Argumentation Practices in Science Education

This study aimed to teach the method of argumentation concept to pre-service teachers and to determine the change in argumentation quality of them through activities involving socio-scientific issues and science concepts. 48 pre-service teachers from a public university participated in this study. Convenience sampling technique was used as a non-random sampling method for forming the study groups. The pre-service teachers forming the working group had not received a course or training about argumentation in their formal education program before the current study. The activities of the study were conducted before and after instructed them about the Toulmin Argument Pattern (TAP) and argumentation concepts. Throughout the activities, pre-service teachers found an opportunity to engage in groups and exchange ideas with one another. Data were collected through both written and verbal arguments. The written arguments containing the common views%252Fopinions of the group were taken from each group of students. Verbal arguments were also recorded as video besides to written arguments. The frequency of use of the elements of the students in the TAP was also presented in the study. It is determined that there is no substantial change in the written and verbal argument quality of the students