Students’ argument style through scientific reading-based inquiry: Improving argumentation skill in higher education

Abstract

Argumentation is one of many scientific skills that is referred to as one of the main objectives of learning science. The goal of this research was to find of 2nd-year college students’ argumentation performance in the science class, including the way they prepare themselves in arguing, how the argumentation performance has changed over and how they engage in argumentation practice as a part of scientific communication. Scientific Reading-based Inquiry (SRbI) was applied in order to develop students’ scientific argumentation. This classroom research was held in one of the science education department in Central Java, Indonesia. Data were collected and analyzed from various sources: students’ argumentation performance while presenting their ideas, their writing quality, structured interview, and lecturer notes. Performance assessment was used to qualitative declare students’ understanding of argumentation practices. The results indicated that students’ ability to argue in the context of scientific argumentation has varied and changed as they experienced in citing proper literature and used the information as a part of evidence and explanation. It recommends that proper instruction can bolster students in developing stronger comprehension of scientific knowledge and arguments.