Impact

For Better Disagreements

While the social problems that surface with extreme disagreements loom large, history shows that the best learning happens through disagreement that is collaborative, inquisitive, and fearless. We teach skills that support productive disagreements.

We are an education non-profit organization spun out of the Harvard University Department of Philosophy. We leverage thousands of years of pedagogy from philosophy and front-edge education technology to offer a portfolio of courses and programs that teach productive disagreement as an embedded part of academic and professional communities.

Our Impact

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Educators Trained by TA in 2023 alone

Our Values & Process

“Startup” Approach

ThinkerAnalytix is squarely (and proudly) a non-profit. But our approach to program design and refinement is inspired by the “startup” mentality. We believe constant engagement with our audience teaches us how to adjust quickly and update our offerings to meet changing contexts. As a nonprofit, we keep our price points low and prioritize interaction with professors, teachers, students, and professionals in our audience.

Research-backed Pedagogy

ThinkerAnalytix started as an outreach program that exported research and methods from universities to K-12 institutions to teach reasoning skills. While we have always based our program and product designs on research-backed pedagogy, we are now forging partnerships with leaders in educational research as collaborators and consultants.

Technology

Our custom learning platform adapts to different learners in different domains. This platform allows all types of learners to build skills at their own pace. Our audiences expect tools that are technologically advanced and accessible. It is not enough to get the program content right; it has to be delivered through mediums that are interactive, engaging, and accessible.

Key Collaborators

Visual Learning Lab

Studying the psychological conditions under which students and the general public can be prepared for clear reasoning and systematic listening. TA is contributing as expert consultants.

HarvardX

Developing a cutting-edge course teaching reasoning skills through deep philosophical questions for a worldwide audience, in partnership with Harvard's Norman E. Vuilleumier Professor of Philosophy Dr. Edward Hall.

Harvard School of Education

Building a new standard of professional education for teachers, professors, and institutional leaders in our core methods. Also partnering with HGSE staff to innovate the way professional courses are designed, marketed, and delivered.

NCSU Honors Program

The largest study of its kind to test the impact of argument mapping on college students’ reasoning skills. thinkARGUMENTS is the core instructional tool used in the study. The goal? To lay the skills students need to take advantage of campus dialogue and achieve academically.

Testimonials

ThinkerAnalytix teaches critical thinking with technology in “exactly the right way”

“[thinkARGUMENTS] is basically a critical thinking course developed by folks out of Harvard that you can build into your own course as a unit. What is phenomenal in my mind is that they've used technology in exactly the right way, given the educational process, because in order to learn critical thinking, you need to practice extensively and you need immediate feedback, and you need to do it on your own over and over and over… It's a mastery-based system the students go through.”
Paul Blaschko,University of Notre Dame

Our programs lead to “significant improvement in both argument writing and speaking”

“After spending two years working off and on with ThinkerAnalytix and finally exposing my own students to the skill of argument-mapping in the fall of 2018, I am already noticing significant improvement in both their argument writing and speaking skills. Students seem to be presenting well-supported, coherent arguments about divisive historical and contemporary issues with greater frequency than ever before. Perhaps more importantly is the decrease in miscommunication and discord between students with varying perspectives.”
Pat Flynn, Lexington High School

Educators see the value– and require it

“The course is so effective at teaching critical thinking that I have required it of all my undergraduate Honors students and my upper-level biomedical ethics students. I have also begun building an advanced course that will require completion of How We Argue as a prerequisite. I'm a fan. (Is there a How We Argue fan club? Let's start one!)”
Gary Comstock,North Carolina State University

Our programs “challenge” students’ way of thinking in a way standard education does not

Overall I really enjoyed this course. The way that the lessons are designed, like how there are multiple parts plus videos and a mastery check at the end really makes it that you really have to understand the lesson before moving on…. The fact that those lessons not only challenged me but changed my way of thinking is something not a lot of school lessons have done. Which is probably my favorite thing about this course, the fact that I can use what I learned and apply it in my life outside of school…
Izaeyah French,Codman Academy Student

We make skill building fun– “as opposed to homework”

As a general note, I really loved working through the ThinkerAnalytix course and thought it was a great way to teach the skills being presented in this class. The questions and quizzes all felt like fun little puzzles as opposed to homework so it was never really a slog for me to get through them which was much appreciated this semester especially. I'm bummed that we've worked our way through the whole thing, but I'm also really excited to see where the program goes from here. Y'all are clearly passionate about it and I think it's amazing that you're so dedicated to improving the course and making it as user friendly as possible. Thank you for all the work you've put in to make this a collaborative experience 🙂
Anonymous Student
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Thinker Analytix Inc. is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.

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