A Longitudinal Study: Promoting Epistemic Growth by Computer-Supported Socioscientific Argumentation

• In Event: STEM Instruction and Interventions Across Contexts

Abstract

The apt epistemic performance has been an important part of epistemic education, and engagement with socio-scientific argumentation is a desirable outcome of epistemic growth. However, investigations have seldom been conducted from the perspective of practical epistemology. This longitudinal study aims to address this gap, to promote epistemic growth by computer-supported socio-scientific argumentation through a practice-based approach. The participants were 96 undergraduate students with various majors. Repeated measures of the frequency and the epistemic quality were administered in six consecutive issues, explicating the participants’ epistemic growth. The qualitative data of a specific undergraduate provided procedural evidence confirms the change. The results support an argumentation-based intervention in epistemic education, and highlight the possibility that different aspects of epistemic performance are interrelated.

Author

• Sheng Chen, East China Normal University
  Presenting Author