Learning to argue: A study of four schools and their attempt to develop the use of argumentation as a common instructional practice and its impact on students

Abstract

This article reports the outcomes of a project in which teachers' sought to develop their ability to use instructional practices associated with argumentation in the teaching of science-in particular, the use of more dialogic approach based on small group work and the consideration of ideas, evidence, and argument. The project worked with four secondary school science departments over 2 years with the aim of developing a more dialogic approach to the teaching of science as a common instructional practice within the school. To achieve this goal, two lead teachers in each school worked to improve the use of argumentation as an instructional practice by embedding activities in the school science curriculum and to develop their colleague's expertise across the curriculum for 11-to 16-yearold students. This research sought to identify: (a) whether such an approach using minimal support and professional development could lead to measurable difference in student outcomes, and (b) what changes in teachers' practice were achieved (reported elsewhere). To assess the effects on student learning and engagement, data were collected of students' conceptual understanding, reasoning, and attitudes toward science from both the experimental schools and a comparison sample using a set of standard instruments. Results show that few significant changes were found in students compared to the comparison sample. In this article, we report the findings and discuss what we argue are salient implications for teacher professional development and teacher learning. ß 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 50: 2013

Key challenges and future directions for educational research on scientific argumentation

“…Other research focuses on supporting both pre-service (Erduran, Ardac, & Yakmaci-Guzel, 2006;Zembal-Saul, 2009) and in-service teachers (McNeill & Knight, 2013) in learning about and integrating argumentation into their instruction. Furthermore, there is work focused on assessment, such as assessing student engagement in argumentation (Gotwals & Songer, 2013;Osborne, Simon, Christodoulou, Howell-Richardson, & Richardson, 2013) and teachers' beliefs and pedagogical content knowledge for scientific argumentation Sampson & Blanchard, 2012).…”

Examining Relations of Aggressive Communication in Social Networks

“…Argumentativeness is positively correlated with positive classroom climate and emotional learning [25]. As noted by many studies [49]- [54], educational activities that promote argumentativeness are crucial for achieving the learning goals. Argumentativeness takes effect on students' comprehension of teaching concepts [55] [56].…”

Verbal Aggressiveness and Argumentativeness in Physical Education: Perceptions of Teachers and Students in Qualitative and Quantitative Exploration

“…An important benefit of argumentativeness is to consolidate existing knowledge and create new knowledge to students, based on the ideas of social environment (Driver, Newton, & Osborne, 2000). The inclusion of argumentative activities during the teaching process is essential for generating argumentativeness in a school class (Dawson & Venville, 2010;Knight & McNeill, 2011;Osborne, Simon, Christodoulou, Howell-Richardson, & Richardson 2013;Simon, Erduran, & Osborne, 2006;Zembal-Saul, Munford, Crawford, Friedrichsen, & Land 2002). …”