An investigation of students' arguments and opinions on the teaching of global climate change through argument driven inquiry activities

The purpose of the study was to investigate the argument qualities of 8th grade students, arguments and the opinions of the 8th grade students on the teaching of global climate change through argument driven inquiry activities. Within this framework, argument-driven inquiry activities were carried out with 8th grade students in a public middle school in the Kalkandere district of Rize in the spring term of the 2019-2020 academic year. This research was conducted as a single case holistic design study within the scope of qualitative research method. For the study, three data collection tools were used: open-ended questionnaire within the scenario of the global climate change, laboratory handouts with individual activity reports sheets, and a semi-structured interview. The data gathered was analyzed with content analysis and argumentation level evaluation rubric. The findings of the study have proved that argument-driven inquiry activities have a positive impact on the claim, scientific nature of justifications, and reasoning components of the students' written arguments, providing scientific rationale, creating rebuttals, and using multiple reasoning modes. In addition, it is seen that the argument quality of the students increased in their written arguments in the laboratory worksheets towards the last activity. When the results of the study on student views were examined, the students stated that they had difficulty most in providing rationale, found the activities entertaining, and reasoned in their answers different from other courses.