Abstract
This dissertation thematises what it means to use science knowledge on societal issues from outside science. To this end, the dissertation, first, critically discusses how science education researchers could understand and analyse students’ socio-scientific argumentation. It is argued that socio-scientific argumentation is a type of deliberation process in which arguers manage (potential) disagreement about what to do (not just what is true) by providing arguments and by engaging with the arguments of their interlocutors. This constrains how such discourse should be analysed. Second, the dissertation applies normative pragmatics in an analysis of students’ use of science content in eight socio-scientific group discussions about human gene therapy. The specific focus of the study was on the argumentative role that invocations of science had in the dialectics of the discussions. The analysis suggests that science content occasionally played an informative role in attempts to establish the factual background of parts of the deliberations, but that speakers often invoked science content creatively and selectively in argumentative strategies that aligned with an attempt to frame the issue of the discussion in ways that were favourable for the speaker. The dissertation aims at explaining how such strategies worked pragmatically in the dialectical context of the discussions.
Reference to full-thesis
Nielsen, J. A. (2011): Science in Discussions: An investigation of the argumentative role of science in students’ socio-scientific discussions. PhD-thesis, Centre for science and mathematics education, University of Southern Denmark.
Journal articles
Nielsen, J. A. (2011), Arguing from Nature: The role of ‘nature’ in students’ argumentations on a socio- scientific issue. International Journal of Science Education, E-pub ahead of print. DOI: 10.1080/09500693.2011.624135
Nielsen, J. A. (2011), Dialectical Features of Students’ Argumentation: A critical review of argumentation studies in science education. Research in Science Education, E-pub ahead of print. DOI: 10.1007/s11165-011-9266-x
Nielsen, J. A. (2011), Co-opting Science: A preliminary study of how students invoke science in value- laden discussions. International Journal of Science Education, 34(2), 275-299. DOI: 10.1080/09500693.2011.572305
Nielsen, J.A. (in press), Science in Discussions: An analysis of the use of science content in socio- scientific discussions. Science Education.
Correspondence
Jan Alexis Nielsen
Department of Science Education
University of Copenhagen
Øster Voldgade 3
1350 København K
E-mail: janielsen@ind.ku.dk
