Integrating argument-based science inquiry with modal representations: Impact on science achievement, argumentation, and writing skills

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the effect of integrating the Argument-Based Science Inquiry (ABSI) approach with multi-modal representations on students' achievement, and their argumentation and writing skills. The study was conducted with 62 female and 57 male college students at the Central Anatolian Turkish University. All participants were in their third year of the science education program. The study was carried out within four identical sections of a "Laboratory Applications in Science" course with an instructor and two lab assistants in the 2010-11 academic year. While the ABSI approach was implemented in all sections, additional multi-modal awareness and integration instruction was carried out in two of the randomly assigned sections. The collected data included midterm and final exam scores, as well as science activity writing reports. Qualitative and quantitative data was analyzed to explore differences between ABSI only (comparison) and ABSI and Multi-Modal (treatment) groups on science academic achievement, argumentation and writing skills. Analyses yielded that the students in the treatment group not only outscored the students in the comparison group on the science achievement tests, but also demonstrated significantly higher performances in writing and argumentation scores.