A COLLABORATIVE PROGRAM
FOR FACULTY, STAFF, & LEADERSHIP

SUMMER 2025

DATES TBA, HELD VIRTUALLY

INSTITUTE GOALS

INTERESTED? FOLLOW THESE STEPS!

characters at a white board

STEP 1: ATTEND A (BRIEF!) WEBINAR

Join a thinkARGUMENTS webinar if you haven’t already. Webinars last 20 minutes and demo the thinkARGUMENTS online program, give an overview of how the program is currently used at institutions globally, describe the summer institute, and answer any initial questions.

Webinars are scheduled biweekly throughout winter and spring 2025.

STEP 2: SUBMIT YOUR INTEREST

Browse the thinkARGUMENTS online program for students if  to get a feel. Try taking some practice sets and mastery checks, just like a student would! When you’re ready, submit your name to request the Zoom login information for Summer Institute sessions.

Practice skills until you reach a streak
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STEP 3: ATTEND THE INSTITUTE

Once we receive your interest, our team will email you information about how to join the all-group sessions. 

There are two session types: 

1. Talks by faculty currently using the thinkARGUMENTS platform with students. Talks are scheduled for noon ET each day.

2. Deeper dives into the thinkARGUMENTS lessons and implementation support from ThinkerAnalytix staff.

All sessions will happen on the same Zoom link. You can decide which sessions are best for you! Find the schedule below.

STEP 4: IMPLEMENT & ITERATE

Use thinkARGUMENTS in your courses, and track changes in your students’ skills (we can help!). 

Along the way, reach out to ThinkerAnalytix and the network with questions. 

small group workshop

INSTITUTE SCHEDULE

MONDAY JULY 21

  • What will students be able to do after thinkARGUmENTS?
  • Mastery Learning, skill-building, and accessibility
  • How to frame & motivate thinkARG for your students 
    • Why teach controversial arguments?
    • Why controversial topics?
    • Our goals at TA

TUESDAY JULY 22

  • Teaching thinkARGUMENTS asynchronously
  • The research behind argument mapping
  • Why are inferences so tricky to identify and evaluate?
  • What should your students be able to do after lesson 3? Samples from different disciplines

WEDNESDAY JULY 23

  • Assessing skill growth through pre and post-testing
  • Day-to-day activities to activate reasoning skills
  • Major concepts from lessons 4-5

THURSDAY JULY 24

  • Co-premise structures
  • Using co-premises to analyze disciplinary arguments
  • Using co-premises to structure civil discourse
  • Next steps for implementing thinkARGUMENTS in fall 2025

TOOLS YOU'LL WALK AWAY WITH

Systematic Empathy is a step-by-step method for precise listening. Participants slow down their thinking to better understand the logic and context of an opposing argument.

Argument Mapping activates reasoning skills by uncovering hidden reasons, faulty logic, as well as points of connection.

Mastery Learning is a process for building Systematic Empathy and Argument Mapping skills through student-centered practice. Students work at their own pace, and their own skill level, to practice until mastery is achieved,

LEARN MORE AT A PREVIEW WEBINAR

Hear more about the summer institute and ask your questions at a spring preview webinar!

UPCOMING WEBINAR DATES:

MONDAY JAN. 27

12:30-12:50 P.M. ET

WEDNESDAY FEB. 12

12:00-12:20 P.M. ET

THURSDAY FEB. 27

2:30-2:50 P.M. ET

MONDAY MARCH 10

2:00-2:20 P.M. ET

TRUSTED BY EDUCATORS

ABOUT US

thinkARGUMENTS is produced by ThinkerAnalytix, an education non-profit organization spun out of the Harvard University Department of Philosophy. Why philosophy? For philosophers, disagreement is expected, even invited, to tackle seemingly impossible problems. History shows that the best learning happens through disagreement that is inquisitive, respectful, and fearless.
We leverage thousands of years of pedagogy from philosophy and custom education technology to offer a portfolio of courses and programs that teach productive disagreement as an essential part of learning and working communities.