Analysis of the Argumentative Process of Students to a Social Dilemma related to Genetic Content

Resumo

Background: Studies on argumentation in science education have been devoted to the theoretical aspects of the quality of the arguments or the contributions and limitations of the proposals or learning environments, among others. Objectives: In particular, our study seeks to analyze the argumentative process of high school students as they experience an argumentation activity about the disciplinary content of genetics and biotechnology. Design: The intervention process was carried out through the course “Dialogues on Genetics”, which lasted six weeks and had 16 class hours, however, in order to achieve our objective, we have analyzed the data collected for the Activity 8, entitled “Social dilemma related to consumption and production of genetically modified food”. Setting and Participants: For this study, participated 12 students, between 15 and 18 years old, in the 3rd grade of the High-School-Integrated Vocational Course on Fishery Resources of IFRN - Campus Macau. Data collection and analysis: The collected data consisted of the audio and video recording, which was organized by using the software ELAN, and the written record of the consensual argument prepared by each group. Results: Analysing the dialogue data involved in the preparation of a consensual argument by a group of students, we identify three stages of the argumentative process, namely, (I) proposition, (II) negotiation, and (III) agreement. Conclusions: We evidenced that, following this three-part model, the argumentative process repeats itself until the group reaches a consensus or withdraws from trying to persuade the peer with a counter-claim.