The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Learning to argue: a study of four schools and their attempt to develop the use of argumentation as a common instructional practice and its impact on students

Learning to argue: a study of four schools and their attempt to develop the use of argumentation as a common instructional practice and its impact on students
Learning to argue: a study of four schools and their attempt to develop the use of argumentation as a common instructional practice and its impact on students
This article reports the outcomes of a project in which teachers' sought to develop their ability to use instructional practices associated with argumentation in the teaching of science—in particular, the use of more dialogic approach based on small group work and the consideration of ideas, evidence, and argument. The project worked with four secondary school science departments over 2 years with the aim of developing a more dialogic approach to the teaching of science as a common instructional practice within the school. To achieve this goal, two lead teachers in each school worked to improve the use of argumentation as an instructional practice by embedding activities in the school science curriculum and to develop their colleague's expertise across the curriculum for 11- to 16-year-old students. This research sought to identify: (a) whether such an approach using minimal support and professional development could lead to measurable difference in student outcomes, and (b) what changes in teachers' practice were achieved (reported elsewhere). To assess the effects on student learning and engagement, data were collected of students' conceptual understanding, reasoning, and attitudes toward science from both the experimental schools and a comparison sample using a set of standard instruments. Results show that few significant changes were found in students compared to the comparison sample. In this article, we report the findings and discuss what we argue are salient implications for teacher professional development and teacher learning
0022-4308
315-347
Osborne, Jonathan
15b1de29-6239-42c4-b0dc-426450721b9a
Simon, Shirley
1fd7e52a-aaa7-4fb3-b105-da8033d98bb4
Christodoulou, Andri
0a97820c-7e87-45d6-827a-d72fa1734d0a
Howell-Richardson, Christina
1ddc4f61-38c2-4667-84cc-89a32b49e2b5
Richardson, Katherine
1fde79d9-882d-498b-9227-8c5535b84408
Osborne, Jonathan
15b1de29-6239-42c4-b0dc-426450721b9a
Simon, Shirley
1fd7e52a-aaa7-4fb3-b105-da8033d98bb4
Christodoulou, Andri
0a97820c-7e87-45d6-827a-d72fa1734d0a
Howell-Richardson, Christina
1ddc4f61-38c2-4667-84cc-89a32b49e2b5
Richardson, Katherine
1fde79d9-882d-498b-9227-8c5535b84408

Osborne, Jonathan, Simon, Shirley, Christodoulou, Andri, Howell-Richardson, Christina and Richardson, Katherine (2013) Learning to argue: a study of four schools and their attempt to develop the use of argumentation as a common instructional practice and its impact on students. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 50 (3), 315-347. (doi:10.1002/tea.21073).

Record type: Article

Abstract

This article reports the outcomes of a project in which teachers' sought to develop their ability to use instructional practices associated with argumentation in the teaching of science—in particular, the use of more dialogic approach based on small group work and the consideration of ideas, evidence, and argument. The project worked with four secondary school science departments over 2 years with the aim of developing a more dialogic approach to the teaching of science as a common instructional practice within the school. To achieve this goal, two lead teachers in each school worked to improve the use of argumentation as an instructional practice by embedding activities in the school science curriculum and to develop their colleague's expertise across the curriculum for 11- to 16-year-old students. This research sought to identify: (a) whether such an approach using minimal support and professional development could lead to measurable difference in student outcomes, and (b) what changes in teachers' practice were achieved (reported elsewhere). To assess the effects on student learning and engagement, data were collected of students' conceptual understanding, reasoning, and attitudes toward science from both the experimental schools and a comparison sample using a set of standard instruments. Results show that few significant changes were found in students compared to the comparison sample. In this article, we report the findings and discuss what we argue are salient implications for teacher professional development and teacher learning

Text
__soton.ac.uk_ude_PersonalFiles_Users_ac20g11_mydocuments_Papers to Read_Osborne, Simon, Christodoulou, Howell-Richardson & Richardson 2013.pdf - Other
Restricted to Repository staff only
Request a copy

More information

Published date: 17 January 2013
Organisations: Mathematics, Science & Health Education

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 347554
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/347554
ISSN: 0022-4308
PURE UUID: 38d5eacd-d0cf-4119-b32d-2e20ac452c2c
ORCID for Andri Christodoulou: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-7021-4210

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 24 Jan 2013 08:53
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:40

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: Jonathan Osborne
Author: Shirley Simon
Author: Christina Howell-Richardson
Author: Katherine Richardson

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×