Reiser et al., 2012 explains the benefits in engaging students
in the scientific practices of explanation and argumentation. Explanation is
the “process of evaluating ideas to reach the best explanation” in which
students use models and evidence to support or question other explanations.
Argumentation in science is the process of making a “justified claim about the
world” and defending or modifying that claim against weaknesses identified by
others. According to the authors, explanation and argumentation are scientific
practices (rather than skills) because they involve the “coordination of both
knowledge and skill simultaneously”. The
Argument Driven Inquiry (ADI) instructional model described by Sampson and Gleim
effectively coordinates knowledge and skill by having students independently
design experiments, construct and defend arguments, engage in peer review, revise
their thinking, and synthesize this process into a piece of scientific writing.
This last step is crucial in that it
gives students an opportunity to improve writing skills outside of the language
arts and also serves to refine and make explicit student thinking and learning.
It is interesting to note that effective engagement in
scientific practices of explanation and argumentation seems to hinge on the use
of models and experimentation in the classroom. It is also interesting that these
practices can work in both deconstructing an argument as well as synthesizing a
new argument or model; thus, they are not always about defending individuals’
positions, but rather cooperating with others to build and improve models. Meaningfully
engaging in these scientific practices can be scary for students because they
rarely encounter these risks in science classes. Therefore, this model can only
work within the context of a safe and positive learning environment, and creating
this type of environment can become more challenging as class sizes become
larger. In addition, the ADI model requires a lot of careful planning and preparation on the part of the teacher in
order to make sure that all students can equally participate in this type of
learning (for example, English language learners may need more scaffolding as a good command
of the English language is necessary for these types of activities). Very
little information is provided about the student population in which this model
was implemented - I wonder how this model can be modified to fit students with
diverse needs.
I found your point about effective engagement hinging on the use of models in the classroom interesting, and I'm wondering how this ties into models not being practical to use everyday in the classroom while it seems that effective engagement should be present every day of class. I also really liked that you brought up ELLs, for they are often forgotten in the midst of planning engagement for the average student.
ReplyDeleteI also liked that you mentioned ELL's because it places emphasis on how the makeup of students can affect how a teacher employs ADI in the classroom. It's always important to note that there is no "one size fits all" model for how to manage a classroom, and I think that this was definitely something that I thought about as I read these articles. I can see something like ADI working well with very motivated students, but I wonder how we can encourage less interested students to see the value of engaging in argumentation and explanation.
ReplyDeleteI also liked that you mentioned ELL's because it places emphasis on how the makeup of students can affect how a teacher employs ADI in the classroom. It's always important to note that there is no "one size fits all" model for how to manage a classroom, and I think that this was definitely something that I thought about as I read these articles. I can see something like ADI working well with very motivated students, but I wonder how we can encourage less interested students to see the value of engaging in argumentation and explanation.
ReplyDeleteI also liked that you mentioned ELL's because it places emphasis on how the makeup of students can affect how a teacher employs ADI in the classroom. It's always important to note that there is no "one size fits all" model for how to manage a classroom, and I think that this was definitely something that I thought about as I read these articles. I can see something like ADI working well with very motivated students, but I wonder how we can encourage less interested students to see the value of engaging in argumentation and explanation.
ReplyDeleteI liked your idea that ADI works well with students that are already motivated. To what extent can ADI generate interest and motivation? If we look at theories of motivation, often researchers cite autonomy, sense of self efficacy, and social-relatedness as factors that increase motivation. ADI does require students to be somewhat autonomous and it also involves group work (social relatedness). However we don't know whether ADI would be equally effective at motivating all students, as different cultural backgrounds may influence what students find interesting and motivating. Therefore, it is important to get to know your students as individuals and make necessary modifications before implementing any one model.
ReplyDelete