Unpacking the use of talk and writing in argument-based inquiry: Instruction and cognition

The purpose of this study was to unpack the use of talk and writing to support students' construction of scientific knowledge in argument-based inquiry. Grounded in interactive constructivism, this sixteen-week study utilized qualitative design and was conducted in one argument-based inquiry classroom with participation of 22 fifth-grade students. The results indicated (a) as students had more opportunities to practice, they developed ore sophisticated understanding for oral argumentation, (b) students' ability to craft a written argument improved over time, (c) when both talk and writing were used, student knowledge construction occurred more than when only one learning tool was used, (d) students' higher cognitive processes were facilitated more than when talk or writing were used alone, and (e) the more talk and writing were used together, the more student-centered the classroom was.