Abstract
We present a qualitative study aimed at devising a theoretical-methodological tool to assess students’ conceptual understanding of physical phenomena through the argumentative qualities of their written texts. The proposed relationship between argumentation and understanding is elaborated through the notions of knowledge, purposes, methods, and communicative forms, as well as the use of data, warrants, modal qualifiers, claims, and rhetorical resources. In order to exemplify the tool’s use, the current understanding of six students attending a physics seedbed course was assessed according to four levels: naïve, novice, apprentice, and mastery. We then discuss the possibilities and limitations of the tool and the need to broaden the assessment of students’ understanding to include argumentative tasks in the classroom.
License
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Article Type: Research Article
EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, Volume 19, Issue 3, March 2023, Article No: em2239
https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/12993
Publication date: 01 Mar 2023
Online publication date: 25 Feb 2023
Article Views: 1617
Article Downloads: 767
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