Supervisors info:
Ισιδώρα Σ. Παπασιδέρη, Καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Βιολογίας, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών
Summary:
Argumentation, which is the process of wording and negotiation of arguments, is a necessary skill for every citizen of the modern democratic society, as it is an integral part of the scientific practice. In the recent years, there has been an increased interest for the integration of argumentation in the teaching of Natural Sciences. Argumentation is considered to enhance the cognitive and metacognitive skills, to promote scientific literacy and epistemology, as well as critical thinking and the nature of science. Although many countries have incorporated it into their Science Curricula, students show difficulties in the development of argumentative skills. Several frameworks that promote argumentation have been proposed, such as the explicit teaching of argumentation, and the student’s engagement in processes which require the use of arguments. Socioscientific issues (SSI) are controversial issues that must be seen from different points of view in order to be resolved. Such issues constitute ideal frameworks for developing argumentation skills. On the other hand, creative role-playing is a modern teaching tool which presents numerous benefits, such as the stimulation of imagination, the development of cooperative and interpersonal skills, empathy, the enhancement of self-confidence, the stimulation of critical skills and comprehension of scientific concepts through empirical learning. In Greece research regarding the frameworks that promote argumentation is very rare. The purpose of the current study is to examine the degree in which a creative role-playing, relevant to a socioscientific issue from the field of Biology can enhance the argumentation skills of Greek adolescent students.
The results of this study indicate that the arguments given by the students before and after the role-play were mainly of low level, based on Toulmin’s argumentation model. The majority of the arguments consisted of a claim together with little evidence. Few arguments with extra components were found. There has been a significant increase, however, in the argumentation level of one of the questions after the role-play. This suggests that a creative role-playing can have a positive impact on the student’s development of argumentation skills when they are actively involved. The increase in the argumentation level was also reflected in the students' ability to construct more complex arguments during the role-play, which may be related to their teamwork, oral speaking, and involvement in playing. Although there is some evidence for the contribution of creative role-playing to the development of arguments, further research is needed in this area to confirm the above observations.
Keywords:
argumentation, socioscientific issues, Science, Biology, role-playing, creativity
