Abstract
Peers’ discussion of contradictory ideas has been proven to promote students’ learning. Some empirical evidence sug gests that whole-class argumentation has similar benefits, but there is no clarity yet on whether discussion accounts for this effect. This study aimed at testing the effects of different aspects of whole-class argumentation on science learning. A non-probabilistic sample of 220 students (aged 10 to 11 years) from 18 public schools in Santiago, Chile, participated in the study. Eleven teachers delivered lessons according to a teaching programme especially developed to foster argumentation (intervention group) and 7 teachers delivered lessons in their usual way (control group). Students were assessed individually using pre- and post-measures of learning, argumentative skills and attitudes toward science. The two formers were tests and the latter was a questionnaire. Lessons were videotaped. Factorial analysis and linear regression were conducted. Results showed that 2 factors predict a portion of the variance on learning: one factor composed of justificatory utterances and the other of students’ counter-arguments. These results suggest that contradiction among peers is not the only aspect of classroom argumentation that prompts learning.
Highlights
Peers’ discussion of contradictory ideas has been proven to promote students’ learning
No differences between the two conditions were found at the beginning of the study with two control measures, science learning, F(1, 176) = 2.08, p = 0.150, and attitudes towards science, F(1, 164) = 1.68, p = 0.197, but there was a difference in individual argumentation skills, F(1, 188) = 8.86, p = 0.002, η2 = 0,05, 95% IC [1,02, 4,45], having the intervention students initially better individual argumentation skills
Students are made tense by teachers’ counter-questions and counterfactual elicitations and it is probably this tense virtual field of ideas opened by the teacher that is a key aspect of the potential of these episodes for knowledge construction. These findings shed light on the effect of argumentation on scientific learning beyond explicit conflict. It contributes to the growing body of evidence supporting the relevance of promoting the pedagogical use of argumentation in science learning
Summary
Peers’ discussion of contradictory ideas has been proven to promote students’ learning. This study aimed at testing the effects of different aspects of whole-class argumentation on science learning. La discusión de ideas contrarias entre estudiantes promueve el aprendizaje en ciencias. Este estudio evaluó el efecto de distintos aspectos de la argumentación en clase completa en el aprendizaje de ciencias. Some studies have tested the effect of the argumentative type of whole-class talk on learning, but they are only partially conclusive and do not prove the effect of the discussion of contradictory ideas (Che & She, 2012; Mercer, Dawes, Wegerif, & Sams, 2004; Venville & Dawson, 2010; Wilson, Taylor, Kowalski, & Carlson, 2010; Zohar & Nemet, 2002).
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