Effect of Argumentative Discourse based Intervention on Argumentation Ability: A Study of Demographic Factors

Abstract

Argumentation can be viewed as an important activity in science education aiming at a better understanding of science topics. This article is drawn from doctoral research aiming to assess the effect of an argumentative coursebased intervention on argumentation ability in complement with other variables. This section highlights how students with demographic variations differ in their argumentation ability and how do they respond to the intervention. The population of the study comprised of school students in their transition stage of cognitive development from concrete to abstract thinking; correspondingly, Grade 5 students were selected. An argumentative discourse framework was developed for the contents of the school Science subject adapting to the Toulmin model. 18 weeks of intervention was provided, including 4 weeks introductory training phase followed by a pretest of argumentation ability. Analysis revealed that demographics like gender, age order among siblings, family type, and achievement level play their innate role in determining argumentation ability, and students respond to the intervention correspondingly.