Coarse-grained scripts that aim at creating learning situations within which the desired interactions between students should occur.

Macro-scripts are pedagogical models, i.e. they model a sequence of activities [...] to be performed by groups. For instance, argumentation can be triggered by collecting students’ opinions and pairing students with conflicting opinions.

The terms micro/macro refer to the granularity of the prescribed actions: a four-second turn of dialogue in micro-scripts versus a 4-h task in macro-scripts. A more important difference between micro and macro scripts is the fact that, in contrast to pedagogical models (macro scripts), dialogue models (micro scripts) are expected to be internalized.

We introduced the notion of script granularity as a continuous variable. There is however a qualitative difference between macro and micro scripts. Let us illustrate these differences with scripts that aim at raising argumentation. A micro-script scaffolds the interaction process per se: when learners state a hypothesis, the script will for instance prompt their peer to produce counter-evidence. A macro-script sets up pairs in which argumentation should occur, as in the ArgueGraph, by pairing students with opposite opinions. The micro-script reflects a psychological perspective, acting on the internal script (scripting as a goal), while the macro-script reflects an educational perspective, influencing the process more indirectly (scripting as a method).