COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Asynchronous Discussions to Engage Students in Scientific Argumentation

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A critical part of the scientific process is discussing ideas with other scientists to articulate concepts, to make sense of information, and to explain findings and interpretation. Learning how to participate in this type of discussion, called scientific argumentation, is an important component of STEM education. Scientific argumentation is included in the definition of scientific literacy established by the National Research Council, which defines "engaging in argument from evidence" as a practice to be incorporated in STEM classrooms. The goal of this project is to integrate a study of developing skills in scientific argumentation and online learning to examine how to best engage students in scientific argumentation using online discussion boards. Many undergraduate institutions provide classes online; however, it is unclear how to optimize these virtual classrooms to promote effective argumentation skills. This project will examine the framing of questions for argumentation and will ask whether questions that more closely align with students' lives and interests promote more fruitful online argumentation. The project will also examine factors related to student identity (e.g. gender, group dynamics and group inclusivity) in participation in online argumentation, as well as whether participation in online argumentation affects conceptual and/or cognitive development in students. Findings from the project are expected to contribute to the ongoing analysis of the benefits (or drawbacks) of online STEM education.Online discussion boards are used widely and are potentially valuable instructional tools, but little is known about the science learning that occurs via these discussion boards. This project's goal is to bridge intellectual circles examining scientific argumentation and online learning to provide a greater understanding of how to engage students in scientific argumentation using the asynchronous discussion board. This project will answer three research questions: (1) to what extent does introductory question-driven discussion affect students' abilities to frame productive scientific argumentation as behavior appropriate to a science classroom? (2) To what extent do group characteristics (e.g. gender) mediate the scientific argumentation behaviors that group members engage in during online and fact-to-face discussions? (3) How much conceptual development occurs when student engage in epistemic versus relational discourse, both in online and face-to-face contexts? Examining these questions will yield potential solutions to challenges to engaging students in scientific argumentation.