Argumentation: A strategy for improving achievement and revealing scientific identities

Abstract

In this paper we explore the relationship between learning gains, measured through pre‐assessment and post‐assessment, and engagement in scientific argumentation. In order to do so, this paper examines group discourse and individual learning during the implementation of NASA Classroom of the Future’s BioBLAST!® (BB) software program in a high school biology classroom. We found that the argumentative structures, the quality of these structures, and the identities that students take on during collaborative group work are critical in influencing student learning and achievement in science. We provide recommendations for instructors implementing argumentation in their science classrooms, and provide suggestions for the development of future research in this area.

Acknowledgements

This research was supported in part by a subcontract from the NASA‐funded Classroom of the Future program at the Center for Educational Technologies at Wheeling Jesuit University to the University of Georgia. The ideas and opinions expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily those of the sponsoring agencies. The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of Dr. Steven McGee, the BioBLAST!® developers, and the other individuals at the Center for Educational Technologies who supported this effort. Mary Ann Horne, Steven Zuiker, and Kate Anderson participated in the development of the curriculum and assessments used here and contributed to the broader research project described here.

Notes

1. The Classroom of the Future is a NASA‐funded initiative at the Center for Educational Technologies at Wheeling Jesuit University in Wheeling WV. See online for more information (http://www.cotf.edu/).