Claim 3b. Modified Claims and Alternate Claims play a direct role in the argument co-
construction process of these groups and allow groups to engage in creative controversy and to
correct initially incorrect or ambiguous claims. The Alternate Claim and Modified Claim were
discussed in Chapter Three in the context of the need to account for additional claims within an
episode. In Chapter Four, the discussion looked more closely at the role these claims played in
the argument co-construction process. There are four major findings about the Alternate Claim
and Modified Claim.
- The Alternate Claim
generally occurs in a “controversy” model of decision-making,
is a higher form of creative conflict,
generally corrects original claims that are wrong or “fuzzy”,
and allows students in problem-solvingconflict. groups to disagree while avoiding direct - The Modified Claim
can elicit ato the Alternate Clanother Modifim, ied Claim or Alternate Claim; it can serve as a bridge or link
may prompt the ideas that cause the maker of the Alternate Claim to state the
Alternate Claim,
is a lClaim ower-level form of creative conflict when it stands in isolation of an Alternate
and refines, clarifies or elaborates original claims that are slightly “fuzzy” or
incomplete. - All Claims are steps in a “reconceptualization” process.
Within episodes, the claim-making role shifts between students, that is the Modified
Claimant and the Alternate Claimant are not the same as the original Claimant.
The claim-making role is fairly uniformly distributed among the active students in a
group. Usually all students make claims.
When there is a dominant student, he or she tends to make most of the claims.
All students in the group are involved in the argument co-construction, that is, even
the “quiet” students contribute.