The Role of Argument During Discourse About Socioscientific Issues

Abstract

(create) This chapter synthesizes research on the role of argument and the pitfalls of fallacious reasoning in student classroom discussions of socioscientific topics and issues. Its specific focus is on the nature of the argument that emerges in such context and its evaluation. A core feature of deliberative dialogic is the opportunity to reason, to criticize and to justify--in short to argue. Thus ability to argue in an effective manner becomes central to the learning of science and a central component of scientific literacy. For while there is a growing imperative that students should have the opportunity to consider the power and limitations of science in addressing industrial, social and environmental questions', asking teachers to engage in such practice and its discourse confronts them with a number of dilemmas. Foremost is the requirement that such activity requires some kind of formative evaluation of the activity itself. For only then can teachers provide the kind of essential feedback required to aid students identify the weaknesses in their own argument and improve their critical reasoning. This chapter seeks, therefore, to explore a number of perspectives on analyzing the discourse that emerges in such contexts and evaluating the quality of argument. To that end, common examples of argumentation and examining moral and ethical issues will be presented. These have been chosen to illustrate the nature of the argument and instances of fallacious argumentation in a context of socioscientific reasoning. Finally, the implications for the teaching of science are also considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved)