Simon, Shirley;
Richardson, Katherine;
(2009)
Argumentation in school science : Breaking the tradition of authoritative exposition through a pedagogy that promotes discussion and reasoning.
Argumentation
, 23
(4)
pp. 469-493.
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Abstract
The value of argumentation in science education has become internationally recognised and has been the subject of many research studies in recent years. Successful introduction of argumentation activities in learning contexts involves extending teaching goals beyond the understanding of facts and concepts, to include an emphasis on cognitive and metacognitive processes, epistemic criteria and reasoning. The authors focus on the difficulties inherent in shifting a tradition of teaching from one dominated by authoritative exposition to one that is more dialogic, involving small-group discussion based on tasks that stimulate argumentation. The paper builds on previous research on enhancing the quality of argument in school science, to focus on how argumentation activities have been designed, with appropriate strategies, resources and modelling, for pedagogical purposes. The paper analyses design frameworks, their contexts and lesson plans, to evaluate their potential for enhancing reasoning through foregrounding the processes of argumentation. Examples of classroom dialogue where teachers adopt the frameworks/plans are analysed to show how argumentation processes are scaffolded. The analysis shows that several layers of interpretation are needed and these layers need to be aligned for successful implementation. The analysis serves to highlight the potential and limitations of the design frameworks.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Argumentation in school science : Breaking the tradition of authoritative exposition through a pedagogy that promotes discussion and reasoning |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | S.Simon will be submitting this article. The article provides a background to the publication of curriculum materials on argumentation and an analysis of how these have been interpreted and implemented by teachers. This analysis is original and the messages are significant for those using the materials world-wide. The original publication is available at www.springerlink.com |
| UCL classification: | UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10000664 |
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