Going back to basics: the problem with identifying arguments and a potential solution

EDELSZTEIN, VALERIA; CORMICK, CLAUDIO

CIêNCIA E EDUCAçãO

Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação para a Ciência, Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP)

Lugar: San Pablo; Año: 2025

1516-7313

Argumentation is crucial in science education for fostering critical thinking and decision-making skills. However, although much research is aimed at improving students´ argumentative skills, here we propose that the problem lies one step earlier: people often struggle to recognize when they are faced with an argument. To provide evidence for this assumption, first, a survey among 1217 participants (16 to +70 years old) was conducted and then, it was replicated with 47 fourth-year high school students. Results among both groups were similar and revealed widespread difficulties in distinguishing arguments from non-arguments when conclusions are false and explanatory from argumentative uses of indicator words. To overcome these obstacles, a didactic intervention for high school students was designed. Post-intervention, students show significant improvement in identifying all types of arguments as well as in their precision and recall. These findings emphasize the efficacy of targeted interventions in addressing argument recognition deficiencies.