Examining Arguments Generated by Year 5, 7, and 10 Students in Science Classrooms

Abstract

A critical component of science is the role of inquiry and argument in moving scientific knowledge forward. However, while students are expected to engage in inquiry activities in science classrooms, there is not always a similar emphasis on the role of argument within the inquiry activities. Building from previous studies on the Science Writing Heuristic (SWH), we were keen to find out if the writing structure used in the SWH approach helped students in Year 5, 7, and 10 to create well constructed arguments. We were also interested in examining which argument components were important for the quality of arguments generated by these students. Two hundred and ninety six writing samples were scored using an analysis framework to evaluate the quality of arguments.Step-wise multiple regression analyses were conducted to determine important argument components. The results of this study suggest that the SWH approach is useful in assisting students to develop reasonable arguments. The critical element determining the quality of the arguments is the relationship between the student's written claims and his or her evidence.

Students' Argumentative Writing Skills in Science and First-Language Education: Commonalities and differences

“…In the field of science education, numerous research studies have focused on the description of argumentation, the empirical investigation of the structure of argumentation, or the advancement of argumentative skills in science lessons at schools, at universities, or in teacher training (Choi, Notebaert, Diaz, & Hand, 2008;Dawson & Venville, 2009;Foong & Daniel, 2013;Osborne et al, 2004;Simon, Erduran, & Osborne, 2006;Walker & Sampson, 2013). Written and spoken language is an integral part of science and science literacy and enables learners to communicate scientific understanding to other people so that they can make informed decisions and take informed action (Yore, Bisanz, & Hand, 2003).…”

“…Another aspect concerns the moral component. In the context of scientific issues like cell biology or human body (Choi et al, 2008), the content is 'located' at the heart of science and usually does not involve moral or ethical aspects. In comparison, socio-scientific issues (e.g.…”

Stimulating Students’ Argumentation using Drawing – based Modeling on The Concept of Ecosystem

“…The students in control group organized the diagram of organisms that compose food webs. The level of students' argument was analyzed using a modified rubric based on Toulmin's frame work [8]. I am going to use pesticide (claim) because pesticide contains chemicals that will kill the insects (data), so that the number of the pests will decrease (warrant).…”

Language, Access, and Power in the Elementary Science Classroom

“…The Science Writing Heuristic (SWH) approach is an immersion approach to argument‐based inquiry, which is closely aligned to the NGSS (Choi, Notebaert, Diaz, & Hand, ; Hand, Norton‐Meier, Staker, & Bintz, ; Norton‐Meier, Hand, Hockenberry, & Wise, ). Under this approach, students develop questions, design experiments, gather data, and generate evidence to support claims that address their initial questions.…”