Utilizing Technology to Support Scientific Argumentation in Active Learning Classrooms

Argumentation can enhance science learning, and modern technologies can enhance the ability of instructors to support student argumentation. The purpose of this chapter is threefold. First, it provides an overview of the fundamental components of arguments and how the complexity of these arguments can be visualized. Second, it summarizes empirical studies from different bodies of literature each supporting the notion that argumentation can enhance science learning. Finally, it presents a three-step On/Beneath/Beyond-the-Screen heuristic that college science instructors can utilize to support argumentation in their classrooms with current technologies. Through a case study of a classroom response technology designed to promote argumentation, we demonstrate how to apply this heuristic when considering which argumentation technologies to use and how to use them.