Improving Early Adolescents' Argumentative Writing Through Dialogic Inquiry of Socioscientific Issues

• In Event: 31.037 - Writing Research, Intervention, and Practice

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of a four-week socioscientific issues (SSI)-based intervention on sixth-grade students’ argumentative writing, and transfer of argument skills across different SSI. Three classes received the DISCUSS curriculum on space exploration and three comparable classes served as control. Student argumentation skills were assessed by individual decision letters on space exploration budget in the first and last lessons. After the intervention, both groups of students wrote an essay to address a new SSI-Antarctic research. The comparison of pre- and post-intervention decision letters showed that students wrote longer letters with stronger arguments drawing reasons and evidence from the curriculum materials. In the post-decision letters, students relied less on personal ideas and wrote more elaborated argument, evidence and multi-link reasoning.

Authors

• Jie Zhang, University of Houston

• Ma. Glenda Lopez Wui, University of Houston

• Jackie Eunjung Relyea, Harvard University

• Rosa Nam, University of Houston

• Sissy S. Wong, University of Houston

• Yumei Li, University of Houston

• Jennifer Donze, University of Houston