FOSTERING REFLECTIVITY IN THE ARGUMENTIVE THINKING OF STUDENTS WITH DIFFERENT LEARNING HISTORIES

Abstract

Instruction for students with persistent writing difficulties typically focuses on remediating basic skills. In this article, we describe an instructional intervention conducted to: (a) characterize the processes of argument construction of students identified as either normally achieving or learning disabled and (b) investigate the extent to which reflectivity in argumentive thinking may be enhanced for all students — despite different learning histories — through the provision of a collaborative, metacognitively scaffolded instructional environment. Thinking‐aloud protocol data and argument‐type expository texts were collected from 16 NA and 15 LD adolescents prior to and subsequent to instruction. Students in the Situated Strategies for Reflective Inquiry (SRI) group were taught specific strategies for reflecting on the adequacy of knowledge articulated through the generation of arguments. Students in the Explicit Structural Knowledge (ESK) group were provided with instruction in the structural element...