Tracking Student Argumentation Skills across General Chemistry through Argument-Driven Inquiry Using the Assessment of Scientific Argumentation in the Classroom Observation Protocol

Self Cite

For decades, the case has been made for inquiry-based activities that enable teaching and learning of science concepts through the process of doing science. Laboratory courses provide a unique setting with opportunities for students to learn to ask questions, plan and carry out investigations, analyze data, and construct scientific arguments. Yet, most postsecondary laboratory courses still rely heavily on confirmatory laboratory activities. One of the problems regarding the implementation of inquiry-type laboratory experiments is the issue of assessing students’ achievement to demonstrate pedagogical effectiveness. The design and scoring consistency of the Investigation Design, Explanation, and Argument Assessment for the first semester of General Chemistry Laboratory (IDEAA-GC1) has been described previously. The IDEAA-GC1 is a practical laboratory assessment for General Chemistry I that measures student ability to design and conduct an investigation, analyze and interpret data, and construct an argument. This study examines the impact of an inquiry-based laboratory course in developing student proficiency with two scientific practices: (1) plan and carry out an investigation and (2) generate a scientific argument. This manuscript presents the analysis of student responses (N = 325) to the assessment which indicated proficiency with both scientific practices to varying degrees as well as the limitations based on student content knowledge.

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Assessment of Scientific Practice Proficiency and Content Understanding Following an Inquiry-Based Laboratory Course

Hosbein

Walker

2022

Self Cite

“…Moreover, Stowe and Cooper fostered activities to engage students in analyzing and interpreting spectroscopic data and constructing evidence-based arguments . Hosbein et al showed that implementing the Argument-Driven Inquiry Model in a laboratory course helps students engage in argumentation and scientific practices . In addition to these practices, approaches centered around the resolution of case studies are also viewed as promising, because they highlight the importance of incorporating interactive and hands-on activities to foster students’ argumentative skills in chemistry education.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Examination of the Epistemic Status of Propositions Incorporated within Arguments of Undergraduate Chemistry Students

Silva de Lima,

Queiroz

2024

In the context of academic and professional training, effectively constructing arguments is a fundamental skill for chemists. In this way, educational practices that promote this skill are a constant target of attention, as is the analysis of the quality of arguments produced by students. Models capable of supporting this analysis gain importance, among which stand out those of the domain-general used to analyze arguments generated inside or outside the field of science. On the other hand, only a limited number of recurring studies examine arguments using domainspecific models built upon criteria that exclusively pertain to scientific arguments. Based on a domain-specific model, the quality of arguments in oral presentations by undergraduate chemistry students, designed with the purpose of showing the audience the solution found for interrupted case studies on the effects of mining on water resources, was assessed. The results allowed comparisons to be made regarding their quality and the identification of the way in which each group resorted to the inscriptions provided in the case narratives to support their main conclusions.

“…As elaborated by the National Research Council (ref , p 52, emphasis added), students must construct “logical coherent explanations of phenomena that incorporate their current understanding of science, or a model that represents it, and are consistent with available evidence ”. Supported by multiple NGSS-motivated studies, attending to evidence and models can improve the quality of explanations and advance chemistry conceptual understanding. − …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Adaptations of the VisChem Approach: Advancements and Anchors toward Particle-Level Explanations

Yezierski

2022

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) have been imperative for informing many facets of the chemistry education research field, one of which includes the professional development (PD) of high school teachers. While many researchers and practitioners have responded to the NGSS' calls for reform by attending to internal factors that influence the PD's design, resources, and facilitation, there is less attention on extant factors that may negatively affect PD uptake and fidelity. Such factors encompass traditions of teaching chemistry or chemistry-related imprecisions within the NGSS themselves. If left unaddressed, these factors can act as anchors preventing advancements toward students' particle-level explanations and their chemistry conceptual understanding. In this article, we investigate the uptake and fidelity of our own PD program known as the VisChem Institute. The data are comprised of PD participants' learning designs (i.e., lesson plans) collected from the 2020 cohort (N = 20) and the 2021 cohort (N = 15). Results show that, although there was uptake in terms of the particulate level among participants' learning designs, more detail was ascribed to the description of molecular-level species rather than the explanation of relevant processes. Furthermore, an ontological analysis revealed that interpretations of evidence and models for description as well as symbolic heuristics for explanation may account for the VisChem approach's distortion in its translation to participants' learning designs. Implications and recommendations for chemistry instruction and research at both secondary and undergraduate levels are discussed.