Science Teachers' Views of Argument in Scientific Inquiry and Argument-Based Science Instruction

Abstract

This study is aimed at examining science teachers' views of argument in scientific inquiry and argument-based science instruction. Questionnaires were collected from 53 middle and high school science teachers in the metropolitan area of the Republic of Korea. More than half of these respondents seemed to have a clear understanding of argument in scientific inquiry defining argument as the "discussion of scientific facts and data." Although most teachers seemed to understand the relationship between argument and scientific inquiry, a relatively small number of teachers identified laboratory experiments for a topic of argument-based science instruction. While more than half of these teachers simply viewed "deriving and coordinating various ideas" as a role of argument in science class, some teachers perceived "promoting student learning" as a role of argument including "expanding student thinking," "experiencing of scientific knowledge construction," and "learning scientific knowledge." Of the 13 teachers who had implemented argument-based science classes, nine stated benefits of argument in science class such as "student solving problems on their own," "student sharing ideas and considering various perspectives," "student thinking improvement," "high class participation," and "high student interest." Most of these respondents commented on the difficulties and challenges in implementing argument-based science instruction such as a lack of time and student argument ability. Teachers who did not implement argument-based science instruction gave reasons related to teachers themselves (lack of experience, understanding, and teaching skills), students (lack of experience, knowledge, and willingness to participation), and the learning environment (lack of class time, entrance exam-oriented class, and number of students).