK Rt.’s Education and Consulting Centre: the coordination and monitoring of the educational development projects realised in consortia of international and local participants • József Nyisztor: the SCALE Project Manager, the head of the Vocational Training Directorate in SZÁMALK’s Educational and Consulting Centre and the manager of the IT subproject. • Dr. László Várallyai: external consultant in web development • Informatics workgroup: developers, system-administrators, supporters, implementers.

8. The experts of the project III. The participants of the Hungarian project (continuous) • The members of the researchers / teachers workgroup: the testers of the project, the responsible persons and groups for the pedagogical and methodology research: • Dr. Sediviné Balassa Ildikó: director of the SZÁMALK Vocational Training Directorate and of the Specialized Secondary School, teamleader of the methodology group. • Hunya Márta: secondary school teacher, pedagogical consultant, international debate trainer, methodology adviser • Tokaji Ildikó: the Training Director of the SZÁMALK School of Economic Studies, educational researcher,education management, methodology of research • Albert Gábor: methodology specialist,experimental teaching, analytical work • Fazekas Katalin: chief Language Teacher of SZÁMALK Specialized Secondary School, methodology worker • Pölöskeiné Hegedűs Helén: coordinator of the information systems segment at the SZÁMALK Specialized Secondary School: testing and researching worker.

9. The tasks of SZÁMALK in the SCALE project • SZÁMALK has IT (WEB development) and educational methodology tasks in this project. • Develops and maintains EUROSCALE, the official website of SCALE. (http:/www.euroscale.net.) • Provides and maintains the server of DREW software, which provides assistance in argumentation, and cooperate with the international partners in dissemination. • Testing, documenting and launches the prepared software items on the pedagogical website. • Documents and evaluates the pedagogical-methodological researches connected to the project, and the testing of the website. • Documents and evaluates the other required activities of the project.

10. The EUROSCALE website • The Euroscale is the public website of the project • It has to publish the together developed internet-based debating skills developing tool • Provides assistance for all interested students and teachers to join the program • Provides information about the phases of the project for the experts of the EU • Provides possibility to download the neccessary software • Provides interactive surface for the communication between the partners and participants.

11. DREW The DREW is a software to develop the argumentation techniques and debating skills of the students. • It is available through the web • Provides chat rooms word processing surfaces, and the grapher • Stimulate learning based on collaboration and argumentation • The software provides a follow-up to the teachers and to the students on the quality and the weight of the arguments used • It allows the dialogues to be shown by grapher tool • Provides assistance for the learning of the argumentation method, in the formulation of relevant information, its use its transformation and evaluation • Develops a critical approach and teaches how to view things from different viewpoints.

12. A DREW funkciói

13. Methodological tasks of the SCALE project I. The school and the students • Making experiments in the SZÁMALK Specialized Secondary School (600 students and the same number of people studying in evening courses and remote learning) • Teams of 13 and 12 members • 22 people of control group (the students of the experimental and the control groups are 18-19 years old girls and boys) • Experiments in the Puskás Tivadar Telecommunications Technicum too. (53 students, 17-19 years old boys)

14. Methodological tasks of the SCALE project II. • Analysis of Hungarian educational documents • The National Curriculum and the argumentation method • The frame curricula and the argumentation method • The planning of the experiment, development of the curriculum Motivation  Individual data collection Argumentation in pairs  Analysis in pairs  Indidvidual confirmation  Summary (frontal) • Technical preparation Preparing the researches of the project; computer technique background; rhythming resources; working out the methodologies

15. What next? Cooperating with the national and international partners and organizations: • The SCALE Project: Development, testing and propagation of software to improve and evaluate argumentation skills and the process of argumentation. (Project documents) • To expand and propagate the experiment, finding new partner schools, teachers and students. • Elaborate an in-service training program for the teachers to acquaint them with the traditional and the software-based methods. This training program will be accredited. • Based on the experience gathered during the further experiments at the Specialised Secondary School of SZÁMALK, as well as on the experience of other schools participating in the programme, we will contribute to the development of the DREW software. • Completing, developing the EUROSCALE website and the IT infrastructure, continuously testing and uploading.