Research on critique and argumentation from the technology enhanced learning in science center

Abstract

Technology Enhanced Learning in Science Center (TELS) received funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation to investigate approaches for improving learning and instruction in science classes for students in grades 6-12 with a focus on the role that information technology can play. The knowledge integration framework informs the design of TELS curricula in terms of supporting students in (1) eliciting ideas, (2) adding ideas, (3) developing criteria for evaluating ideas, and (4) sorting and connecting ideas based on those criteria. Critique, argument construction, and argumentation represent central TELS research foci for supporting those foci. This chapter provides an overview of that research. More specifically, this chapter synthesizes research on the role of critique in students' experimentation skills, the manner in which students warrant ideas in their explanations and arguments, approaches for supporting students in critique and argumentation, approaches for supporting students in revising their explanations and arguments, designs to optimize dialogic argumentation, and approaches for analyzing students' critique and argumentation.