Belvedere: stimulating students' critical discussion

We describe “Belvedere,” a system to support students engaged in critical discussion of science and public policy issues. The design is intended to address cognitive and metacognitivelimitationsofunpracticed beginnerswhilesupporting their practice of this complex skill. The limitations (1) difficulty in focusing attention given the abstract and complex nature of theories and arguments, (2) lack of domain knowledge, and (3) lack of motivation. Belvedere addresses these limitations by (1) giving arguments a concrete diagrammatic form, and providing tools for focusing on particular problems encountered in the construction and evaluation of complex arguments; (2) providing access to on-line information resources; and (3) supporting students working in small groups to construct documents to be shared with others. Both prior psychological research and formative evaluation studies with users shaped the interface design.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 1995
• Where: CHI
• Authors: Massimo Paolucci, Daniel D. Suthers, Arlene Weiner
• Keywords: CHI 1995, Complex, Concrete Diagrammatic Form, Human Computer Interaction, Public Policy Issues