Scientific reasoning and argumentation: The correlation in animal classification study

Abstract

As the 21st-century demands, scientific reasoning and argumentation skills are highly valued outcomes of higher education. These skills refer to how students develop their knowledge by analyzing and critiquing and build their argument based on scientific evidence. These skills have been the emphasis of many studies during the last decade in many countries. However, previous studies have not identified as there any correlation between scientific reasoning and argumentation skills in higher education. This study aims to determine the relationship between scientific reasoning and the argumentation skills of biology students at Universitas Negeri Malang in animal classification subject. This type of research is descriptive correlational. The research subjects were 56 undergraduate students of Biology Education, Universitas Negeri Malang. The research was conducted in August-December 2019 in the Department of Universitas Negeri Malang. Data collection was using pretest and posttest instruments. A simple linear regression test with the help of the SPSS 16.0 analysis technique was used in this research. The results showed p-value 0.01> 0.05, so there is a correlation of scientific reasoning and argumentation skills. The contribution of scientific reasoning to argumentation skills was 10.9% while the rest was explained by other variables.