Finer-grained scripts that follow a more psychological approach and emphasize the activities of individual learners.

Micro-scripts are dialogue models, mostly argumentation models, which are embedded in the environment [...] and which students are expected to adopt and progressively internalize. For instance, a micro-script may prompt a student to respond to the argument of a fellow student with a counter-argument (Weinberger et al. 2002).

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).