Abstract
In this theoretical article the authors discuss the role of technology tools in supporting students’ argument construction within the context of middle and high school science. In the first part of the article they focus on the theoretical underpinnings for studying argumentation in school science and report on the difficulties associated with supporting students’ argument construction as identified by research. In the second part of the article they present two categories of technology tools that have been used in research to support students’ argument construction – knowledge‐representation and discussion‐based tools. They discuss the characteristics of each tool in conjunction with students’ difficulties when constructing arguments and comment on the affordances of the tools that have the potential to support argument construction. They conclude with a discussion on the potential of combining different types of technology tools to support student argument construction for the purpose of promoting the nature of the scientific discourse in the classroom.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 33-45 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Educational Media International |
| Volume | 45 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Mar-2008 |
| Externally published | Yes |