Argumentation and interdisciplinarity: reflections from the Oxford Argumentation in Religion and Science Project

Abstract

Argumentation has emerged as a key area of research and development in science education in recent years. Simply defined, argumentation is about the justification of knowledge claims with evidence and reasons. Although there is now a vast amount of work in argumentation, much research remains to be pursued. Given the interdisciplinary nature of argumentation, the dialogue between science education and other relevant domains can potentially produce constructive research agendas that could profit argumentation research and lead to practical applications. Following an overview of the relevant interdisciplinary investigations that can be pursued in science education, the paper subsequently focuses on the interphase of science and religion. Although science education research has witnessed considerable debate about particular issues related to science and religion such as the teaching and learning of evolution and creationism, the role of argumentation remains an uncharted territory. Hence, the paper focuses on how argumentation may be explored in science and religious education in comparison. Some preliminary observations from the Oxford Argumentation in Religion and Science (OARS) Project are reported including a comparative analysis of curricula and teachers' views. Implications for interdisciplinarity in the context of argumentation in science education are discussed.

Science and Religious Education Teachers’ Views of Argumentation and Its Teaching

“…Castéra and Clément 2014), research on argumentation in the context of the interphase of science education and RE is virtually inexistent (e.g. Erduran et al 2019). Furthermore, although there is research on science teachers' views about the science and religion comparison (e.g.…”

Students’ argumentation in the contexts of science, religious education, and interdisciplinary science-religious education scenarios

“…Basel et al 2014) rather than pluralistic RE as in England. Furthermore, while argumentation in science education has been extensively researched (Lin et al 2018) and interest in interdisciplinarity is growing, much work remains to be done in terms of relating it to other traditionally disparate school subjects such as RE (Erduran et al 2019). Gaining a deeper understanding of the challenges and successes students experience when engaging in argumentation across these contexts is important because it allows us, in research and practice, to home in on the challenges and capitalise on the successes.…”

“…While the research literature on argumentation has been extensive in science education, interdisciplinary argumentation between science and other disciplines is less explored (Erduran et al 2019). Although there has been research on argumentation on science and religion debates (e.g.…”

Promoting Inquiry Based Learning through Entertaining Science Activities

“…Besides, the use of argumentation activities in science classrooms (and in mathematics as well, Zhou, Liu, & Liu, 2021, but less frequently, Kartika, Budiarto & Fuad, 2021) can promote the spirit of inquiry, develop linguistic skills, foster students conceptual understanding and be helpful in performing interdisciplinary knowledge (Faize, Husain & Nisar, 2017;Lambert, & Bleicher, 2017;Erduran et al, 2019;Archila, Molina, & Truscott de Mejía, 2018) and different strategies has been described to reach this objective (Özdem et al, 2017, Erenler & Cetin, 2019. Based on the aforementioned reasons, the objective of this study is to analyze the consequences observed in students, when using entertaining science activities in the formal scientific subject contexts in secondary schools, following a based inquiry learning methodology and encourage their use in education work to improve students' interest and motivation for science.…”