Studying the effectiveness of an online argumentation model for improving undergraduate students' argumentation ability

Abstract

This research develops a web-based model, entitled the “intuitive claim, peer-assessment, discussion, and elaborate claim argumentation training” (IPadE) model, and embeds with a Web-based Interactive Argumentation System to enhance undergraduate students' socioscientific argumentation abilities. This research adopts a quasi-experimental research design; the sample comprised 131 undergraduate students from two classes (69 in the experimental group and 62 in the control group). The socioscientific issue discussed were related to global health. This study collected and analysed quantitative and qualitative data, including the pretest and posttest of students' knowledge test scores and argumentation abilities questionnaire. The results generally confirmed the effectiveness of the IPadE model. First, in a comparison of the content knowledge and argumentation skills, the experimental group have statistically significantly improved than the control group. Second, regarding the number of reasoning modes proposed, the experimental group could propose multiple reasoning modes and reasoning levels on rebuttals increased after training.