Argument complexity: Teaching undergrads to make better arguments

The task of turning undergrads into academics requires teaching them to reason about the world in a more complex way. We present the Argument Complexity Scale, a tool for analyzing the complexity of argu-mentation, based on the Integrative Complexity and Conceptual Complexity Scales from, respectively, political psychology and personality theory. Argument Complexity classifies arguments based on acknowl-edgement and consideration of conflicting evidence or conflicting frameworks for judging the issue, use of frameworks for evaluating evidence, and use of meta-frameworks for evaluating frameworks. We discuss how the Argument Complexity Scale can be used to teach undergraduate students to reason and write like academics by providing the scaffolding for forming complex argumentation.