Developing Students’ Argument Skills Using Socioscientific Issues in a Learning Unit on the Fossil Fuel Industry and Its Products
Abstract
Argument skills play a crucial role in fostering students’ scientific literacy. Students who possess such skills can employ reason and evidence to make decisions. This classroom action research was aimed at investigating the best practices for teaching chemistry to promote argument skills through socioscientific issues (SSI). The participants were 46 Thai students in Grade 12 (students aged approximately 17 years old) studying petroleum chemistry in the first semester of the 2014 academic year. To research my own teaching, I collected data from classroom observation, my reflective journals, the students’ reflective journals, and an argument skill questionnaire (ASQ). Debating on petroleum-related issues helped the students to practice and improve their reasoning skills, and it showed them the importance of using evidence to formulate a reliable argument. The competition to answer questions in class also allowed students to practice reasoning. Finally, the ASQ results indicate that teaching through SSI can improve students’ argument skills. The implication of the pedagogy of argumentation in science classroom is discussed.References
Barnes, D. (1992). From communication to curriculum (2nd ed.). Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook Publishers.
Bell, P., & Linn, M. (2000). Scientific arguments as learning artifacts: Designing for learning from the web with KIE. International Journal of Science Education, 22(8), 797–817.
Berk, L., & Winsler, A. (1995). Scaffolding children’s learning: Vygotsky and early childhood education. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Brem, S. K., & Rips, L. J. (2000). Explanation and evidence in informal argument. Cognitive Science, 24, 573–604.
Driver, R., Asoko, H., Leach, J., Mortimer, E., & Scott, P. (1994). Constructing scientific knowledge in the classroom. Educational Researcher, 23(7), 5–12.
Kuhn, D. (1991). The skills of argument. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Kuhn, D., & Udell, W. (2003). The development of argument skills. Child Development, 74, 1245–1260.
Lin, S. S., & Mintzes, J. J. (2010). Learning argumentation skills through instruction in socioscientific issues: The effect of ability level. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 8, 993–1017.
Maloney, J., & Simon, S. (2006). Mapping children’s discussions of evidence in science to assess collaboration and argumentation. International Journal of Science Education, 28, 1817–1841.
McNiff, Jean & Whitehead, Jack (2005). Action research for teachers. London: Fulton.
Mercer, N., Dawes, L., Wegerif, R., & Sams, C. (2004). Reasoning as a scientist: Ways of helping children to use language to learn science. British Educational Research Journal, 30(3), 359–377.
Osborne, J. F., Erduran, S., & Simon, S. (2004). Enhancing the quality of argumentation in school science. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 41, 994–1020.
Oulton, C., Dillon, F., & Grace, M. (2004). Reconceptualizing the teaching of controversial issues. International Journal of Science and Education, 26, 411–423.
Toulmin, S. E. (2003). The uses of argument. London, England: Cambridge University Press.
Voss, J., & Means, M. (1991). Learning to reason via instruction in argumentation. Learning and Instruction, 1, 337–350.
Zeidler, D. L. (2003). The role of moral reasoning on socioscientific issues and discourse in science education. The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Press.
Zeidler, D.L., Sadler, T. D., Simons, M. L., & Howes, E. V. (2005). Beyond STS: A research-based framework for socioscientific issues education. Science Education, 89, 357–377.
Zohar, A., & Nemet, F. (2002). Fostering students’ knowledge and argumentation skills through dilemmas in human genetics. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 39, 35–62