Using Historical Scientific Controversies to Promote Undergraduates’ Argumentation

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic is the reason why humanity is paying more attention to the importance of regular and rigorous handwashing. Interestingly, in the nineteenth century, regular and rigorous handwashing was a key (and controversial) solution proposed by the Hungarian obstetrician Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis to cut drastically cases of puerperal fever. The purpose of this study was to provide evidence that the case of Semmelweis and puerperal fever-a crucial historical scientific controversy-can be used as a springboard to promote university student argumentation. Our study was inspired by the fact that the Organization for Economic and Cooperative Development (OECD) stressed that more efforts and resources should be invested in promoting argumentation as an essential component for scientifically literate citizens in twenty-first century societies. However, nowadays, argument and debate are virtually absent from university science education. The data was derived from 124 undergraduates' (64 females and 60 males, 15-30 years old) written responses and audio and video recordings in a university biology course in Colombia. The findings show that the articulation of this historical controversy with decision-making, small-group debate, and whole-class debate activities can be useful for promoting undergraduates' argumentation. This study contributes to the development of a research-based university science education that can inform the design of an argumentation curriculum for higher education.

Evaluating service quality and performance of higher education institutions: a systematic review and a post-COVID-19 outlook

“…During the first wave of the pandemic, several universities and colleges have closed their doors to contain the spread of COVID-19 (Ren et al , 2020; Archila et al , 2020). They had to adapt to an unprecedented situation that disrupted their higher education services (Obaid AI-Youbi et al , 2020; Ana, 2020).…”

“…At the time of writing this paper, everyone is expected to abide by their local health and safety policies. The students may be reminded about the nearest hand sanitizing station and to ease congestion at building entrances and exits (Archila et al , 2020). While most traditional-age students are not at serious risk of developing complications if they contract the infection, many HEI employees are.…”

Toward Understanding the Structure of the Historical Controversy: Atomic Models as an Exemplar

“…Most of the studies argued that the scientific historical controversies should be introduced into the class in order to deal with the process of science or the epistemological problem of scientific knowledge, pedagogically. Taking the most recent studies as an example, Archila et al (2020) argued for the use of historical controversies to improve students' ability to discuss. In particular, they emphasized the improvement of students' decision making and communication skills in relation to discussion ability, which has been emphasized at the scientific process level in science education research.…”

Towards Covid-19 Literacy

“…According to Archila et al ( 2020a ), puerperal fever, which was endemic in the nineteenth century, is just one of the multiple diseases where there is a lesson to be learned (e.g., regular and rigorous handwashing) which can be useful in times of the Covid-19 pandemic. Moreover, humanity has battled with and managed to recover from similar severe diseases in the past (Reiss, 2020 ; Yamin, 2020 ).…”

“…Given these problematic issues, it is plausible to consider that Covid-19 literacy is intimately related to scientific media literacy—thinking critically about the scientific information received through the media and its critical use, weighing claims against the scientific evidence (Archila et al, 2019 , a , b , c ); health literacy—“the achievement of a level of knowledge, personal skills, and confidence to take action to improve personal and community health by changing personal lifestyles and living conditions ” (World Health Organization, 1998 , p. 10); and scientific literacy—understanding of science and making informed decisions based upon this understanding (Roberts, 2007 ). It is not surprising that Habersaat et al ( 2020 ) have included these aspects in the group of key considerations for governments to effectively manage the Covid-19 transition.…”