Socioscientific Argumentation and Model-Based Reasoning: A Study on Mining Exploitation in Colombia

Mario Fernando Gutiérrez Romero

doi:10.11144/javeriana.upsy17-5.samb

Mario Fernando Gutiérrez Romero

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.11144/javeriana.upsy17-5.samb

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Journal: Universitas Psychologica	Publication Date: Dec 5, 2018
Citations: 2	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Pontificia Universidad Javeriana

Abstract

The primary objective of this article is to identify the mental models that represent a social-scientific problematic specific to high-school Colombian students. This is followed by the analysis of the argumentative schemes that these students may use to justify such models. By using a combined design, fifty two participants (52 people, 31 women and 21 men between the ages of 15 and 23; with education levels between high school and undergraduate degree) analyzed the possibility of implementing a mining exploitation project in a specific region of Colombia that is currently under the administrative control of one of Colombia’s native communities. The qualitative analysis showed the presence of 11 models for thinking about the given social-scientific problematic and a limited range of argumentation schemes (11); the quantitative analysis through ANOVAs (variance analysis) showed significant differences regarding the number of arguments per grade and the mental model. The results are discussed emphasizing the advantage that proceeds from exploring the students’ argumentative speech from a developmental-cognitive perspective with significant implications in the educational field.

Highlights

The primary objective of this article is to identify the mental models that represent a social-scientific problematic specific to high-school Colombian students
This paper addresses the argumentative speech of Colombian secondary school students when discussing a socio-scientific issue
Most students openly reject approving the project; we found a predominant trend in their reasoning from considering the issue from an economic standpoint to discussing exploitation as an activity that goes against consolidation and preservation of indigenous Colombian culture

Summary

Introduction

The primary objective of this article is to identify the mental models that represent a social-scientific problematic specific to high-school Colombian students This is followed by the analysis of the argumentative schemes that these students may use to justify such models. This proposal is unlike the traditional exploration of students’ argumentative skills from a normative perspective (Toulmin, 1993), when they analyze situations outside their experience and socio-cultural context (Kuhn, 2015), and instead places itself within the framework of metacognitive textual work (Myhill & Jones, 2015) This framework assumes the existence of specific representations of the topic under discussion, that guide or model its understanding. The publication of works by Perelman & Olbrechts-Tyteca (1958) and Toulmin (1993) helped create a new starting point for the study of argumentation, which has become even more complex with the addition of cognitive (Kuhn, 1991; 2005; Kuhn, Iordanou, Pease & Wirkala, 2008), interactional (Doury, Quet & Tseronis, 2015; Kerbatch-Orecchioni, 1992; Traverso, 1999), and polemic components (van Eemeren, Houtlosser & Snoeck, 2007), including the image of the Self in discourse (Amossy, 2006, 2014, 2016) or the role of emotion in argumentative discourse (Plantin, 2011, 2015), amongst others

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