Argument Construction and Change while Working on a Real Environment Problem

Abstract

The process of collaborative construction of arguments about environmental management by 11th grade students working in small groups is studied. The question explored is the evolution of the students’ positions and arguments along a sequence shaped around an authentic — and real — problem: the impact of a drainpipe in a wetland of high ecological value; whether students kept their initial positions or changed them and the corresponding reasons. The collaborative construction is explored in terms of the dialogic voice (Mortimer & Scott, 2003). The participants were the 37 students in an 11^th grade group and their teacher (the second author). The sessions were recorded in audio and video, and the data also include the students’ portfolios and essays. In this paper the transcriptions are analysed and the arguments represented using Toulmin’s (1958) layout. The analysis shows changes in the positions of 22 students, either radical, from positive to negative assessment, or shifts to balanced views. The causes for the changes and the co-construction of arguments are also discussed.

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