A sociocultural historical examination of youth argumentation across the settings of their lives: Implications for science education.

摘要

In this dissertation, I examine youth argumentative practices as employed over time and across settings. Specifically, I examine youth perspective on argumentation and their own argumentative practices, the relationship between argumentation and learning, and the relationship between argumentation and youth, family, and community cultures. The theoretical framework I employ enables me to analyze argumentation as a set of practices employed in situated activity systems and framed by culturally-influenced ways of understanding activity associated with argumentative practice.;I utilize data from a long-term team ethnography of youth science and technology learning across settings and time. Research fieldwork was conducted across dozens of social settings over the course of three years. Data includes approximately 700 hours of participant observations and interviews with thirteen upper elementary and middle school young people, as well as 128 of their parents, extended family members, peers, and teachers.;Findings highlight the multitude of meanings youth associate with argumentation as it occurs in their lives (e.g., at home, in classrooms, in neighborhoods), as well as the detailed accounts of their argumentative practices and how these practices are differentially used across the social settings youth frequent. Additionally, findings highlight how historically rooted cultural practices help to frame youth perspectives on argumentation and their argumentative practices. Findings also include details about the specific communicative features of youth argumentation (e.g., linguistic elements such as discourse markers, evidentials, and indexicals, as well as non-verbal gestures) and how communicative features relate to youth learning across settings and over time.;I use this dissertation in part to dialogue with the science education community, which currently argues that youth in science classrooms should learn how to argue scientifically. Designs of learning environments meant to accomplish that goal have to date not attended to the argumentation practices of youth. I argue that significant progress with respect to this goal is unlikely unless the field deeply attends to the specific details of existing argumentative practices youth employ across the settings of their lives. I use this dissertation to detail their argumentative practices in order to add to the literature in this area.