To remain competitive in an innovative world, American classrooms are promoting careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by utilizing the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Students are engaged in inquiry by applying scientific practices like argumentation. However, science teachers are finding it difficult to…

Belief in psychological misconceptions, especially those regarding brain function and learning (i.e., neuromyths), hinders students' decision-making and learning. This necessitates conceptual change. Using an experimental design, this dissertation examined whether a utility value instructional induction (UVII) facilitated conceptual change.…

Discussion is a vital component of the scientific process and dialogic learning opportunities support student learning gains and scientific epistemic learning. Discussions can improve connections between concepts and support student engagement which can increase retention in STEM programs. It has also been reported that a correlation exists…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate high school students' performance in analyzing complex arguments with the support of an off-the-shelf argument mapping software, Rationale™, which provides diagramming tools with guided prompts. This study attempts to: (1) evaluate the quality of student's argument maps in terms of structural…

The purpose of this study was to measure to what extent an experimental method of teaching argument incorporating elements from both Toulmin's (2004) structural approach and Walton's (2013) dialectical approach effects first-year college students' ability to write strong arguments. This experimental instruction used critical questioning as a…

Scientific argumentation is a core scientific practice. Although scientific argumentation has been linked to increased learning of scientific content, improved reading, writing, and critical thinking, traditional science classrooms have not included scientific argumentation. Teachers often have little experience learning or teaching science…

This study utilizes action research to examine the design and implementation of inquiry-based teaching in a middle school social studies classroom. As a practitioner, fulfilling the role of teacher and researcher, I sought to better understand my teaching practices. To do so, I collected multiple forms of data that would help me understand…

Despite rhetoric and composition maintaining a role as a producer of democracy, democratic deliberation has not appeared widely as a pedagogical practice, outside of reinforcing traditional modes of argumentative writing. This dissertation articulates the dispositions and practices for a deliberative pedagogy in composition that supports students'…

This research seeks to understand how secondary science students make space for themselves in the classroom. Specifically, this study examines the interplay between classroom structures and students' agentic negotiations while identifying the relationship between students' enacted agency and their authored science identities by drawing from a…

Frameworks that connect to the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in Social Studies, such as the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies States Standards, highlight the need to engage in inquiry-based instruction (NCSS, 2013). Participation in such inquiry requires students to engage in…

Students with emotional behavioral disorders often exhibit comorbid academic and behavior deficits and benefit from strategies that address those needs. Writing can be significantly difficult for students with EBD due to the complex requirements when completing written activities. Chapter 1 consists of two research to practice papers discussing…

This study examines the opportunities presented to high school chemistry students through argument driven inquiry (ADI) and how these opportunities led to changes in student understanding. Lesson plans and videos were analyzed to determine how much time students spent arguing from evidence including constructing and argument board, discussing with…

Four of the eight Engineering Standards in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS, 2013) focus on authentic science communication: "asking questions (science) and defining problems (engineering), analyzing and interpreting data, constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering), engaging in argument from…

Given the increase in linguistic diversity in public schools in the United States, supporting multilingual learners (MLLs) in the science classroom is an important area of research. The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) call for all students to engage in the practices of science, such as argumentation from evidence. Yet the practice of…

The study reported in this dissertation is a response to the call for school science argumentation interventions to shift from a focus on argument framework towards epistemic criteria valued by the scientific community, and to focus on the practice of critiquing in addition to constructing arguments, as both practices are part of scientific…