Explicit Instruction of Scientific Argumentation in Practical Work: A Feasibility Study

Mastery regarding argumentation in science among high school biology students remains elusive. This study argues that argumentation can be explicitly taught and acquired through an explicit instruction revolving around argumentation. A teaching and learning module named as the LAB-MADI Module was developed to provide secondary biology students an environment to practice and acquire argumentation skills from reasoning based on evidence through practical work. An initial draft of the LAB-MADI Module for laboratory investigation was pilot studied in one of the schools with a group of twenty-two (n = 22) Grade 10 students (aged 16 years) from a pure science class taking biology as an examination subject. The results of the pilot study showed that the activities are able to improve students’ argumentation skills.