Socio-scientific argumentation (SSA) is increasingly being recognized as a key aspect of scientific literacy. Much of the reason for this is that this skill is crucial for helping students to become active participants in twenty-first-century democratic societies in which the construction of informed and critical views of socio-scientific issues…

In theory, there is broad agreement among science education stakeholders that supporting the achievement of scientific literacy is crucial for citizens to make informed and critical decisions about socioscientific issues (SSI). Likewise, it is widely held that argumentation is an important component of scientific literacy. In practice, however,…

The identification and the evaluation of arguments are fundamental elements of critical thinking. However, the explicit promotion of these elements is virtually absent from university science courses. Much of the reason for this is that in most universities, across nearly all disciplines, instructors are required to see the conceptual content…

Recent studies show that the exploration of ways to involve students in effective bi/multilingual science education is gaining attention at all educational levels. Introducing students to the construction of bilingual scientific argument maps--visual representations of scientific argument structure using two languages--contributes to the quality…

A key goal of university bilingual science courses is to enrich undergraduates' bilingual scientific literacy (BSL). However, very little is known about how to foster BSL. This study aimed to provide research evidence to explore the possibility that BSL can be promoted by using bilingual written argumentation when Socrative® is treated as an…

As we begin the third decade of the twenty-first century, argument and debate are not habitual practices of university science education. This can be explained by the hegemony of instructor-centered traditional approaches in many of these practices. The COVID-19 pandemic has not only pushed university education online but also seems to provide an…

The rise in university bilingual science courses is explained by a certain phenomenon, the internationalization of higher education. Bilingual Argument Mapping (BAM) -- the ability to construct argument maps using two languages -- is a key aspect of bilingual scientific literacy. An argument map is a visual representation of argument structure.…

As we begin the third decade of the twenty-first century, in countries where English is the second or foreign language, the goal of internationalization is causing a rise in university first language-English bilingual science courses. Even though bilingual written scientific argumentation (BWSA)--a twenty-first-century skill--is an essential…

The Covid-19 pandemic is the reason why humanity is paying more attention to the importance of regular and rigorous handwashing. Interestingly, in the nineteenth century, regular and rigorous handwashing was a key (and controversial) solution proposed by the Hungarian obstetrician Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis to cut drastically cases of puerperal…

Bilingual scientific literacy (BSL) is one of the educational domains gaining prominence in twenty-first century societies. University bilingual science courses are legitimate and desirable scenarios for the promotion of bilingual written scientific argumentation (BWSA) as part of BSL. Recent studies indicate that the use of 'logical connectors'…

University bilingual science courses are on the rise because of the internationalisation of higher education. These courses are legitimate and desirable scenarios for the promotion of bilingual written scientific argumentation (BWSA) as part of bilingual scientific literacy. The problem is that very little evidence is available on how to foster…

English dominates as an international language for science and research. Consequently, this is the most widely used language in university bilingual (e.g. Spanish-English, Chinese-English, Swedish-English) science courses around the world. However, very little is known about how to foster bilingual scientific writing in these types of courses.…

Formative assessment, bilingualism, and argumentation when combined can enrich bilingual scientific literacy. However, argumentation receives little attention in the practice of bilingual science education. This article describes the effect of a formative assessment-based pedagogical strategy in promoting university students' argumentation. It…

The purpose of this study was to use drama as a springboard for promoting argumentation among 91 first-semester undergraduate medical students (56 females and 35 males, 16-30 years old) in Colombia during a complete teaching-learning sequence (TLS) supervised by the same teacher. The drama used was the play "Should've," written by Nobel…

This article describes the effect of a teaching-learning sequence (TLS) based on the discovery of oxygen in promoting students' argumentation. It examines the written and oral arguments produced by 63 high school students (24 females and 39 males, 16-17 years old) in France during a complete TLS supervised by the same teacher. The data used in…