Discussion

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Discussion is a part of an attribute of a formally structured object. In discussion, anyone can raise any relevant points about the property that the attribute describes. Discussion is organised using the pragma-dialectical argumentation theory. A discussion usually consists of three parts: 1) the explication of a dispute; 2) the actual discussion, which is organised as hierarchical threads of arguments; and 3) the resolution.

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Research question about the structure of a discussion

What is a structure for a discussion about an attribute such that it

• is applicable to any discussion about any attribute in an assessment,
• can be applied both a priori (to structure a discussion to be held) and a posteriori (to restructure a discussion already held),
• complies with the pragma-dialectics.

The discussion has four parts:

• The explication of a dispute. It consists of two or more conflicting statements, each of which is promoted by a discussant.
• The argumentation, which contains the actual discussion and is organised as hierarchical threads of arguments. Each argument is either an attack against or a defense for another argument or original statement. As arguments always point to another argument, they form a hierarchical thread structure. It is also possible to use coordinative arguments where two or more arguments together act like one argument. Each argument is valid unless it has no proponents (a discussant promoting the argument) or it is attacked by a valid argument. In addition to attacks and defenses, also comments can be used for asking or offering clarification; comments do not affect the validity of the target argument.
• The resolution, which is found when only one of the original statements remains valid. The contents of the resolutions is transferred to the actual contents of the attribute.
• The nuggets, which are mainly used in a posteriori discussions. Nuggets are freely structured text containing the original discussion, from which the actual argumentation is then restructured. A nugget cannot be changed afterwards, and in this respect it is a different kind of contribution than all other parts in open assessment.