Surveys for Evaluating Teachers' Use, Beliefs, and Self-Efficacy With Classroom Argumentation in Secondary (Science) Classrooms

• In Event: 43.014 - Science and Motivation Within Sociocultural Contexts

Abstract

The paper reports on the development of surveys measuring secondary-level teachers’ use of collaborative argumentation in the classroom, their beliefs about its value, and their confidence in using it effectively. Pilot surveys were developed and administered to 256 secondary teachers using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. Exploratory factor analysis identified interpretable factors for “extent of use” related to critique, talk moves, and writing/assessment; for beliefs related to general and self-beliefs; and for confidence related to personal engagement in argument and use of argumentation in classroom instruction. In developing the final subscales, some items were deleted due to non-loading or cross-loading. These scales can be used as one type of outcome measure for research and evaluation of professional development programs in collaborative argumentation.

Authors

• Michael Nussbaum, University of Nevada - Las Vegas

• Michael Scott Van Winkle, University of Nevada - Las Vegas

• Harsha Perera, University of Nevada - Las Vegas