Symposium on Better Learning through Argumentation

26. 6. 2018

Bez popisku

Symposium on Better Learning through Argumentation

Monday 11th February 2019, Brno

We would like to focus our upcoming symposium on student argumentation as a key feature of classroom discourse. We consider it essential since it is through argumentation that new knowledge is created (Leitão, 2000; Sfard, 2008; Reznitskaya, 2009; Asterhan, & Schwarz, 2016). Engaging students in argumentation is often perceived as the answer to many pressing educational questions, which inquire into how to achieve such goals as increasing the quality of teaching in natural sciences (Zimmerman, 2007; Osborne, 2010; Lehesvuori et al., 2017), developing students’ metacognitive skills (Kuhn et al., 2013), strengthening democratic citizenship education (Alexander, 2008; Segal et al., 2017; Schuitema et al., 2017), and providing students with “new survival skills” for the 21st century (Wagner, 2008). Yet, it is also apparent that fostering such skills in day-to-day teaching is not easy. Therefore, we believe that problems associated with the theoretical underpinning of argumentative discourse, the implementation of argumentative dialogue, and empirical research on argumentative moves are worthy topics for focused discussion at the symposium.

We would like to divide our discussion into three thematic areas. First, we are interested in the philosophical and epistemological consequences for teacher and student argumentation. Since philosophy is the preeminent discipline examining rational thinking, reasoning, and argumentation, it can aid our understanding of meta-linguistic features of argumentation (such as claims, theses, proofs, arguments, and counterarguments). Can we classify student arguments in relation to their difficulty and quality? How do students learn to use their inborn intuition for logical reasoning about justice in their particular culture (Haidt, 2013)?

Second, we would like to address argumentation in teaching. How are students socialised into “a culture of argumentation” (Resnick et al., 2015)? What is the role of peer argumentation in teaching? How can we teach students not to fear argumentation and not to consider disagreement as a negative evaluation of them? How can we enhance the quality of argumentation? How are students taught to argue about fundamental philosophical categories such as justice, duty, authority, and truth?

Third, we are interested in the influences of argumentative discourse. How can student argumentation influence students’ conceptual learning? In which subjects can students achieve better grades using argumentation? How can we empirically prove the effectivity of teaching steeped in argumentation? Which methodological problems resist being overcome on our journey to better understanding classroom discourse and student achievement?

Programme

Alina Reznitskaya, Ian A. G. Wilkinson: Assessing Comprehension and Production of Written Arguments in the Upper-Elementary Grades

Fabrizio Macagno: Coding relevance

Chrysi Rapanta: Making sense of argumentation as a pedagogical practice through three qualitatively different sensemaking activities

Adam Lefstein, Matan Barak: Dialogic Pedagogy, Univocal Texts: Advancing dialogue within the existing language arts curriculum

Markus Hähkiöniemi, Sami Lehesvuori, Pasi Nieminen, Jenna Hiltunen & Kaisa Jokiranta: Changes In Students’ Dialogical Moves In Whole Class Dialogic Argumentation In Mathematics And Physics

Christa Asterhan, Miriam Babichenko: Productive dialogue in the classroomstaff room: Moving from the study of student argumentation to peer-led, teacher dialogue in PLCs

Elisa Calcagni: Sharing rather than arguing. Reported and observed changes after a peer-facilitated TPD for dialogue in primary mathematics

Martin Sedlacek, Klara Sedova: Who argues in the classroom?

Roman Svaricek: Assessment of the quality of arguments in classroom discourse

Zuzana Šalamounová, Petr Fučík: Students’ participation in the context of their peer status

Cristian Manuel Santibañez Yañez: Towards a collective pedagogy of argumentation: from epistemic collective revision to individual robustness

Monothematic Issue of Studia Paedagogica

The theme of the forthcoming monothematic issue of Studia paedagogica4/2019 is Better Learning through Argumentation. Selected papers will be part of the monothematic issue of Studia paedagogica, SCOPUS indexed journal. Papers will be submitted to a peer-review process that will enable the editors to select papers for publication. The editors of this issue are Alina Reznitskaya (Montclair State University) and Roman Švaříček (Masaryk University). This monothematic issue will be published in English in December 2019. The deadline for abstracts is February 28, 2019, the deadline for full texts is April 30, 2019.